Conservapedia:5 Questions to Ask an Anti-Conservative

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Conservapedia (and religious fundamentalism to an extent) was a major focal point in the early history of RationalWiki, but long ago ceased coming up with new ways to appall and amuse.
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Please augment/expand/rewrite the answers as you see fit. Thank you.

The Questions and answers[edit]

Here are some answers to the 5 key questions asked by conservatives:

Which group is more likely to lie to you: one that believes in the Ten Commandments and tries to obey them, or one that rejects the Ten Commandments?[edit]

Answer: Assuming "Convincing oneself to believe whatever bullshit he/she made up before he/she says it"^[1] counts as lying, chances are both groups of people are equally likely to lie.

Explanation: religious fundamentalists who believe that the Ten Commandments have to be displayed everywhere are bound to have beliefs that may have been falsified (Example: creationism) because these "truths"^[2] are revealed^[3] to them as the final "truth", which any contradicting evidence are to be discarded or suppressed. Given such nature of such "truths", it is difficult to determine the actual truth value of anything they say.

As an afterthought, there are those (such as Ken Ham, Kent Hovind, and others) who accept the Ten Commandments that lie their butts off.

Beyond that, major Christian figures like Eusebius of Caesarea^[4] and Martin Luther^[5] outright encouraged lying where it might advance Christianity.

Would you ever suggest a classroom prayer for a classmate having a sick parent, who you know would greatly appreciate it?[edit]

Answer: Let's answer this in the form of questions: What would you use as the words in the prayer for the atheist classmate? What about the classmate who is a member of a made-up religion? What about the Satanist classmate?

Commentary: using the wrong religion to pray is going to be unpleasant and insulting, because this shows no respect to the religion of the classmate in question. Also, it is equally disrespectful to everyone else by forcing them to pray in the religion of the classmate in question.

For more details, see proper procedures

If you support gun control, do you also advocate "Alcohol control" for adults to reduce the greater harm caused by Alcohol?[edit]

There is already alcohol control, in the form of DUI blood alcohol limits, limits for alcohol contents in beverages, hours of the day when it can be purchased, as well as a minimum age to purchase alcohol.

Also, drinking alcohol is something which you do to yourself; whereas shooting people is something you inflict on others. So it's not really comparing the same things.

Is it possible that teaching conservative values to teenagers is beneficial for them, and you?[edit]

Answer: It is as good as teaching teenagers about intelligent design, and the most beneficial way to teach about it is to teach how to rip it apart.

Is it possible that conservative values helps reinforce and strengthen one's faith?[edit]

Answer: Which faith are we talking about, this or this?

The former apparently requires conservative values, which essentially says that the set of final "truths"^[2] you have been told is the status quo, and that anything which contradicts the "truths" are to be rejected or suppressed.

The latter however, rejects conservative values, because new evidence is accepted to modify the set of things one believes in, thereby modifying the status quo as new observations arrive.

Speaking of which, why does one need faith anyways?

Footnotes[edit]

↑ This is to close the loophole that "They truly believe the things they said" (As Richard Dawkins puts it, see The God Delusion) may not count as lying.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Proposition is the better word although the fundamentalists insists on the use of the word "truth".
↑ Or indoctrinated, or injected through various techniques like brainwashing and torture.
↑ "How it may be lawful and fitting to use falsehood as a medicine, and for the benefit of those who want to be deceived.", per Gibbons' translation.
↑ "What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church ... a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them."

[1] This is to close the loophole that "They truly believe the things they said" (As Richard Dawkins puts it, see The God Delusion) may not count as lying.

[truth-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Proposition is the better word although the fundamentalists insists on the use of the word "truth".

[3] Or indoctrinated, or injected through various techniques like brainwashing and torture.

[4] "How it may be lawful and fitting to use falsehood as a medicine, and for the benefit of those who want to be deceived.", per Gibbons' translation.

[5] "What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church ... a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them."

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