Smophistry. That's a word I made up just now, and I think it accurately describes a quote by Francis Beckwith I happened upon while stalking Christian blogs for my own fodder. Smophistry is defined as an especially smug use of sophistry.
The author, Alan Shlemon, is completely oblivious to the crux of that question, which is whether religious people should impose their solely religious morals on a society that doesn't share them. No reasonable human being would reject to a moral motivated by religion as long as it had a rational secular justification. Christians are undoubtedly aware of this principle when they forego Bible thumping and instead make secular arguments against same sex marriage, or when Intelligent Design proponents attempt to make their creationist beliefs seem scientific. They realize that while some citizens are Catholic and some are Baptist and others are Mormon, every citizen, no matter what their confession, inhabits the secular sphere and therefore any arguments proposed within that context apply to every citizen - no matter what their confession.
The smophistry comes in when someone known as KVM posted a quote by Beckwith, which you'll see completely misses the crux as well:
This is where we find ourselves: the sophisticates are confronted by what they have been told simply cannot exist in a liberal democracy--real live, well-educated, thoughtful theists and social conservatives with actual arguments offered in a public setting without the benefit of special revelation. But here's where the bait and switch comes in. You see, in a liberal democracy, we are told, arguments, no matter how sound or strong, cannot be placed in the public square if their advocates are citizens motivated by their theological sensibilities.
Rather than putting us in literal internment camps, they choose a less expensive alternative: categorical internment campus. We don't even have to leave our homes! As long as we speak only when spoken to, and sit quietly in the back of the secular bus with our hands gently folded and saying "yessir Mr. Secularist, thank you very much," we will be fine.
Aaargh! The smug, it burns!
Beckwith's employment of the conservative canard playbook is impressive. First you have the dreaded sophisticates (gasp!), an ever-handy way to appeal to the anti-intellectualism and xenophobia of your audience. Apparently you can't expect to garner the support of conservative Christianity without painting the picture of a black and white "us vs. them" struggle. Am I the only one who finds this tactic to be extremely condescending to conservative Christianity? Next comes the reliable claim that these scary sophisticates (read: secularists) won't allow religion in the public square - a usually intentional conflation of government endorsement of religion, to which secularists are opposed, with public expressions of faith by private individuals, to which secularists are happy to support.
As if those tactics weren't slimy enough, Beckwith goes the extra mile by playing both the Nazi and the race cards! Yes, that's right, Christians, we secularists would like to put all of you in "literal internment camps", but it turns out it's just too damn expensive. So instead, we want you to know your place and sit in the back of the "secular bus". Don't go thinking you can get all uppity and drink from the secular water fountains, either.
Smophistry of the highest order. It's disgusting.
If Beckwith, KVM, Shlemon, and anyone else harboring a misguided fear of secularism would realize that "actual arguments offered in a public setting without the benefit of special revelation" is exactly what we secularists are looking for, there would be no need for all this persecution posturing.
Gay marriage is an abomination to your god. OK. We get that, and we have no objection to it within the context of your religion. But I and millions of other citizens of this country don't share your religion, and we don't have to prostrate ourselves to your homophobe of a god. I laud your attempt to put forth secular arguments against gay marriage, and I encourage more of it, because none thus far have passed the test of reason.
You believe your god created the world in six days six thousand years ago. OK. We get that, and you have our support should the right to believe that ever be in peril. But I and millions of other citizens of this country don't share your religion, so where do you get the right to have public schools instruct our children about your personal myth as if it were science?
Please drop the smophistry. Keep the reasoning behind your moral impositions secular, so that they apply to everyone, and more importantly, keep the uniquely solely religious impositions to yourself.
