A religious meme that bothers me lately

[Orrex]

Recently I've been in DU discussions about this or that incursion of religion into formal public discourse, be it in legislative over-reaching or in oblique indoctrination by public school teachers. Again and again I've seen a rejoinder like the following:

I'm not afraid to expose my children to different views. I use it as an opportunity to discuss religion with them.

The superficial meaning is that everything can be used as a learning experience, but it is in fact a two-fold insult. It clearly implies either that I'm irrationally protective of my kids or that I'm unwilling to speak with them. It's a rhetorical tactic that doesn't actually advance the underlying argument; in fact, it seeks to change the argument from "this is religious mission-creep" to "I'm a good parent."

It's akin to calling someone "defensive" or saying "you're taking this personally." Either of those tactics seeks to force the opponent to interrupt the real argument in order to address the charge. It's also similar to arguments about alternative medicine, in which the alt-med proponent says something like "why are you denying people the right to choose?"

I find all of these to be distasteful trickery, and they cheapen whatever argument is actually going on around them. The only method I've found for shutting down these tactics is to call them out for what they are, but usually the person will simply attempt the tactic again a few posts later.


Have you encountered something like this? How do you handle it? I seem to be seeing it more frequently, but perhaps that's just my perception.

[Warpy]

1. I usually bust them for talking about different sects

of the same religion and ask them how often they take the kiddies to temple or mosque.

The ones who don't shut up after that are reminded that I'm an atheist and all religions look equally silly to me and why would I expose my (theoretical) kids to such silliness when there are concerts, museums, and nature walks to take them to instead?

[Orrex]

2. That's a very solid and level-headed response

I think I'll steal it for future use. Thanks!

[cosmik debris]

3. My response:

"I use it as an opportunity to discuss the dangers of religion with my kids too."

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. so then

she doesn't read the book?