The Straw Man
It was almost Christmas and it was late when I made it home. I approached the front door of my parent’s house and through the window I saw a silhouette of an unfamiliar man. It was dark and I knew he was not supposed to be in the house. I grabbed a softball bat that was near the entryway, turned the key gently, opened the door, and crawled into the house.
Once behind a wall, I stood and formulated a plan. I was going to defeat my foe with a Mel Gibson shout and a swift blow of a bat. I approached the shadowy figure and then he moved. I thought that he must have heard me. I turned the corner just in time to see a life-size Santa Claus. He began singing, “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”, as I did a check swing of the bat mere inches from his head. As I laughed and he danced, I couldn’t help but think about Tim Allen and the Santa Claus movies.
Needless to say, I didn’t become the real Santa that night, but I did learn a valuable lesson. Sometimes, people build up a straw man that looks like the real thing so they can defeat it. This technique is used by almost every atheist. Atheists cleverly avoid the topic of belief by stating that they have an absence of belief by definition. What they have done is twisted the argument to dodge any tough questions regarding belief. It puts Christians and other people of faith in a tough spot.
However, the atheist assertion is a complete logical fallacy. Atheists do have plenty of beliefs and many are startling if you were to go down the rabbit hole with them. For example, atheists believe the material world is all there is. Materialism leads to social Darwinism. Social Darwinism leads to a skewed perception of the value of human life. It was out of these beliefs that led to Joseph Stalin killing millions of people. Richard Weikart makes the argument in his book, Hitler’s Religion, that Hitler believed nature was divine (sounds a lot like Materialism to me).[1] Example after example can be given to demonstrate the logical end to atheistic belief, but many atheists are oblivious to that.
The question then becomes; how can we fight against a straw man? The answer is you don’t. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Asking pointed questions can reveal beliefs even when a person claims there are no beliefs there. Greg Koukl states, “The second reason you want to be clear on someone else's view is that if you don’t understand that person's point, you may misrepresent it. This is a serious misstep, even when done by accident. Instead of fighting the real issue, you set up a lifeless imitation that you then easily knock down.”[2]
A helpful way to avoid building your own straw man is to slow down and ask questions to clarify what someone believes. You can also use this same technique when someone is attacking your position. You can ask, “What do you think I believe?”. This allows everyone to have their real view on the table. Once exposed people often see weaknesses they have overlooked themselves. Often times the truth doesn’t need you to be a world class attorney to defend it, it just needs to be clear.
For example, most atheists will respond to most questions about their faith by stating that they only believe what can be scientifically proven. I like to ask if they believe in George Washington, Christopher Columbus, or Caesar. Most will say yes, but how can they scientifically prove their existence? Atheists like to talk about the roof of their worldview, but their foundation cracks and the walls come down with just a few questions.
If you are willing to listen and ask good questions, you might find the work of apologetics a little more doable in your own life. We can spend a lot of time fighting fake Santas if we are not careful.
[1] Richard Weikart, Hitler’s Religion: The Twisted Beliefs That Drove the Third Reich (New York: Regnery History, 2016), 7-8.
[2] Greg Koukl, Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions, 10th Anniversary ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2019), 68.
