But in a fantasy microverse like Mormonism he can wow the rubes like Nibley did--counting on them never to read, never to think, never to question. 
Dr. Peterson's FAIR Conference Talk
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_Maksutov
- _Emeritus
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- Joined: Thu Mar 07, 2013 8:19 pm
Re: Dr. Peterson's FAIR Conference Talk
I love that Dan Peterson comes up with the same lame crap attacks as the illiterate creationists like Hovind and Ham. It shows what his education and training and judgment is worth outside of Islamic Studies--less than zero. But in a fantasy microverse like Mormonism he can wow the rubes like Nibley did--counting on them never to read, never to think, never to question.
But in a fantasy microverse like Mormonism he can wow the rubes like Nibley did--counting on them never to read, never to think, never to question. "God" is the original deus ex machina. --Maksutov
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_Philo Sofee
- _Emeritus
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Re: Dr. Peterson's FAIR Conference Talk
Maksutov wrote:I love that Dan Peterson comes up with the same lame crap attacks as the illiterate creationists like Hovind and Ham. It shows what his education and training and judgment is worth outside of Islamic Studies--less than zero.
And me will certainly have the leaders go ahead in that, so that he can even further proclaim he also is divinely sanctioned!
He does the exact same thing with atheists and their writings, being very selective of which atheists he chooses to comment on, as well as very selective about which of the weakest arguments of theirs he bothers with, knowing full well that he is not fooling anyone but the faithful, which is fine, it appears, since that is his audience. However some of us faithful actually do look into things, and when we do, we come and inhabit this message board instead of the Mormon ones.
There is a lesson in that somewhere for apologists.... 
Dr CamNC4Me
"Dr. Peterson and his Callithumpian cabal of BYU idiots have been marginalized by their own inevitable irrelevancy defending a fraud."
"Dr. Peterson and his Callithumpian cabal of BYU idiots have been marginalized by their own inevitable irrelevancy defending a fraud."
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_Physics Guy
- _Emeritus
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- Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 10:38 pm
Re: Dr. Peterson's FAIR Conference Talk
No matter what position you're trying to argue, this is why it's a mistake to toss weak arguments into the mix in the belief that they all add weight to your case. In fact they weaken your case by giving your opponents the chance to score easy points. So you should play Devil's Advocate enough to screen out your weak arguments yourself before presenting them to your opponents.
If one's opponents offer weak arguments, on the other hand, then one might make them look bad by shooting down those weak arguments easily, but I think it's actually better not to do that. Your opponents may look bad to outside observers as their lightweight arguments go down, but your opponents themselves will never be convinced as long as you leave their real arguments unchallenged.
I think it's best to just ignore all the weak arguments on either side and focus only on the strongest ones. This requires admitting that your opponents might actually have some decent arguments that deserve serious attention, however. Some people seem unwilling to do this.
If one's opponents offer weak arguments, on the other hand, then one might make them look bad by shooting down those weak arguments easily, but I think it's actually better not to do that. Your opponents may look bad to outside observers as their lightweight arguments go down, but your opponents themselves will never be convinced as long as you leave their real arguments unchallenged.
I think it's best to just ignore all the weak arguments on either side and focus only on the strongest ones. This requires admitting that your opponents might actually have some decent arguments that deserve serious attention, however. Some people seem unwilling to do this.