Jenell Paris has continues her provocative series.
6. Evangelicalism Likes Prioritizing the Superiority of Its Point of View
I
wrote about a man who moves from Christian faith to atheism, and
evangelicalism worried that I was showing more credence for his point
of view than I was defending the Christianity he had abandoned. Indeed,
because I was writing for an audience predisposed against atheism, I
thought I’d show the marginal point of view in as empathic a way
possible. It’s just what anthropologists do – we try to see the world
from other points of view, not simply showing how Others are deficient
versions of Us. Evangelicalism disagrees with anthropology on this
point, preferring to discuss things like atheism, agnosticism and other
religions primarily in terms of how they rely on flawed logic and
personal immaturity, and how our superior logic and maturity could
potentially convert their adherents.