(Click here for Part 1 of the podcast version of this article. Click here for Part 2.)
We love to be right. We like to know we’re on the winning side by not only being confident about our beliefs, but understanding why other positions simply don’t make sense. We often see this in politics and religion, but this touches almost every area of our lives.
As people who love God, we want to love truth as much as He does. We understand that truth isn’t a matter of preference – something is right, or something is wrong. Yet we often don’t just talk about what is true, but we also engage with false beliefs.
Unfortunately, we live in a time where fighting for truth matters less than fighting against people we disagree with. More and more, various media focuses on tearing down people on “the other side.” And, worse, God’s people have learned how to engage with differing beliefs by mimicking the world.
This article explores how we’ve been trained to be dishonest about differing beliefs by using “straw man arguments,” why that stops us from effectively engaging with people, and offers a better way to fight for the truth.
Understanding straw man arguments
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a professional boxer who was undefeated for 50 matches. Imagine never seeing a boxing match before, but a friend takes you to see Mayweather’s final match. You may not be sure what to expect, but you know an undefeated boxing champion will be impressive.
Continue to imagine that both boxers are in the ring, and the fight is about to begin. But before the bell rings, Mayweather says something to the referee. The referee then tells Mayweather’s opponent to leave the ring, and someone brings up a dummy made of straw. They dress the straw dummy up to look like the opponent, and Mayweather proceeds to demolish his new opponent. The match ends with Mayweather throwing his hands up in victory while the crowd goes wild for the undefeated champion.
Meanwhile, you sit there thinking that boxing fans are completely out of their minds. Or, perhaps, you join them in cheering because you don’t know what boxing is supposed to look like.
This is where we get the term “straw man argument.” It’s a strategy where we pretend to argue against someone’s belief, but we really twist the belief into something easy for us to beat up. People who already agree with us will cheer at our ability to defeat our opponent so soundly. Those who don’t know what we’ve done assume we’re right simply because they’ve only heard our interpretation of the other side and can’t imagine how anyone could believe it. Meanwhile, those whose arguments we’ve warped will be further pushed away from our way of thinking.
At its core, these arguments refuse to deal with someone’s true beliefs. A straw man either misrepresents beliefs in a way that is easy to defeat or changes the subject to something that’s easier to argue against.
Examples of straw man arguments
To help show what this looks like, I’ll list a few examples I’ve seen over the past few years and briefly explain how they don’t truly engage with what someone actually believes.
Young-Earth Creationists reject sound science.
Old-Earth Creationists exchange the Bible for evolution.
Both sides have scientific and biblical reasons for whether they believe the universe is either thousands or millions of years old.
Pro-lifers hate women.
Pro-choicers hate the unborn.
Neither of these addresses why someone fights for the rights of one, but instead distracts us ad makes us angry at how little they care about one part of the population.
Calvanism is unbiblical.
Arminianism is unbiblical.
Calling something “unbiblical” is one of the easiest ways to avoid actually engaging with the biblical reasons why someone holds a particular belief.
Republicans are racists.
Democrats are communists.
This involves taking a single policy of one group, warping it to the extreme, then showing how that group is barely distinguishable from racists or communists.
Christians want you to have blind faith.
Atheists believe you evolved from a monkey.
This takes a basic belief and presents it in a way that makes a Christian or atheist look like a fool.
Straw man arguments today
Make no mistake, we all love straw man arguments. Look through your social media feed, or watch your preferred news source, and see how someone’s opponent is represented. We get to feel superior for clearly being on the side of reason and morality, because “those people” are demonized as cartoon villains who are either bumbling idiots or filled with evil. It can even be a way to vent our anger or frustration about a belief we know is wrong.
It’s easy to fall into this trap. And many of us have spent so much time hearing and discussing how wrong they are that we may not even realize we do it. When we spread these bad arguments, we get high fives and slaps on the back from our friends, which further encourages us to make people outside of our group look as stupid or immoral as we possibly can.
Everyone, myself included, is guilty of building straw men. With our world being so connected through the internet, it becomes even easier to surround ourselves with people who let us easily disagree with differing beliefs. Over time, we become very knowledgeable about what someone believes based on what people on our side say, yet we never actually understand how rational people made in God’s image could believe what they believe. Instead, we’re satisfied to keep building an opponent out of straw, putting on our boxing gloves, then holding up our hands in triumph.
Building lies and a bad testimony
A straw man argument claims to tell the truth about what someone believes, then shows why others shouldn’t believe it. It’s saying “this person or group believes this” when, if asked, those people would explain why they very clearly don’t believe that. Whether we do it through lazy ignorance or willful manipulation, we say that something is true when it isn’t.
But God’s word has something to say about straw man arguments.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. (Proverbs 12:22)
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:9-10)
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
Simply put, misrepresenting someone else’s beliefs is lying. Every post we’ve made on social media, every clever discussion we’ve had with our like-minded friends, and every heated argument we’ve had with people where we keep telling them what they believe… is a sin Christ had to die for. And while that’s fine for a world that already lives as God’s enemies, it’s not fitting for a follower of Jesus Christ.
This matters to our relationship with God, but also with other people. Especially to those whose beliefs we lie about.
Consider what we tell others who know God hates lying, yet also know we aren’t honest about beliefs we disagree with. Religious and political beliefs are often core to someone’s identity, so when we’re dishonest about what they believe, it’s a personal attack on them. And although God can reach anyone for salvation, we want God to work in someone’s heart through our obedience, not despite our sin.
How straw men stunt our worldview and relationships
It takes time to see how prevalent straw men arguments are. But over time, it becomes clear how many people around us give into them. And if we’re honest, it makes sense why people struggle to have meaningful conversations about heated topics.
When our primary engagement with differing beliefs is built on lies, we weaken our beliefs in the process. We prevent ourselves from truly challenging why we believe what we do because the other options seem so weak or ignorant. We aren’t required to press against our worldview to see if it accurately reflects reality, because anything we believe will be better than the ridiculous and shallow belief we’ve constructed for the other side.
Without realizing it, we easily sit in ignorance and become unable to truly explore our own beliefs because we don’t know how to challenge them. In addition, because we don’t fully understand our own beliefs in contrast to others, we become much more likely to believe anything promoted by people on our side. And over time, we become so entrenched in our weak worldview that we become afraid to honestly challenge it and, if necessary, alter or abandon it.
This likewise affects how well we can engage with others. When we don’t understand what a full, living, functional human being believes, we can’t try to persuade them out of it. If all we do is beat up straw men in front of our opponents, we leave them further convinced they’re right because we make our side look completely unreasonable. And when we do engage with someone, it shouldn’t surprise us when these conversations become little more than talking at someone, rather than talking to them. After all, we don’t have enough respect for them to treat their beliefs with honesty, so what motivation do we have to talk to them like a real person?
Leaning in to straw man arguments is easy. People who agree with us will praise us for being so clever and well-informed. We may even feel justified when our opponents treat us with hostility because of the things we say about them. However, if we are people who love truth and hate sin, then we need to realize the damage done by this way of thinking. It may allow us to be more comfortable in our beliefs, but we do so at great cost to ourselves, others, and the gospel itself.
Understanding steel man arguments
Rather than building an opposing argument out of straw, we can love our God by building those arguments out of steel.
The idea here is simple. When we’re engaging with a belief, we try to understand it so well that we present the strongest case possible for it (perhaps even stronger than the person we’re talking to). Then, and only then, do we set out to expose why our own belief is still worth believing.
There are a number of benefits to the steel man argument.
#1
It shows our opponents that we respect them. If they can agree with how we represent their argument, then they know we care enough to try. It shows a level of concern, care, and thought that is completely foreign in the world today. And for those whose ideas are being challenged, they will at least know we aren’t beginning from a position of hostility.
#2
It demands that we use empathy with those we disagree with. It’s very difficult to understand someone’s argument without understanding why they would believe it. When we get in the mind of someone who completely rejects God or believes spiritual gifts are still active today, we are more capable of talking to them from a position of understanding. And, in the end, we’re much more likely to treat them as complete human beings instead of a flat, sub-human caricature who only exists for us to defeat.
#3
It forces us to work out our own beliefs. If we’re going to invest in understanding opposing beliefs, it only makes sense to spend just as much time finding the strengths and weaknesses of our own beliefs. The goal here isn’t to do just enough work for the other side to sound like we’re being respectful, but instead to weigh both sides equally and confirm that we really do hold the best position.
#4
It proves we’re on the side of truth. This is closely linked to the previous point. Let’s assume that between two opposing beliefs, only one of them is true. If our belief really is the true one, then we have no fear of building the best possible position for the other side before exposing its flaws and our strengths. After all, if we are more concerned about truth than simply being right, then no amount of strengthening the opposing side will outweigh all the evidence that proves our beliefs are true.
#5
Fifth, it shows that we aren’t hiding anything. Straw man arguments are lies through manipulation of facts. When people know we aren’t accurately representing the other side, the obvious question is “Why?” And, often, straw men arguments are made simply because someone is trying to hide that their belief system is weak or flawed. But when we are fair and accurate to what others believe, it shows that we aren’t ashamed of our own position.
#6
It shifts our focus to others. It’s embarrassing to admit we’re wrong, so we’ve learned to be right at all costs. As we’ve seen, we’re even willing to sin if it means we can look better. But the beauty of steel man arguments is that it’s not about us. Instead, it’s about loving others enough to not only understand their beliefs, but expose why those beliefs aren’t an accurate reflection of reality.
#7
It grows our humility. We may try to represent an opposing argument and realize we misunderstand it. Perhaps we’ll have to admit that some aspects of a person’s belief are valid. We may even need to admit that there are areas of our own worldview that we haven’t fully worked out. Steel man arguments force us to realize that we simply don’t know everything by exposing areas of weakness. And just as we hope others will grant us grace in our imperfections, we should find ourselves willing to humbly grant that same grace to others.
#8
It shows the world that God’s people really are different. Consider a few things God’s word tells us about living in this world.
What we do shows what we believe and who we belong to:
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. (James 3:13)
Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright. (Proverbs 20:11)
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)
The world should see us differently by what we do:
You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:16-18)
Also notice the incompatibility between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:16-26
We base our lives in truth and reason:
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 10:5-6)
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)
But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. (Jude 10)
Even when we fight for truth, we represent Christ:
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Peter 2:12)
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15)
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)
That’s alot, so allow me to sum it up. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have been called out from the world. What we believe, and therefore what we do, is completely alien to what the world believes and does. If the world exists in an “us vs. them” mentality and will lie about a person’s beliefs to make themselves look better, then we can have no part in that.
What we do in this world matters because we are representatives of Jesus Christ. When we lie, create divisions, or are too lazy to truly understand our own beliefs, that reflects on our God. We tell the world that God condones and promotes the things we do. Even if we don’t give the gospel directly, we are still telling them what it means to be a follower of Christ by how we act online and in person.
But when we don’t do what the world does, that also sends a message. We can show the world that Christians not only have a firm foundation to their beliefs, but that we still hold our beliefs despite having such a solid understanding of the alternatives. People will know that there is something unique, even special, about Christians because of how they fight for truth differently than the rest of the world. And when we give them the gospel, they know what kind of life is reflected by the truth of Jesus Christ.
Final thoughts
I won’t pretend what I’ve said is an easy thing to live out. I’ve failed to always be reasonable and fair when encountering other beliefs. I’ve allowed laziness and pride to come before my call to serve Christ.
However, I’ve also seen God receive all the glory when I do walk in obedience. Encountering a Christian who thinks competely different from the rest of the world catches people off guard and makes them take notice of a life surrendered to Christ. And although none of us will get this right all the time, that doesn’t excuse us from pointing people to Christ through how we disagree with them.
The time it takes to understand the beliefs of ourselves and others is no small task. It not only takes time, but sometimes a total heart change before we’re capable of honoring God in our disagreements. And in a world that is so focused on divisions, belittlement, and outright lying, we can’t expect to receive much help or support as we grow in this area.
However, that’s where God gives even more grace. The world, even other Christians, are unlikely to praise us for being fair to those with a completely different worldview. We may even be seen as weak or compromised for not making a mockery of someone else’s beliefs. However, we must remember that God gave us the Holy Spirit, and He is the one who makes us more like Christ in every area of our lives.
When we see our sinfulness in creating and promoting straw man arguments, we have an opportunity to repent and surrender something to God. We can be mindful of how easily we’re swayed by the world’s love of setting us against other people and be in regularly prayer for wisdom. And even when we fail, we can glorify God in how we respond to lying online or in person.
Keep seeking to understand other beliefs so well that you can explain them accurately and without lying. Never stop growing in your own beliefs, strengthening or even challenging them to make sure you’re always seeking truth more than being right. And, most of all, keep pointing others to Jesus Christ as you represent Him to the world.
