ARGUMENTATION!

A few weeks ago I received a 'freebie' from
http://www.teach12.com/ in the form of an article
called "38 Ways to Win an Argument from
Arthur Schopenhauer's 'The Art of Controversy'."
It makes fascinating reading for someone like
myself who takes an interest in Christian
Apologetics.

The strategies suggested involve misrepresenting
your opponents position, making them angry,
confusing them and twisting their language. Also
by using the innocence of a non-expert audience
you can ridicule a perfectly valid argument made
by your opponent. "For it is with victory that you
are concerned, not with truth"! There is something
unkind - if not downright cruel - about it all, but
perhaps this should not surprise us because
all that is false is cruel by that very fact.

Well, frankly I find the strategies suggested totally
deplorable. Of course I am saying this as a
Christian for whom the 9th Commandment against
"bearing false witness" is a cardinal principle.
Furthermore underhand strategies are antithetical
to the spirit of the Gospel; they imply that the truth
will not do. Integrity requires that one
understands and represents ones opponent's views
fairly.

I can only conclude that there are people out there
who are prepared to publicly argue a case they
know to be false, because these strategies can serve
no other purpose; unless the whole article is meant
to be 'tongue in cheek' of course, but somehow I
doubt it.

I have no interest in arguing something I suspect
is false; my philosophy of argumentation is this:
my primary goal is to understand the truth and
if I am wrong it is a kindness to put me right. In
that sense an argument requires good faith on
both sides to engage with an issue fairly and,
no matter how difficult the discussion is, it will
ultimately be collaborative and enlightening.
Even an insult may contain some flash of insight
from which one might benefit. The alternative
of cheap point scoring at someone else's expense
is mindlessly adversarial and results in nothing
of worth.

The only"victory" worth having is to know the
truth. Ultimately the facts are their own best
argument.

UNIVERSITY OF SCIATICA .

During the spell I was laid up with back pain I made
use of time off of work to read books, listen to audio
Cds and watch documentaries on TV and DVD. I call
this time in my life "The University of Sciatica"!

I've already mentioned Melvyn Bragg's "In our Time"
radio series in an earlier blog, but I want to flag up
a couple of other good sources I discovered during
my enforced 'sabbatical'.

'Amazon' are always a good resource if you are house
bound. Great books, reasonably priced delivered to
your door. If you are not a great reader why not try
an audio book? Push the boat out and try a subject
or author you've never heard of - who knows where it
might lead?! You will be the richer for having tried!
Amazon also have a great DVD rental service.

I stumbled across a company based in the USA who
provide university (college) style lectures in a variety
of media. I've bought a few courses in audio CD from
them over the last few months "CS Lewis", "Western
Civilization", "Russian Literature", "Natural Law", "Books
that changed the World", one on Chinese civilisation
"From Yao to Mao" and latterly "The Birth of the Modern
Mind - an intellectual history of the 17th & 18th centuries"!
These and many other courses are available from 'The
Teaching Company' http://www.teach12.com/ Check out their
e-catalog! Some advice; (1) I personally wouldn't order
the transcripts as the courses do come with some,
perfectly adequate, written notes. (2) For customers
outside the USA be aware that your local customs may
impose a charge [eg HMG Customs will levy a charge on
product worth over $50]. These are my only caveats -
this company is an excellent resource; I recommend them
to you.

As for Bible teaching I thoroughly recommend
www.shmedia.org.uk and www.thegoodbook.co.uk Maybe
you too will one day have an opportunity like mine to
create your own curriculum in your own learning experience!
Don't knock it! The Good Book Company also offer
correspondence courses to certificate level through the
"Open Bible Institute" [formerly known as the Moore
College Correspondence Courses]. I've done the 'Bible
Introduction' and 'New testament 1' [that's Mark's Gospel]
in times past and I'm presently having a crack at 'Old
Testament 1' [that's the Pentateuch]. The exams are
optional - but hey if you're going to do the work why not
go for the certificate?! http://www.open-bible-institute.org/

Just one more recommendation; I created my own
'University of Sciatica' t-shirt online at http://www.eshirt.it/
Honest, it's a really easy site to use and they have some
great designs which you can customise, or you can upload
your own image if you like.

Over the last couple of months I've been gradually
increasing the number of hours at work; initially doing
office based stuff and more recently doing clinical work
on the Children's Intensive Care Unit at 'Sonata Smith's
Hospital' in London. Oh, and earlier this month I managed
to do my previously aborted walking trip to the Lake
District. So things are definately moving in the right
direction.

MELVYN BRAGG; "In Our Time".

Melvyn Bragg has returned to BBC radio 4 recently with a new
series of "In Our Time". The format is a discussion by a panel
of experts chaired by Bragg exploring the history of ideas.
It is on at 9am on Thursday mornings for 45 minutes and a
shorter version is repeated the same evening at 9.30pm on
Radio 4. [92.4-94.6 MHz; 198 kHz].

I've always been a fan of this programme since I heard an
explanation of 'the standard model' of sub-atomic particles
which 'blew my mind'!

The subjects can be rather esoteric but they do provide
you with an introduction to topics you might never have
heard of otherwise. Sometimes they look at science,
sometimes it's history, other times it can be literature or
philosophy. I often find that "In Our Time" can inspire
me to look further into a given subject - you don't always
have to agree with a panellist's opinion to feel curious
enough to follow it up with some reading of your own.

Earlier this year I had to take some time off work because
of back pain. This period was a great opportunity to listen
to some of these programmes I'd recorded over the years.
I called this my "University of Sciatica"! [Don't you think that
sounds a bit like a midwestern college? I even had a T-Shirt
made up with this name - how sad is that?]

Anyway I am writing to recommend this radio series and to
let you know that you can access the archive of previous
discussions at the website below, either to listen on-line or
download in an mp3 format.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/inourtime/inourtime.shtml

SCIATICA ! - and the Gift of Time!

On the morning of my planned departure to the Lake District
I awoke at 5am with an absolutely excruciating pain in my left thigh.
I phoned NHS Direct - 0845 4647 - who took some details and
passed my case to the on-call Doctor at my local surgery.

The upshot is I probably have a problem with my Lumbar
Spine - could be a prolapsed disc compressing my sciatic
nerve. Maybe I'm a bit of a wuss but I have to say I have
rarely ever had such pain before so I'm thankful to have
been prescribed Diclofenac, Dihydrocodeine and Paracetamol
(aka Acetaminophen in the USA), along with some Diazepam.

In all of this there are mercies I can truly thank Jesus for;
[1] that it hadn't happened the next day when I would
have been stuck on a campsite, or [2] worse still to have found
myself immobilised by pain on a mountain....taking up the
valuable time of a mountain rescue team.

Although my mobility is severely curtailed, I have been given
the valuable gift of time having been signed off from work. All
the books I've never gotten around to finding time for I can read
now. Also during the night when I've been unable to sleep I've
listened to some great audio-books - Bill Bryson's "A Short
History of Nearly Everything", Tom Holland's "Persian Fire"
(a gripping account of the war between ancient Greece and Persia)
and Robert Harris' "Pompeii". [Amazon.co.uk are going to do some
great trade with me over the next few weeks!]

I read Alister McGrath's "Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes
and the Meaning of Life" in one sitting.....that is a cracking
book from a Christian perspective - well argued in both
senses of the phrase; thoughtful and gracious! [I wish more
Christian literature was like it!]

Time is a precious gift - maybe I have been given the
opportunity to come good on all those past New Years'
Resolutions I usually end up forwarding!