Patently False Church Sign
I was stopped at a light and saw this church sign. Yep! I did! I grabbed my cell phone and took a picture. (It was a long red!)
It’s nonsense.
It’s a particularly bad use of the slippery slope argument.
A free society depends on us permitting things that we do not promote. I permit people to utter nonsense, even in my presence. I do not promote their speech.
I’m guessing that this was intended to refer to same-sex marriage, as a warning that if we allow it, we must promote it. But permitting and promoting are not the same thing.
It is, of course, quite possible that we should neither permit nor promote some activities. Murder, for example. But permitting even murder would not be the same thing as promoting it.
I suppose it’s too much to expect the purveyors of church sign quotes to use the language with any skill. In fact, church signs are a very rich source of really bad quotes.
But this one just got on my nerves.
OK. I’m done.
Henry, well put. The “slippery slope” argument is often used when there is no good argument at hand. It’s akin to resorting to ad hominem attacks. Remember the “domino theory” used for our engagement in Vietnam? Not only didn’t Southeast Asia fall to the communists, Vietnam is now a trading partner with the USA. Arguments should be supported in their own right, not invent boogeymen to make a point.
Great sign. Pointed. Effective. Like firing a old fashioned flash bulb in a otherwise dark room… leaves an impression long after it is gone. Forces one to deal with the stark realities of right and wrong. Refreshing in a world where so many prefer grey.
So stating something that is clearly false sheds light? The only thing it forced me to think about is how people substitute shallow–and false–statements for actual thought. One of the most morally relativistic ideas is that lying promotes truth.
This sign as presented is effective given the necessary limitations of space, etc., common to marquee type signage. Otherwise it would not be the subject of this post and discussion. It provides a useful confrontation to a post-modern world that like Pilate of old prefers to wash its hands of any responsibility for the consequences of the immoral positions it permits, whether that is the destruction of the N.T. teaching and practice of marriage and family, the industrial elimination of unborn children, etc.
Just wondering, bthomas, are sinners permitted in your church? Thought so.
Re: Wondering. All sorts of folks attend our local church, sinners one and all. Some of them have been saved. Join with us in the hope and prayer that that will be the case for one and all as they come to know Christ Jesus as savior and Lord.