"Learning the Columbo Tactic" (Class 1 recap)

On Monday March 9th we met for our first class to study the book Tactics, written by Greg Koukl. We started off the class with a short quiz to review some On Guard material. The intent is just to reinforce what we've learned, no one is being kicked out for failing the quiz! The quiz asked for how we'd respond to objections like "it's arrogant to claim that only one religion is true", "a loving God wouldn't send people to hell", and more. Terrence will review our responses and go over the quiz next time.  Next we started the video in which Greg Koukl was teaching the material. The video is designed to be paired with the Student Manual (available here). Throughout the video Greg instructed us to pair up and discuss. That was a great way to break up the class and allow us to chat about what we just heard. For instance we talked about how we feel when we think about discussing Christianity with non-Christians: relish the encounter, willing but nervous, it scares me, or I try to avoid it. We also were asked to talk about what we'd say in hypothetical scenarios. For example, imagine it's the night of a weekly small group meeting and a friend says that the essence of Christianity is loving God and neighbor, who's to say Christianity is better than any other religion, and all religions seem to teach the same basic thing. You're concerned about your friend's statement and no one else is speaking up. What do you say? This gave us a chance to practice the first tactic we learned, the "queen mother" of all tactics, The Columbo Tactic. This tactic just involves asking questions like "what do you mean by that?". This tactic is easy and and an effortless way to keep you in the driver's seat in the conversation. It allows you to get clarification on what someone means and puts the other person in the position to think through exactly what they mean. In response to the scenario above we might ask, "what do you mean by 'all religions seem to teach the same basic thing'?" or "In what way are all religions basically the same?". Another very important point Greg Koukl stressed is that these tactics are not used as tricks to belittle or humiliate someone. We should be genuinely interested in a person's view and not just making them seem dumb. We need to be sincere and kind when employing any of the tactics. This class wrapped up with some homework. First, we are challenged to practice the Columbo tactic. It's easy and nonthreatening. Simply ask questions to people! We don't need to go beyond that. Second, we were asked to review the material from this class. Third, read ahead in the next session (page 20 to 42 in the Student Manual). Fourthly, Terrence asked us to review the topic of suffering and morality for a quiz on either one next time. Overall it was a great class with a lot of really important practical tips and good discussion. The presentation from Monday is available digitally on the website here. Next time we will meet on March 23rd, same time, same place (starting at 6:45pm with coffee, desserts, and fellowship). We'll learn about Refining the Columbo Tactic. Hope to see you there!

Exciting opportunity for Reasonable Faith Chapters to interact with Dr. Craig On Friday April 10th Dr. Craig will be visiting and speaking at the Dallas Reasonable Faith Chapter and the event will be livestreamed exclusively to Reasonable Faith Chapters!  So please save the date and take the opportunity to participate. Details on how to access the livestream will be available closer to the event.