I was talking in generalities. You do seem to be an exception, and I appreciate it.

That may be essential for Evangelicals like WLC but that's not what I do. My intention when I comment is to dialogue directly with the person I am commenting to, I never have an "audience" in mind. If there is any audience other than you, it is myself.

In particular: "2. Christian apologetics is vital in strengthening believers."

The only Bible verse they know is John 3:16 but they tell an atheist who has studied scripture for a lifetime that they are going to hell for not wanting to punish women or their doctors for aborting a fetus. I don't even know what he means by "intellectual dishonesty or suppression of the truth", we believe what we believe.

I don't see how an atheist or agnostic could choose to believe something else or why they would want to. Theists have hell, church authorities and peer pressure to give them incentive for self-deception, atheists have no encouragement to obfuscate, no apologies to make, no need to persuade others. If you feel better thinking all atheists, agnostics, hindus, buddhists and pagans are secretly longing to fill their suppressed god vaccuum, go ahead, it's your own sincere search for truth you need to worry about, atheists can ignore your condescension while you struggle with your beliefs.

In atheism, the good news is better, you can stay a Catholic all your life, you can damn all atheists to hell, you can even burn them at the stake and atheism still won't judge you or condemn you to endless torture. No matter what you do, atheists expect you to have everything in the afterlife that they do, if there is one.

That's love and forgiveness.

Did you click the (5) link? I set up an argument, there.

If you publicly identify yourself with any idea that you know is publicly ridiculed by some people, you have no right to complain when that idea gets ridiculed in public. The appropriate response, when it happens, is to publicly prove the unreasonableness of that ridicule.

I noticed that, too, Vic. I was wondering if anybody else would.

Doug -

I notice that in reply to your comment "there's another book you've gotta read...."

Luke suggests "You could try arguing internally, within Christianity itself......"

and then gives you five more books to read.

I've come back to this post of yours -

Is 'truth' also alien to your mind?

- a couple of times, trying to compose a reply. But I just can't quite figure out how what you are saying is a response to what I said. Can you try and reword??