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Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid
"Whatever" is now the password into civilized youth culture. Alarming numbers of Christians eighteen to twenty-five years old believe that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Yet, Ryan Dobson proclaims, we can't even function if we believe that everything is relative. In his first book, the impassioned youth speaker explains God's establishment of absolutes, using relevant examples to awaken Christians to the world's desperate hunger for absolute truth -- and the church's duty to proclaim it.
OUR GENERATION IS BEING DESTROYED BY RAMPANT TOLERANCE.
Somebody’s cheating at school?
“Well, that’s his business.”
Your roommate wants an abortion?
“I wouldn’t do it, but hey, it’s her life.”
Accepting everything means you believe in nothing. When it comes to right and wrong, sitting on the fence won’t get you—or the people you love—anywhere. Passiveness is not love. Love is getting in people’s face and telling them the truth.
Finally, someone has the courage to point out that some ideas are simply stupid. Honest and unflinching, Ryan Dobson will show you how to back up your beliefs and be intolerant—in love.
OUR GENERATION IS BEING DESTROYED BY RAMPANT TOLERANCE.
Somebody’s cheating at school?
“Well, that’s his business.”
Your roommate wants an abortion?
“I wouldn’t do it, but hey, it’s her life.”
Accepting everything means you believe in nothing. When it comes to right and wrong, sitting on the fence won’t get you—or the people you love—anywhere. Passiveness is not love. Love is getting in people’s face and telling them the truth.
Finally, someone has the courage to point out that some ideas are simply stupid. Honest and unflinching, Ryan Dobson will show you how to back up your beliefs and be intolerant—in love.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
2 people are currently reading
151 people want to read
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December 28, 2008
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
— Mahatma Gandhi
— Mahatma Gandhi
September 17, 2011
"Whatever" is now the password into civilized youth culture. Alarming numbers of Christians eighteen to twenty-five years old believe that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Yet, Ryan Dobson proclaims, we can't even function if we believe that everything is relative. In his first book, the impassioned youth speaker explains God's establishment of absolutes, using relevant examples to awaken Christians to the world's desperate hunger for absolute truth -- and the church's duty to proclaim it.
OUR GENERATION IS BEING DESTROYED BY RAMPANT TOLERANCE.
Somebody’s cheating at school?
“Well, that’s his business.”
Your roommate wants an abortion?
“I wouldn’t do it, but hey, it’s her life.”
Accepting everything means you believe in nothing. When it comes to right and wrong, sitting on the fence won’t get you—or the people you love—anywhere. Passiveness is not love. Love is getting in people’s face and telling them the truth.
Finally, someone has the courage to point out that some ideas are simply stupid. Honest and unflinching, Ryan Dobson will show you how to back up your beliefs and be intolerant—in love.
Definition of "what the actual fuck": An expression of surprise or confusion used when what the fuck is insufficient to convey the magnitude of the situation. The increasingly flippant use and associated devaluation of the query 'what the fuck?' has necessitated the creation a more heart-felt derivative.
Our generation is being destroyed by tolerance?
Dear Ryan Dobson,
Your book is rated too high. How the fuck did it get at 3 something stars average rating? It deserves ONE. In fact, it deserves FUCKING ZERO.
This generation is being destroyed because of not enough tolerance, and you want to get rid of the little we have?
Go fuck yourself. And make it a dry, painful fuck.
Love,
Sev :3
OUR GENERATION IS BEING DESTROYED BY RAMPANT TOLERANCE.
Somebody’s cheating at school?
“Well, that’s his business.”
Your roommate wants an abortion?
“I wouldn’t do it, but hey, it’s her life.”
Accepting everything means you believe in nothing. When it comes to right and wrong, sitting on the fence won’t get you—or the people you love—anywhere. Passiveness is not love. Love is getting in people’s face and telling them the truth.
Finally, someone has the courage to point out that some ideas are simply stupid. Honest and unflinching, Ryan Dobson will show you how to back up your beliefs and be intolerant—in love.
Definition of "what the actual fuck": An expression of surprise or confusion used when what the fuck is insufficient to convey the magnitude of the situation. The increasingly flippant use and associated devaluation of the query 'what the fuck?' has necessitated the creation a more heart-felt derivative.
Our generation is being destroyed by tolerance?
Dear Ryan Dobson,
Your book is rated too high. How the fuck did it get at 3 something stars average rating? It deserves ONE. In fact, it deserves FUCKING ZERO.
This generation is being destroyed because of not enough tolerance, and you want to get rid of the little we have?
Go fuck yourself. And make it a dry, painful fuck.
Love,
Sev :3
December 29, 2012
Evangelicals like Dobson write books like these as monuments to stupidity, then wonder why it is so hard to attract unbelievers, or why the evangelical movement loses members after a while. The book should actually be titled Be Ignorant: Because Some Things Are Just Too Complex For My Worldview. Things like sexual orientation, abortion, and the myriad of legitimate reasons why people choose not to accept the gospel as preached by the likes of Dobson.
If you want a great gag gift for your free-thinking friends, this is a great stocking stuffer. However, if you want to be enlightened, go to the bathroom, take a dump, and stare at it for a few hours. The resultant experience will probably be better than reading Dobson's book.
If you want a great gag gift for your free-thinking friends, this is a great stocking stuffer. However, if you want to be enlightened, go to the bathroom, take a dump, and stare at it for a few hours. The resultant experience will probably be better than reading Dobson's book.
December 29, 2010
A negative nod to my ex-fundamentalist self. Please only read this book as a joke. Please.
February 17, 2016
Is there really such thing as a tolerant person? I don't think so - just put anyone in a position of power and watch them dictate to the masses. Of course: some people are wimps and won't stand for anything... I seldom have that problem.
Ryan Dobson is James Dobson's son (The guy from Focus On The Family Ministries). Yes, the guy who stands for the family against any attack: be it Homosexuality, Crime, Violence, Sexual Immorality, Abortion, and bad politics). So dealing with intolerance has been a huge part of Ryan's life. Ryan mentions that he has had his car tires slashed many many times --- by ever SO LOVING tolerant people who just won't TOLERATE Ryan's families intolerance. (Last count: Intolerant Ryan has slashed Zero tires of other people ---- Hmmm?!)
Here's a funny bit: pg. 66
In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
--God was immediately hit with a class action suit for failure to file an environmental impact statement--
Then God said, "Let there be light!"
--The officials demanded to know how the light would be made. Would there be strip mining? Thermal pollution?...
Then God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth"
--The officials pointed out that this would require approval from the Department of Game, in coordination with the Heavenly Wildlife Federation...--
Everything was okay until God said the entire project would be completed in six days. The officials said it would take at least two hundred days to review the applications and the impact statement...public hearing...ten to twelve months before they would even consider...
___At that point God Created HELL.
So how do Christians tolerate others? Do we sit back and watch the chaos? Do we do absolutely nothing and sit back while those with differing (and somewhat equal) opinions and worldviews dictate their agenda? (YES, everybody has an agenda - don't lie to yourself.)
Do we speak out from experience and a Godly standard of morality? Sometimes - but not always.
Here's a quote from Ryan:
"...the moral relativist doesn't see his intolerance as hypocritical. He hates it when a Christian tries to force his faith on him, but he doesn't mind cramming tolerance down everyone's throats."
(remember those slashed tires?) in the name of presumed atheistic liberal altruism OR GOODNESS.
It is strange how often Abortion comes up in Review comments. Free choice is honored as noble and tolerant of a woman's body - and yet if somebody murdered a Dog's Puppies in the womb then no jail cell is dark enough. It appears Ryan is absolutely correct "Because some things are just STUPID."
Ryan got right to the Biblical point:
Judges 17:6
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. (*and it ended in Chaos and Insane Violence.)
A Good King or Government does not tolerate Evil or Abuses. The problem is nobody can agree on exactly what that is anymore. One man's loving Mother, Sister, Daughter is another man's Nightly Prostitute. Who should tolerate Who?
__________________________
Here's a bit from the book:
"I know a beautiful teenage girl who wears the most revealing stuff you've ever seen. I went with a friend to pick her up one evening. Her dad was out watering the lawn. She came out in something so shocking I couldn't believe it.
I said to my friend, "she's not going out like that , is she?"
He nodded. "Just watch."
She called to her father to tell him she was leaving.
He looked right at her and said, "Have a good time."
When we got to the mall this girl went into the bathroom and changed into modest clothes.
"Dude," I said to my friend, "what's going on?"
"She just wants him to tell her NO, but he never does. Next time she'll probably come out nude and he won't even care."
I don't believe people actually want total moral freedom.
Yes, Tolerance is complicated. From experience - sometimes Daddies care a LOT. But after 200 fights with their daughter - they simply give up for the sake of peaceful relations. The problem is the damage is done, now the little girl might long for an innocence that has vanished IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM.
________________________
Funny side story:
A person who had this book before me wrote numerous scribbles in it to attempt to prove that Jesus was not God. It is clear this person was a Jehovah's Witness and wanted us to accept that the Archangel Michael is really wearing a Jesus' suit. They quoted many Bible verses (that they poorly understood, because: THEY ARE IN A CULT).
All I could think was - what a strange book to mess with. NO Christian is tolerant of J.W.'s bad theology and Watchtower publication fear-mongering and control. Some things are well worth mocking.
Thankfully this book is filled with Good theology and Biblical teachings. (I would give it 1 star if it wasn't.) It even shows that there are 2 tolerance issues that are immovable in a Christians life:
1) The world outside of Christianity.
Be it Atheists, Mormons, Muslims, whatever... that is the mission field. This is their planet - Mostly they can do as they please. We don't like all of their choices - but we stand back and accept them as free choice. WE can always vote against them though.
2) The world inside of Christianity.
Like those who claim to be Christians. This is where the Bible speaks out in great detail - Jesus was very specific in much that He said: Matthew 7
"13“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Luke 13:24
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.
And there's nothing tolerant about this:
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Sorry, Jesus is not tolerant of Buddha, or Vishnu, or Joseph Smith, Or the Pope, or nice people who don't murder puppies.
A fascinating verse that many people desperately (and poorly) hold up in the name of tolerance is: "Judge NOT lest you be judged".
The problem is. That isn't the whole verse. WAIT! There's MORE: Matthew 7
Judging Others
1“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?... first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
___________________
Matthew 7.
15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits.
Do NOT be tolerant of them. 1 Corinthians 6
2Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
Okay, here's one last nasty bit to get this Toleration point clearly across. Revelation 2 (it even uses the word Tolerate)
20But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23and I will strike her children dead.
_______________________
But this book is mostly about sharing the Love of Biblical Truth.
Chapter 5 is: How To Be Intolerant--In Love.
Pg. 102 "They know I care, so they're willing to listen when their world comes crashing down and their philosophy abandons them in their moment of need."
One more: Pg. 106
"This is what it looks like to be lovingly intolerant to your non-Christian friends--or to your Christian friends who are straying from the straight and narrow. You take a stand, gently, because of who you are and whose you are. (that would be JESUS!)"
So read this book. I barely scratched the surface of all the useful apologetic info in this (short 121 page) book. This issue of tolerance is ever more essential in this age. Keep on top of it. And remember: God is NOT forever tolerant. This little project will eventually be over...
Let's go out with a great movie Quote. Ryan lovingly mentions: Bruce Willis in Tears Of The Sun.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
This ought to offend a few tolerant folks (Those claiming to be tolerant are ALWAYS the most easily offended): Ryan says, "Christians are the only thing holding back the decay of our world."
Who ever said being INTOLERANT isn't fun?! May God Bless you all when it matters most.
Ryan Dobson is James Dobson's son (The guy from Focus On The Family Ministries). Yes, the guy who stands for the family against any attack: be it Homosexuality, Crime, Violence, Sexual Immorality, Abortion, and bad politics). So dealing with intolerance has been a huge part of Ryan's life. Ryan mentions that he has had his car tires slashed many many times --- by ever SO LOVING tolerant people who just won't TOLERATE Ryan's families intolerance. (Last count: Intolerant Ryan has slashed Zero tires of other people ---- Hmmm?!)
Here's a funny bit: pg. 66
In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
--God was immediately hit with a class action suit for failure to file an environmental impact statement--
Then God said, "Let there be light!"
--The officials demanded to know how the light would be made. Would there be strip mining? Thermal pollution?...
Then God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth"
--The officials pointed out that this would require approval from the Department of Game, in coordination with the Heavenly Wildlife Federation...--
Everything was okay until God said the entire project would be completed in six days. The officials said it would take at least two hundred days to review the applications and the impact statement...public hearing...ten to twelve months before they would even consider...
___At that point God Created HELL.
So how do Christians tolerate others? Do we sit back and watch the chaos? Do we do absolutely nothing and sit back while those with differing (and somewhat equal) opinions and worldviews dictate their agenda? (YES, everybody has an agenda - don't lie to yourself.)
Do we speak out from experience and a Godly standard of morality? Sometimes - but not always.
Here's a quote from Ryan:
"...the moral relativist doesn't see his intolerance as hypocritical. He hates it when a Christian tries to force his faith on him, but he doesn't mind cramming tolerance down everyone's throats."
(remember those slashed tires?) in the name of presumed atheistic liberal altruism OR GOODNESS.
It is strange how often Abortion comes up in Review comments. Free choice is honored as noble and tolerant of a woman's body - and yet if somebody murdered a Dog's Puppies in the womb then no jail cell is dark enough. It appears Ryan is absolutely correct "Because some things are just STUPID."
Ryan got right to the Biblical point:
Judges 17:6
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. (*and it ended in Chaos and Insane Violence.)
A Good King or Government does not tolerate Evil or Abuses. The problem is nobody can agree on exactly what that is anymore. One man's loving Mother, Sister, Daughter is another man's Nightly Prostitute. Who should tolerate Who?
__________________________
Here's a bit from the book:
"I know a beautiful teenage girl who wears the most revealing stuff you've ever seen. I went with a friend to pick her up one evening. Her dad was out watering the lawn. She came out in something so shocking I couldn't believe it.
I said to my friend, "she's not going out like that , is she?"
He nodded. "Just watch."
She called to her father to tell him she was leaving.
He looked right at her and said, "Have a good time."
When we got to the mall this girl went into the bathroom and changed into modest clothes.
"Dude," I said to my friend, "what's going on?"
"She just wants him to tell her NO, but he never does. Next time she'll probably come out nude and he won't even care."
I don't believe people actually want total moral freedom.
Yes, Tolerance is complicated. From experience - sometimes Daddies care a LOT. But after 200 fights with their daughter - they simply give up for the sake of peaceful relations. The problem is the damage is done, now the little girl might long for an innocence that has vanished IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM.
________________________
Funny side story:
A person who had this book before me wrote numerous scribbles in it to attempt to prove that Jesus was not God. It is clear this person was a Jehovah's Witness and wanted us to accept that the Archangel Michael is really wearing a Jesus' suit. They quoted many Bible verses (that they poorly understood, because: THEY ARE IN A CULT).
All I could think was - what a strange book to mess with. NO Christian is tolerant of J.W.'s bad theology and Watchtower publication fear-mongering and control. Some things are well worth mocking.
Thankfully this book is filled with Good theology and Biblical teachings. (I would give it 1 star if it wasn't.) It even shows that there are 2 tolerance issues that are immovable in a Christians life:
1) The world outside of Christianity.
Be it Atheists, Mormons, Muslims, whatever... that is the mission field. This is their planet - Mostly they can do as they please. We don't like all of their choices - but we stand back and accept them as free choice. WE can always vote against them though.
2) The world inside of Christianity.
Like those who claim to be Christians. This is where the Bible speaks out in great detail - Jesus was very specific in much that He said: Matthew 7
"13“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Luke 13:24
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.
And there's nothing tolerant about this:
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Sorry, Jesus is not tolerant of Buddha, or Vishnu, or Joseph Smith, Or the Pope, or nice people who don't murder puppies.
A fascinating verse that many people desperately (and poorly) hold up in the name of tolerance is: "Judge NOT lest you be judged".
The problem is. That isn't the whole verse. WAIT! There's MORE: Matthew 7
Judging Others
1“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?... first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
___________________
Matthew 7.
15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits.
Do NOT be tolerant of them. 1 Corinthians 6
2Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
Okay, here's one last nasty bit to get this Toleration point clearly across. Revelation 2 (it even uses the word Tolerate)
20But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23and I will strike her children dead.
_______________________
But this book is mostly about sharing the Love of Biblical Truth.
Chapter 5 is: How To Be Intolerant--In Love.
Pg. 102 "They know I care, so they're willing to listen when their world comes crashing down and their philosophy abandons them in their moment of need."
One more: Pg. 106
"This is what it looks like to be lovingly intolerant to your non-Christian friends--or to your Christian friends who are straying from the straight and narrow. You take a stand, gently, because of who you are and whose you are. (that would be JESUS!)"
So read this book. I barely scratched the surface of all the useful apologetic info in this (short 121 page) book. This issue of tolerance is ever more essential in this age. Keep on top of it. And remember: God is NOT forever tolerant. This little project will eventually be over...
Let's go out with a great movie Quote. Ryan lovingly mentions: Bruce Willis in Tears Of The Sun.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
This ought to offend a few tolerant folks (Those claiming to be tolerant are ALWAYS the most easily offended): Ryan says, "Christians are the only thing holding back the decay of our world."
Who ever said being INTOLERANT isn't fun?! May God Bless you all when it matters most.
November 10, 2015
This book is incredibly awful.
June 25, 2017
Favorite quotes: "It's human nature to want to know where the boundaries are. There's comfort in finding out 'This is as far as I can go.' I think people push and push, become more and more outrageous, because they're looking for the walls. They act out to see if someone will finally say, 'Okay, that's far enough.'"
"In the end, all philosophies and belief systems are based on faith. Even science is based on faith. It takes pure faith, for example, to believe that humans evolved from fish. And what is atheism but the belief that there is no God? Moral relativism is the same way. You've got to believe that there is no such thing as absolute truth and all the rest."
"Jesus hung around with the 'evildoers' of the day, but He didn't sin with them. He reached out to them to bring them to God, but He was separate from their sin."
"In the end, all philosophies and belief systems are based on faith. Even science is based on faith. It takes pure faith, for example, to believe that humans evolved from fish. And what is atheism but the belief that there is no God? Moral relativism is the same way. You've got to believe that there is no such thing as absolute truth and all the rest."
"Jesus hung around with the 'evildoers' of the day, but He didn't sin with them. He reached out to them to bring them to God, but He was separate from their sin."
May 2, 2011
I read this book in my first year after being baptized. Although Dobson makes some good points about not sitting passively by when someone you care about is going to do something that hurts them, I've never liked the idea of shoving religion into the faces of people who are not interested or whose ideas differ. That was one of the behaviors of Christians that kept me away from Christianity in the first place.
The only thing that helped me and eventually swayed me in favor of Christianity was a pastor who began by sharing interests with me and became a friend, THEN told me about the God he knew in a loving way when I came to a point of crisis. However, he NEVER pressured me to make a decision about it--eventually I came to that on my own. He was also the first Christian who had really talked about it with a focus on the love of God, and not who is/isn't "going to Hell." This Dobson was a little too fundamentalist for me, even though I (embarrassingly) became somewhat fundamentalist for a period of time later and hurt some friendships because of it.
The only thing that helped me and eventually swayed me in favor of Christianity was a pastor who began by sharing interests with me and became a friend, THEN told me about the God he knew in a loving way when I came to a point of crisis. However, he NEVER pressured me to make a decision about it--eventually I came to that on my own. He was also the first Christian who had really talked about it with a focus on the love of God, and not who is/isn't "going to Hell." This Dobson was a little too fundamentalist for me, even though I (embarrassingly) became somewhat fundamentalist for a period of time later and hurt some friendships because of it.
February 9, 2024
I am a Christian. I agree with the message of this book. I also realize that I’m probably not the target audience. But…it rubbed me the wrong way. The way it was written came across as arrogant and presumptuous. I understand and respect the point the author made, I simply believe he went about it in a way that drives others away.
June 21, 2023
Not a good book & has not aged well. (Written in 2003) And is a terrible evangelism strategy. So read at your own risk.
May 31, 2011
After hearing a portion of Dobson's talk to a teenage conference on the radio and hearing of this book title, I had been wanting to read it, simply because he made me laugh with his take on tolerance and right v. wrong. I was surprised by the slimness and simplicity of this book, though I should not have been, considering the younger audience he aims for. An excellent book for teenagers and 20-somethings with its straightforward and simplistic approach to Christian apologetics. I found it great even for my age and older in its presentation of clear and simple metaphors. He just tells it like it is for the general population searching for an answer.
My only critique might be where he almost cuts you off from reading partway through. He spends the early part of the book just trying to get anyone on the fence about Jesus to one side or the other. Then he seems to say that if you are a believer in Jesus, you can just stop reading now. However, I found the rest of the book very valuable in the strengthening of my faith and providing support to witness to others. So, even if you're already a Christian reading this book, read the whole thing...besides, it's really short!
My only critique might be where he almost cuts you off from reading partway through. He spends the early part of the book just trying to get anyone on the fence about Jesus to one side or the other. Then he seems to say that if you are a believer in Jesus, you can just stop reading now. However, I found the rest of the book very valuable in the strengthening of my faith and providing support to witness to others. So, even if you're already a Christian reading this book, read the whole thing...besides, it's really short!
June 25, 2009
This book is fantastic! There is a fine balance between tolerance (accepting others who are at a different level of maturity) and intolerance (not accepting what is wrong) and it is something this generation needs to understand and apply!
We are studying tolerance as a family currently, and this book helped me gain a balance between the two - tolerance and intolerance.
But the main thing I came away with after reading Be Intolerant was that moral relativism and Christianity don't mix. Christianity has a standard - moral relativism doesn't. You can't sit on the fence; you have to be for Christ or against it. Ryan will show you the flaws in moral relativism and the awesomeness in a Christian lifestyle. He'll teach you how moral relativists are intolerant, and how we, as Christians, need to be intolerant as well - but in love.
We are studying tolerance as a family currently, and this book helped me gain a balance between the two - tolerance and intolerance.
But the main thing I came away with after reading Be Intolerant was that moral relativism and Christianity don't mix. Christianity has a standard - moral relativism doesn't. You can't sit on the fence; you have to be for Christ or against it. Ryan will show you the flaws in moral relativism and the awesomeness in a Christian lifestyle. He'll teach you how moral relativists are intolerant, and how we, as Christians, need to be intolerant as well - but in love.
February 11, 2013
A good discussion of the Christians approach to moral relativity and tolerance. Two priorities, to stand firm on the truth of what the Bible teaches, and to love others enough to confront the inconsistencies of their philosophy.
April 13, 2009
comments on the stupidity of posmodernism and the fac that even those who say there is no absolute truths operate their lives to som degree that there is
August 19, 2009
WOW. The title is blunt, as it the book. It's a intelligent and absorbing rebuttal to the Political Correctness/Tolerance movement of recent years. Well worth the read, and it won't take long.
June 8, 2017
I gave this shit book an extra star for its objectively funny title.
June 22, 2019
This book is only121 pages so it's a quick read. Strongest in the first three chapters' arguments against moral relativism. Weaknesses are the distracting formatting, the trendy language, and the plurality of Bible versions. It was also odd in a book arguing against doing your own thing to find advice concerning Bible and church choice which amounted to 'do your own thing.'
January 15, 2013
This book has a few things going for it. One, it is written on a late elementary or middle school level. Big font, wide margins, pretty cover. That is a plus because the book is written at about that age level of thoughtfulness. This book won't work for adults, or even thoughtful high school students. Two, it calls out moral relativism, which is one of the great problems of our age. Because everybody believes in it, but nobody really believes in it. Just let someone a relativist pays to do something decide that doing that thing isn't right for him/her. Yeah, then they'll be all sorts of angry and no reason why. Don't believe me ... check out the comments on this book :) Wow, question the ethic of moral relativism and the claws really come out. That's also simplistic, but this is a book review, not a book.
Dobson does a better job poking holes in relativism than painting a Christian alternative, which is not too surprising. Don't be ashamed to bail out after the first couple of chapters. I finished the book and it doesn't get any better :)
Dobson does a better job poking holes in relativism than painting a Christian alternative, which is not too surprising. Don't be ashamed to bail out after the first couple of chapters. I finished the book and it doesn't get any better :)
July 3, 2009
I think that the main point in this book was a very valid one, and it definitely made me want to start telling people what I believe. I was not as crazy about this book, however for several reasons. The author was standing up for being intolerant, and he kept saying that there is only one way, and that what the Bible says is true. That is all fine and dandy, nothing wrong there, but then later, when discussing having a quiet time with God, he says to grab whatever translation of the Bible works for you. I do not agree with that. There are some translations of the Bible that are so far out there, I don't know how people can even think it is. The Message, for example. There were a few other things in this book that I didn't care for as much.
However, like I said, I did think that the point was a very good one, and it definitely made me think. I do not share the Gospel, or the truth we people, and I need to. I am also need to become intolerant to sin.
However, like I said, I did think that the point was a very good one, and it definitely made me think. I do not share the Gospel, or the truth we people, and I need to. I am also need to become intolerant to sin.
July 5, 2015
This is a book that demonstrates the common sense that seems to lacking in our world today. Ryan Dobson sees what the issues are and faces them head on. As Christians we are often too afraid of offending anyone to actually tell them that their belief system doesn't line up, that moral relativism is a farce, that they need a Savior. We may have the right to believe whatever we want, but that doesn't mean that all things are equally true. We need to stand for what is true and be lovingly intolerant! I think this book was probably aimed at teens or young adults, but it is still a beneficial read for us older folk as well.
June 24, 2018
I can't believe that I loved this book when I was a teenager. This guy is impossibly clueless.
The book is based around the acronym TUMOR, which stands for Tolerant, Untraditional, Marginalized, Outdoors, and Reprobate. (I'm not kidding; that's the actual list).
There's the usual conservative gotcha claim that the "tolerant left" is "intolerant of intolerance!" Dobson clearly isn't familiar with Karl Popper's Paradox of Tolerance, and the actual basis of the progressive belief in tolerance - namely, that we should tolerate those beliefs and practices that don't dehumanize or harm others. No one thinks we should tolerate every possible belief no matter what it is. But understanding this would require that Dobson do research into his opponents' actual beliefs; that's just a bridge too far. Strawmanning is easier.
He has so many contradictory beliefs about what non-fundamentalists think that it's hard to follow his train of "thought". He claims we believe that "Everybody gets to do whatever they want, and we're cool with it, so long as it doesn't hurt anybody else", but then later on suggests that Moral Relativists are cool with burglary, the Clinton-Lewinsky abuse scandal, incest, murder, etc. - all clearly harmful things. He can't seem to differentiate between physical/scientific facts (like, the Pacific ocean is west of the Pacific Northwest), and societal/philosophical beliefs (which actually do change over time) - all of it goes under Absolute Truth or falsehood. (But I'd bed money that the guy is a Young Earth Creationist...)
False dichotomies: Dobson repeatedly says that if you don't agree with his specific beliefs, then not only can you not be a Christian, you can't have any real beliefs at all. "You either think there is an unchanging standard of right and wrong - the Bible - or you don't." [pg. 39]. Moral Relativists are all miserable drug addicts and ruining their lives. He doesn't realize that his reading of the Bible is a specifically modern and cultural one (not the universal, unchanging, objective thing he imagines), and that he is making a choice to read it that way. In other words... he's choosing his own morality.
Of course there's the usual Pastor Stories - times Dobson claims to have had conversations with non-fundamentalists. Invariably, story-Dobson stuns these people with Christian Logic and makes them rethink their whole lives. Others are things he totally heard Moral Relativists say (such as - they thought it was great that President Clinton knew how to have a great time [by taking advantage of Lewinksy]. He claims he heard "lots" of people say this). These stories definitely for sure happened and are not made up at all in any way.
He's weirdly focused on environmentalists and how they are anti-Christian, somehow (this is the Outdoors in TUMOR). Like, it's okay to care about nature, but not, like, too much. I guess the line between Biblical Stewardship and immoral environmentalism is one set by Dobson himself. As he says of environmentalists: "I don't know how anybody can live with a philosophy that says he himself is the world's problem"[pg. 42]. That is literally what Evangelicals believe about sin.
There's the usual conservative persecution complex - by requiring tolerance (that is, by trying to stop hard line conservatives from running society), we're "cramming tolerance down everyone's throats" [pg. 37]. Not letting fundamentalists have power over others is in fact an attack on fundamentalists, in this mindset.
He says leftists favor "alternative lifestyles" and "throw out all the old ways" [pg. 24] because they want to stick it to their parents, and also because somebody said it was cool. (Couldn't possibly be because a lot of "traditions" are harmful and mired in age-old oppression...) But then later he declares that "moral relativists don't truly want anything that is unusual or new - because if they did, then Christianity might eventually become an alternative they would have to try" [pg. 40]. Which... huh? Besides contradicting his earlier claim, is he really suggesting that Christianity is unusual or new in any way? And that Moral Relativists have to try every new belief system? Then there's the fun condescension here and throughout - the idea that Moral Relativists all secretly know that they're wrong and Christians are right, but are too emotionally crippled to let go of their relativism.
There's no real evidence in the book. Just anecdotes, and vast sweeping generalizations (e.g., everyone who disagrees with him is "miserable and alone" [pg. 60]). But he expects you just take his word for it and buy all this as rational argument.
Finally, there is so. much. projection:
"He'll [the Moral Relativist] tolerate you as long as you're exactly like him. If you don't think, dress, talk, and believe exactly as he tells you, you won't be tolerated" [pg. 37].
"It doesn't even make sense. And the only way people can hold on to it is by not stopping long enough to really think it through." [pg. 35].
"The only way to come up with moral relativism is to begin with an agenda and then look for ways to make your agenda possible." [pg. 56].
All of that is just in the first half of the book. I don't have the strength to re-read and analyze all the rest of this crap - and I don't recommend that you do either.
The book is based around the acronym TUMOR, which stands for Tolerant, Untraditional, Marginalized, Outdoors, and Reprobate. (I'm not kidding; that's the actual list).
There's the usual conservative gotcha claim that the "tolerant left" is "intolerant of intolerance!" Dobson clearly isn't familiar with Karl Popper's Paradox of Tolerance, and the actual basis of the progressive belief in tolerance - namely, that we should tolerate those beliefs and practices that don't dehumanize or harm others. No one thinks we should tolerate every possible belief no matter what it is. But understanding this would require that Dobson do research into his opponents' actual beliefs; that's just a bridge too far. Strawmanning is easier.
He has so many contradictory beliefs about what non-fundamentalists think that it's hard to follow his train of "thought". He claims we believe that "Everybody gets to do whatever they want, and we're cool with it, so long as it doesn't hurt anybody else", but then later on suggests that Moral Relativists are cool with burglary, the Clinton-Lewinsky abuse scandal, incest, murder, etc. - all clearly harmful things. He can't seem to differentiate between physical/scientific facts (like, the Pacific ocean is west of the Pacific Northwest), and societal/philosophical beliefs (which actually do change over time) - all of it goes under Absolute Truth or falsehood. (But I'd bed money that the guy is a Young Earth Creationist...)
False dichotomies: Dobson repeatedly says that if you don't agree with his specific beliefs, then not only can you not be a Christian, you can't have any real beliefs at all. "You either think there is an unchanging standard of right and wrong - the Bible - or you don't." [pg. 39]. Moral Relativists are all miserable drug addicts and ruining their lives. He doesn't realize that his reading of the Bible is a specifically modern and cultural one (not the universal, unchanging, objective thing he imagines), and that he is making a choice to read it that way. In other words... he's choosing his own morality.
Of course there's the usual Pastor Stories - times Dobson claims to have had conversations with non-fundamentalists. Invariably, story-Dobson stuns these people with Christian Logic and makes them rethink their whole lives. Others are things he totally heard Moral Relativists say (such as - they thought it was great that President Clinton knew how to have a great time [by taking advantage of Lewinksy]. He claims he heard "lots" of people say this). These stories definitely for sure happened and are not made up at all in any way.
He's weirdly focused on environmentalists and how they are anti-Christian, somehow (this is the Outdoors in TUMOR). Like, it's okay to care about nature, but not, like, too much. I guess the line between Biblical Stewardship and immoral environmentalism is one set by Dobson himself. As he says of environmentalists: "I don't know how anybody can live with a philosophy that says he himself is the world's problem"[pg. 42]. That is literally what Evangelicals believe about sin.
There's the usual conservative persecution complex - by requiring tolerance (that is, by trying to stop hard line conservatives from running society), we're "cramming tolerance down everyone's throats" [pg. 37]. Not letting fundamentalists have power over others is in fact an attack on fundamentalists, in this mindset.
He says leftists favor "alternative lifestyles" and "throw out all the old ways" [pg. 24] because they want to stick it to their parents, and also because somebody said it was cool. (Couldn't possibly be because a lot of "traditions" are harmful and mired in age-old oppression...) But then later he declares that "moral relativists don't truly want anything that is unusual or new - because if they did, then Christianity might eventually become an alternative they would have to try" [pg. 40]. Which... huh? Besides contradicting his earlier claim, is he really suggesting that Christianity is unusual or new in any way? And that Moral Relativists have to try every new belief system? Then there's the fun condescension here and throughout - the idea that Moral Relativists all secretly know that they're wrong and Christians are right, but are too emotionally crippled to let go of their relativism.
There's no real evidence in the book. Just anecdotes, and vast sweeping generalizations (e.g., everyone who disagrees with him is "miserable and alone" [pg. 60]). But he expects you just take his word for it and buy all this as rational argument.
Finally, there is so. much. projection:
"He'll [the Moral Relativist] tolerate you as long as you're exactly like him. If you don't think, dress, talk, and believe exactly as he tells you, you won't be tolerated" [pg. 37].
"It doesn't even make sense. And the only way people can hold on to it is by not stopping long enough to really think it through." [pg. 35].
"The only way to come up with moral relativism is to begin with an agenda and then look for ways to make your agenda possible." [pg. 56].
All of that is just in the first half of the book. I don't have the strength to re-read and analyze all the rest of this crap - and I don't recommend that you do either.
August 21, 2014
This was a good book, but some of it was not my style. I think it was trying to appeal more for people who are not as conservative. This is my personal opinion, so please don't take this seriously. God bless!
April 3, 2014
This book is well suited for a high school student. I found it pretty redundant but I did learn a few interesting things in chapter 4. I would recommend this book to teenagers but for adults I would recommend reading chapter 4 and skipping the rest.
September 20, 2014
Great book by Ryan Dobson. Simple dialogue style writing that would allow to reader to easily understand what he is trying to bring across. How should we show we care for others? What should we do in this current age? Once again i would like to say, this book is is really easy to read.
July 4, 2015
An interesting read. It is a small book so it doesn't take long. I enjoyed his style of writing as well as the many stories he had throughout the book. He used scripture to back up his thinking and connected the dots well.
August 16, 2007
Great.
June 5, 2009
Interesting view of Christianity by the son of Dr. James Dobson.
Read
January 17, 2013A very quick read. Concise. Young people desiring to impact their world in Jesus' name place this book on their reading list.
January 21, 2014
Great crash course on moral relativism- what it is and why it's wrong. Also touches on Biblical prophecy and persecution.
July 6, 2014
Great premise but super repetitive.
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