Thursday, March 1, 2007

Thanks, Mr. Ffff...Ffff..wait, I'll get it...Flemming.

I'd like to express my appreciation to Blasphemy Challenge co-creator Brian Flemming for his gracious willingness to stand up for my fair use rights on YouTube. I'm also delighted that he found my parody of the Challenge amusing. That atheists and Christians are able to laugh together is either a reminder of our common humanity or a sign of the end-times. I can't quite decide which.

None of us are well served if we allow each other's ability to debate and challenge to be stifled by censorship. In fact, I'd love to discuss this, the Challenge, and the God Who Wasn't There further with the estimable Mr. Flemming, but I and other Christians are currently stymied by his requiring a signed and notarized statement before any conversation will even be considered.

That's unfortunate, because I'm left in the position of being unable to respond to a debate he's already begun with me. On his blog, Brian writes:

"The argument underlying Pastor David's parody is typically fallacious (it amounts to, "I see Christianity as an expression of peace and love, so the Rational Response Squad is opposed to peace and love"), but that's of course completely irrelevant to whether it should be removed from YouTube. If poorly reasoned arguments were forbidden, Christian pastors wouldn't be able to post on YouTube at all." Oooh. Quite the smackdown.

It would be fallacious...were that a reasonable encapsulation of my satire. A more objective summation would read "Love is the essential core of the Christian ethos, so the Rational Response Squad has willfully misrepresented Christianity." Of course, that's open to debate. I'm sure there's a great, snappy comeback to my poor reasoning, but we'll never get to hear it.

It's a pity, because it'd make for a very entertaining conversation. Might even be fun. I promise I'd keep the speaking in tongues to a minimum.