"Bulverism" is a term coined by C.S. Lewis that is used to describe a certain ailment that is commonly used in society today. Usually one would show that an argument is wrong by providing evidence; bulverism on the other hand, assumes that the argument is wrong and then goes on to distract and explain why the person came up with the argument. Thus, instead of considering that person's argument, you dismiss it, saying that it was obtained irrationally.
We talked in class about how this is used in modern day arguments. As I mentioned before, I have recently become interested in evolution. When I went home over Christmas break, I had my grandpa (a former biology teacher) read the Harlow article that I had to read for class and we sat down and discussed it rationally. However, when I went to my dad's side of the family on Christmas day, I had mentioned that I took an evolution and ecology class this past semester and I mentioned that I had changed my previous beliefs on evolution and now believe that human evolution is a possibility. My uncle immediately shot me down, saying that "you are wrong, because Genesis clearly states..." He didn't even let me get a word in as to why I had changed my position on the issue. This is one example of how bulverism is still alive today. A lot of times I get really angry when I start debating evolution, not because I want them to agree with my opinion, but because I just want them to listen to the details of my argument. I admit to being guilty of ruling out arguments many times before I even know the real reasons behind them. We talked in class about humility playing a big part in arguments over issues such as evolution, and being able to admit that we could be wrong. The Bible gives us guidance and examples but it does not give us the whole story. We need to step back and see it for what it was back in the day it was written. Even then, there are going to be issues-but if we knew the truth about everything, God wouldn't be so amazing!
It was also mentioned in class that we need to know the background of the people to whom we are going to evangelize to-but I think that we also need to know the background of the people we argue with as well. When I was in Guatemala a couple years ago, we talked a lot about "having eyes to see and ears to hear." We need to listen to the stories of the least, last, and lost people and watch how they live before we can try to help them. Sometimes just seeing and hearing them can in and of itself be a blessing to them. Immigration is a huge issue in our country and I know a lot of people in the town where I live (Lynden grows a ton of raspberries) are against immigrants because they "come in illegally, take all our jobs, get all sorts of benefits, and don't even learn our language." I think part of being a Christian, and even just being a member of a community, we need to be careful of making judgments; even if one migrant's immigration journey may not be justified, that does not mean that all migrant workers' stories are the same. I think that this is also an example of bulverism.
