Appeal to Emotion (Demagoguery) If you can get them to stop thinking, then you can convert them. By appealing to emotion rather than to reason, theists are attempting to bypass logic and reason and get you to believe something just because it ‘feels good’ to do so. The vast majority of Christian apologetics work along these lines. If you’ve ever watched one of those big evangelical rallies, notice how it’s nothing but one big appeal to the emotions, from the music on down to the message. This is one of the reasons religion is so dangerous: It preys on emotionally vulnerable people. In fact, that’s pretty much the description of Christianity. First it invents a product (‘sin’). It then attracts customers by preying on those who feel guilty about something they may have said or done. It then exploits that feeling of guilt by selling you the ‘cure’ for sin: ‘Salvation.’ Yet after the ‘cure,’ you still go on ‘sinning’ and feeling guilty about it, in a never-ending cycle of exploitation and abuse. Christianity is in the unique position of being able to blame the consumer for product failure. The next time you debate a theist, notice how often they appeal to your emotions by saying things like, “I just know in my heart that God exists; I don’t need any evidence.” They may prefer emotion over reason, but I do not. If you reject reason in favor of emotion, then all that remains is a battle of opinions. And my opinion will always be superior to the opinion of someone else, since it is my own. Unless, of course, they can convince me to change my opinion with rational, verifiable evidence and not with emotional appeals. tinyurl/l3lvb2f
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 20:09:52 +0000
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