I’ve been on a long-term search for any Christian or other religious apologist worth a damn and so far, my search has come up empty. Occasionally, I’ll see some atheist YouTuber say “I really like this apologist”, but when I look at them, they’re every bit as bad as the rest.

So my question here is… why?

I honestly figure that they’re desperate to find someone about whom they can be less critical. “Well sure, they’re still stupid, but they’re LESS stupid than the rest!”

Sorry, that’s not what I want. Just because a particular apologist isn’t scraping the very bottom of the barrel, that doesn’t mean they’re worthwhile. I’ve seen people say that Sean McDowell is nice, or that Mike Winger has some good points, or that, believe it or not, Eric Hovind was decent enough to be around.

So what? They’re all still faith-mongers and that’s not what I’m looking for. I know that pretty much guarantees that I’ll never find anything, but that’s because, most likely, what I want, what we all ought to want, simply doesn’t exist.

That’s kind of sad, don’t you think?

I’m looking for someone who actually cares about the truth. Someone who doesn’t begin and end with faith as their sole justification for belief. Someone who actually cares about the evidence for the claims in the Bible or other holy books.

Those people don’t seem to exist.

Sure, I know that faith is going to come into it at some point because religion is not rationally justifiable, but if you have no credible justification for your beliefs, then you’re not worth having a conversation with in the first place. If the only starting place you have is “it says so in the Bible!” then forget it. You’re a lost cause. How do you justify the Bible in the first place? None of them seem to care. You have to get to a coherent starting point entirely absent faith and “but I really want to believe!” I have yet to see a single one of them that can do that.

Point out any other position, anywhere, where this is how it works. I can’t think of one. Religion seems to be the only entirely made up, fanciful idea that doesn’t rely on anything demonstrable at all, where you’re not allowed to ask any questions and you’re just expected to believe blindly.

No wonder these people are so messed up.

I want to have a conversation with a theist where it doesn’t feel like my brains are dribbling out my ears. That shouldn’t be too much to ask. I want to be able to make points and not have them all rejected out of hand, because faith. This does not seem to be possible, or at the very least, I can’t remember the last time when I had any engagement with a theist where it happened. It’s all “but I want to believe!” as they head for the hills, never to be seen again.

These people are real children. That isn’t something for which anyone should be proud.