Apologist: noun (a-POL-a-gist) -- A person who argues in defense or justification of something, such as a doctrine, policy, or institution.

Armchair: adjective (ärm-châr) -- 1: Remote from direct dealing with problems; theoretical rather than practical. 2: Amateurish. 3: Sharing vicariously in another's experiences.

The Armchair Apologist is a category of posts here at SouthCon that is dedicated to my ideas about Christianity, faith, and religious practice. If you have any interest in reading those ideas, you will find an index of those items here soon enough. The most recent posts will be at the top of that index. Feel free to throw your two cents in, just click the comments link and sound off. But, first, know the rules:

The Ten Armchair Rules

RULE #1 ... I am a Roman Catholic layperson. I am not a member of any religious order, I am not a member of the clergy, and I am not authorized by anyone to express anything other than my own opinion. That is all you will find here. My opinion. Please note the conspicuous lack of the Imprimatur and Nihl Obstat on each of these pages. I do not speak for all Catholics or the Roman Catholic Church, nor do I propose to.

RULE #2 ... My opinions have been formed by my experiences, my informal education, and my religious practices. I'm not ashamed of them, but I am always willing to reconsider them.

RULE #3 ... Sometimes my opinions are correct.

RULE #4 ... Sometimes my opinions are incorrect.

RULE #5 ... You are allowed and encouraged to disagree! You are encouraged to disagree enthusiastically and passionately, and to tell me so in the comments section. You are not, however, allowed to get nasty. If you get nasty, your comments will be removed.

RULE #6 ... Who defines "nasty?" I do. My blog, my rules. Don't like it? Click here.

RULE #7 ... All comments, once submitted, become the property of the National Football League and may not be sold or rebroadcast in whole or in part without the expressed, written permission of the NFL.

RULE #8 ... Nobody is perfect. Everybody is subject to bias and prejudice. Because of my upbringing, my bias is toward Fundamentalists. Since I've been blogging, I've "gotten to know" a number of Christian Fundamentalists who prove my prejudices to be wrong. I am grateful to them for that. Therefore, whenever I relate something negative about the practices of Fundamentalists, I always try to remember to qualify my remarks. I try to say things like "The Fundamentalists I grew up with taught me this…"or "The Fundamentalists I've known have told me that they believe so-and-so". Nonetheless, I'm a sinner and I'm weak. Now and then I'll be guilty of generalizing against all Fundamentalists. I don't want to do that. I don't want to retain my prejudices. Here's the point: Rule Number Eight is that I'm not allowed to slander Fundamentalists. I can write about my experiences, but I am not allowed to make generalized statements about all Fundamentalists If you catch me breaking Rule Number Eight, call me on it.

RULE #9 ... Identify your sources! If you make an argument that you claim is based on fact, you had better be able to name your sources. Weasel logic is not allowed.

Examples of legitimately identifying your sources include:

• Quoting scripture, naming book, chapter and verse(s).


• Quoting published books and documents - naming specific works and their writers and specific chapters or even page numbers when possible.


• Providing links to internet sources.

On the other hand, examples of weasel logic include saying things like:

• "It says somewhere in the Bible that…"


• "But everybody knows that…"


• "This one time, so-and-so told me…"

If you try to defend your arguments with weasel logic, you will be smacked with the flyswatter of shame.

RULE #10 ... No matter what else you do, do not feed the Armchair Apologist after midnight.

OK, that one would be funnier if I could take an image of a Gremlin and my personal avatar and combine them with Photoshop to post with Rule Number Ten, but I just don't have the chops.

To suggest a topic or make a comment by e-mail, send your remarks to armchair@darwen.us