Ideology trumps facts, or why there aren't more freethinkers in the world (an oldie but a goodie).

There's a very interesting article over at Ars Technica that explores some theories as to why many people, when faced with information that contradicts an accepted view of theirs, have such an easy time dismissing the facts and sticking with their misconceptions. This article was published back in 2008, but, just recently became painfully obvious in my world.

Wise Sloth's 10 Reasons To Be Hesitant To Debate Christians

Someone who goes by the moniker "Wise Sloth" has posted an excellent list of reasons as to why he is hesitant to debate Christians. I'll summarize here, but you really should go read his entire essay.

1. Christians are closed minded
   Christianity demands its believers have faith. To have faith is to believe in your preconceived conclusion no matter what.  If you are inclined to defend your preconceived conclusion despite logic or empirical evidence, that’s being close minded. Faith is close minded.
   
2. Christians don't play by the rules of logic
   Christians start from the assumption that the Bible is fact and look for evidence to support that conclusion. There’s no point having a debate with someone who doesn’t question their own  data or objectively analyze their “opponent’s” data, and you can get discouraged very quickly when you see Christians consistently reverse engineering fantasy data to negate empirical data.
   
3. The Bible is true because it says so
   How do Christians know the Bible is true? Because the Bible says so (or at least it implies it). You can’t argue with that. It’s logic proof. It’s sanity proof. There’s no point arguing with someone who can always prove that they’re right by pointing at a piece of paper that says they’re right. So why argue at all when I’ve lost the argument before I’ve even started?
   
4. Every Christian is an expert. Every non-christian needs to study more
   In my experience with debating Christians it doesn’t matter what I say or how much supporting evidence I give because they can always just dismiss it all by saying, “You don’t understand the Bible. You need to study it more.” They don’t even need to actually go on to give supporting evidence disproving my observation or prove that their interpretation of the Bible has any academic merit. The fact that they said I don’t understand the Bible is enough to discount everything I’ve said.
   
5. Non-christians take every passage out of context
   No matter what passage you pick out of the Bible to criticize, any Christian can dismiss you by saying, “You’re taking that passage out of context.” It doesn’t matter how cut and dry the message in the passage is. It doesn’t matter if the Bible itself contradicts that/those passage.
6. The Bible contradicts itself
   A Christian who has memorized enough Bible verses can “prove” that you don’t understand the illogical and absurd passages you’re taking out of context by quoting other passages that contradict it. The fact that the Bible contradicts itself doesn’t make it right. That makes it worse and a waste of time to try to debate.
   
7. The Old Testament is obsolete…except when its the word of God
   If you quote an illogical or absurd passage from the Old Testament there’s a good chance  the Christian you’re talking to will say that the Old Testament doesn’t count. The most common reason given is that Jesus made it obsolete. And don’t try quoting Jesus, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” Christians will tell you that you don’t understand the Bible because you’re taking that passage out of context.  However, if a Christian ever needs to quote a passage from the Old Testament to prove a point then any passage they choose will automatically become the unerring and eternal word of God and would be blasphemous to question.
   
8. The Bible is the word of God…except when it’s not
   If they like a passage in the Bible they’ll simply say it’s the unerring and eternal word of God and that it’s blasphemous to question it. However, any passages they don’t like they’ll dismiss by saying that humans acted as God’s pen to write the Bible, but they were only human.
   8a. Everything is a metaphor…when it’s convenient
   If you persist on saying, “No. You can’t live in the belly of a whale for 3 days. Long hair doesn’t give you magical powers. There was never a talking snake in a magic garden passing out magic apples to mammals with no belly buttons. Nobody saw God and Satan taking juvenile bets on Job’s faith. Donkeys don’t talk. The world wasn’t flooded, and 2 of every animal didn’t fit on one boat for 40 days.” Then the Christian can always say, “That wasn’t meant to be taken literally. That was a metaphor.” But if they want to take any of those (or any other passage from the Bible) literally then they get to do that.
   
9. Christianity is a moving target
   The Bible never explicitly states what Christianity is, and no two Christians will agree 100% on every aspect of Christianity. I can’t say, “This belief of Christianity is illogical and absurd.” because some Christian out there will say, “That’s not what Christians believe.” If I say, “A lot of Christians believe it.” They can say, “Well, they’re not true Christians.” And every Christian can say that because there are no true Christians. Fighting Christianity is like fighting a shape shifting ghost with multiple personality disorders that is in denial.
   
10. If all else fails, you’re going to hell
    If you’re a non-Christian it doesn’t matter how knowledgeable you are about textual or historical context in the Bible. Your point of view is invalidated by one simple fact: you’re going to hell. You don’t believe in the Bible. So you’re going to hell. The fact that you’re trying to convince Christians that the Bible isn’t the word or path to God means you’re a servant of the darkness. If you’re stupid and corrupt enough to be blinded by the devil then why should a Christian listen to you? By Biblical standards, they shouldn’t. They should have faith and put Satan behind them.