Patheos

BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Patheos

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Why I Am Catholic

Marc Barnes is like Ted Williams Hitting .400

Last updated on: January 24, 2017 at 5:54 pm   by Frank Weathers

Marc Barnes is like Ted Williams Hitting .400 2017-01-24T17:54:50-05:00 Frank Weathers

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

And just as fun to watch. Take for instance this post he wrote yesterday, which has gone as viral as the Spanish Influenza, being seen by close to 37,000 people in a little more than 24 hours. Like Ted drinking a bottle of Moxie, Marc wades right in.

Oh dear. Matthew Inman of the marvelous web-comic, The Oatmeal, seems to have experienced that exquisite twitch all modern atheists are doomed to experience — the I-know-what’s-best-for-you-silly-religious-people-come-heed-me spasm. This particular train of thought requires the thinker ignore the vast majority of Christian belief — which is entrenched in reason — and focus solely on minority caricatures of the creationist or the wailing-out evangelical, caricatures firmly established and grounded in The Holy Internet Worldview. Having thus defined the term “religion”, the moral high ground is taken, the sneers are unleashed, and all religious people fear and tremble, for atheism has demonstrated itself as supremely reasonable, authoritative, scientific, and gosh-darnit it’s a wonder everyone just doesn’t convert on the spot. Check it out.

Now I know it’s an impossible task, rebutting with clunking prose what is claimed by fantastic comics, but someone’s got to try, if only for this reason: It’s no kindness to the atheist to let him forever believe that the religious have all the intellectual history of a WBC preacher. I mean goodness, what if he stumbles upon a Dominican? The shock would kill him. Thus and therefore and onwards then, in that frustrating step-by-step manner:

Read the whole, charitable, piece. It is a tour de force. Then share it with your friends, your teenagers, and your youth ministry folks in your parish. While you’re at it, share it with your priest and your RCIA leaders too. Let’s share it all the way to Pluto and back! You never know, but Marc’s treatment of this may even help Matthew Inman turn the corner and view Catholicism in a new light. Stranger things than that have happened.

Bravo Marc Barnes! Well done. Very well done, indeed.

Captain Ted Williams, USMC, in the cockpit of his F-9 Panther, Korean War

Culture

Learning

Living

Charity

Defending the Faith

New Atheists

Other Blogs

Reason

Truth

Previous Post



July 26, 2012

"First Past the Post" Voting: How the Math Works UPDATED

Next Post



July 27, 2012 Ultimate Gearhead Coolness: A Formula One Race Car Cut in Half


Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog News Conversion Story Culture Learning Living Nature Prayer Uncategorized Working

Select a Month June 2016 May 2016 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009


Follow Us!

Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter



TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Nain" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

City of refuge Holy place Pleasant Land of God

Related posts from Why I Am Catholic

Catholic

Belated Happy Birthday To Blaise Pascal, Unofficial Saint...

Why I Am Catholic

Catholic

Because My Brother Imran Yousef Is An American...

Why I Am Catholic

Catholic

Joe Six-Pack, USMC, With A Few Post-Terrorist Attack...

Why I Am Catholic

Catholic

This Is Why God Invented YouTube...

Why I Am Catholic

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Catholic

Rejecting Doom: Christian Hope And Human Action

Christianity is a religion of hope. We are to have hope and...

It’s What Comes From Within Which Matters

One of the most difficult things for us to understand is why...

Why I Choose the Eucharist Over the Sermon

Choose the Eucharist, Not the Sermon What are we supposed to get...

5 Design Elements Found in Spiritually Rooted Homes

Putting Spirituality Into Home Decor Our homes are more than our living...

Credo: A Story of God Told with the...

About 10 years ago, I began to imagine a personal "Credo" that...

The Anatomy of Divine Revelation in Catholic Thought

The claim that God has made Himself known to human beings is...

view all Catholic blogs

Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube