A lot of people tend to be very offended by people like me, because I compare different ideas and then judge some of them true and some false. A disproportionate number of these people tend to be female, and often somewhere between 13 and 30. I don’t know what that says, I just find it weird.

The kind of feedback I receive from these ladies is along these four lines of argumentation:

1. You are wrong.

2. You should shut up.

3. Why can’t you leave other people alone? If their belief makes them happy, then why can’t you just let them be happy?

4. You are wrong and should shut up.

Eventually you will discover that they feel like they are defending people they care about- friends and family who are (gay, atheist, evolutionists, democrats, Cubs fans, vegetarians, cat owners, etc etc etc.). And they feel that a person who is attacking (whatever belief or behavior) is attacking that person they love. Their conclusion is, the way to be loving is to leave people alone and let them be happy doing or believing whatever they want.

This sounds compassionate, right? Like a greeting card wrapped in barbed wire. However, as I shall explain, these ladies are completely bonkers. To prove that I shall replace (whatever) with a belief which you will feel I am making up, but I assure you I am not. Let’s pretend that someone you love and care about believes that their medical ailments can all be cured by consuming pigeon poop. I am not making this up.

There are peoples along the banks of the Amazon River who, being underprivileged in the areas of education, have been lied to by con men who pretend to be offering them medical help. This help comes in the form of various “medicines” which contain the element of pigeon poop. Many of these people believe those men, and spend what little money they have to purchase and then consume these “Medicines.”

Ew.

I happen to know that pigeon poop is bad for you. Not only will it never cure any medical ailment, but it will cause a host of new ones. Now ask yourself, what is the loving thing to do for these people? Is it loving to let them believe what they believe and do what they think is right? Or is it MORE loving to say,

“HEY! Stop eating bird poo!”

Is it not more loving to try to convince them to trade their bird poo potions for actual medicines? I am suggesting that it is.

So to all the ladies who wonder why people like me make arguments against the ideas I believe to be lies, just remember, I am trying to get people to trade bird poo for vitamin C, metaphorically speaking. And to all the Christian apologists out there, let us remember that we are doing the loving thing, so let us do it lovingly. Jesus didn’t beat up on everybody, or even on the sinners. He saved that for anyone who kept sinners from getting to God. Let’s follow HIS example and remember not to be rude to people who have a mouthful of bird poop merely because they have it, but lovingly persuade them to spit it out and replace it with the living water Jesus offers.

And remember, if you can’t do as the Bible instructs and speak the truth in love, but rather you choose to speak the truth in meanness and jerkitude, then let me offer a variation of the advice given by our ladies:

You’re right, and you should shut up. After all, you won’t persuade someone to spit out a mouthful of poop by giving them a lot of crap.

Speak the truth in love. And remember #JesusLovesYou