“There can be, therefore, no true education without moral culture, and no true moral culture without Christianity. The very power of the teacher in the school-room is either moral or it is a degrading force. But he can show the child no other moral basis for it than the Bible. Hence my argument is as perfect as clear. The teacher must be Christian. But the American Commonwealth has promised to have no religious character. Then it cannot be teacher.” ChildrenCharacterShowsSchoolChristianCultureForceReligiousPerfectRoomsEducationMoralChristianityClearTeacherArgumentBasesCommonwealthDegradingTrue Education Author:Robert Dabney
“What no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish.” MayDoeShowsBeliefAbilityArgumentClimateRationalAbandoned Author:Austin Farrer
“Fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than nonfiction, which is designed to persuade through argument and evidence. Studies show that when we read nonfiction, we read with our shields up. We are critical and skeptical. But when we are absorbed in a story, we drop our intellectual guard. We are moved emotionally, and this seems to make us rubbery and easy to shape.” StoriesShowsSeemsBeliefEasyFictionStudyShapesIntellectualEvidenceArgumentMovedCriticalNonfictionSkepticalShields Author:Jonathan Gottschall
“Christianity has a built-in defense system: anything that questions a belief, no matter how logical the argument is, is the work of Satan by the very fact that it makes you question a belief. It's a very interesting defense mechanism and the only way to get by it -- and believe me, I was raised Southern Baptist -- is to take massive amounts of mushrooms, sit in a field, and just go, "Show me.".” WayBelieveMatterFactsShowsBeliefInterestingChristianityFieldsAmountBuiltArgumentRaisedDefenseSatanLogicalMassiveSouthernMechanismBelieve In MeShow MeVery InterestingBaptistsMushroomsDefense MechanismsSouthern Baptist Author:Bill Hicks
“It is commonly said that if rational argument is so seldom the cause of conviction, philosophical apologists must largely be wasting their shot. The premise is true, but the conclusion does not follow. For though argument does not create conviction, the lack of it destroys belief. What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish.” IfsMayDoeSaidShowsSeemsBeliefCausesAbilityShotsArgumentPhilosophicalClimateConvictionRationalConclusionAbandonedPremises Author:Austin Farrer
“Until recently we’ve only been able to speculate about story's persuasive effects. But over the last several decades psychology has begun a serious study of how story affects the human mind. Results repeatedly show that our attitudes, fears, hopes, and values are strongly influenced by story. In fact, fiction seems to be more effective at changing beliefs than writing that is specifically designed to persuade through argument and evidence.” WritingMindHumansFactsStoriesShowsSeemsAbleLastsValuesBeliefResultsAttitudeFictionStudyPsychologyEffectsSeriousEvidenceArgumentDecadesHuman MindPersuasive Author:Jonathan Gottschall
“I have been so satisfied with the Christian religion that I have spent no time trying to find arguments against it. I am not afraid now that you will show me any. I feel that I have enough information to live and die by.” FeelsTryingHas BeensEnoughShowsChristianDiesInformationArgumentSatisfiedNot AfraidShow Me Author:William Jennings Bryan
“We have received no single argument in favour of this document except political pressure. No link has been established between carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. No other objective facts have been presented in recent time. The IPCC's reports in 1990 and 1995 show it clearly.” Has BeensFactsShowsPoliticalArgumentPressureClimateClimate ChangeObjectivesReportsLinksDocumentsCarbonFavourEmissionsCarbon DioxideKyotoKyoto ProtocolCarbon Dioxide Emissions Author:Andrey Illarionov
“Pascal makes no attempt in this most famous argument to show that his Roman Catholicism is true or probably true. The reasons which he suggests for making the recommended bet on his particular faith are reasons in the sense of motives rather than reasons in the sense of grounds. Conceding, if only for the sake of the present argument, that we can have no knowledge here, Pascal tries to justify as prudent a policy of systematic self-persuasion, rather than to provide grounds for thinking that the beliefs recommended are actually true.” IfsThinkingTryingSelfReasonShowsBeliefAtheismPolicyParticularArgumentSakePositive AtheismMotiveJustifyCatholicismPersuasionFlewSystematicPrudentRoman CatholicPascal Author:Antony Flew
“It is impossible to combat enthusiasm with reason; for though it makes a show of resistance, it soon eludes the pressure, refers you to distinctions not to be understood, and feelings which it cannot explain. A man who would endeavor to fix an enthusiast by argument might as well attempt to spread quicksilver with his finger.” MenWellsReasonShowsFeelingsMightImpossibleUnderstoodArgumentPressureFingersSpreadResistanceEnthusiasmDistinctionEndeavorCombatElude Book:The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M. B.: Including a Variety of Pieces Source: The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, M. B.: Including a Variety of Pieces
“When we would show any one that he is mistaken, our best course is to observe on what side he considers the subject,--for his view of if is generally right on this side,--and admit to him that he is right so far. He will be satisfied with this acknowledgment, that he was not wrong in his judgment, but only inadvertent in not looking at the whole case.” IfsWholeShowsCoursesSidesViewsCasesSubjectsJudgmentArgumentSatisfiedMistakenAcknowledgment Author:Blaise Pascal