There is a typical Christian copout, which is deployed more and more these days, as Christians struggle to justify why they as a political coalition have lent their support to a vainglorious, adulterous, murderous, greedy, gluttonous, raging sloth, simply because he agrees with their quite unchristian views on immigration.

The response that I get from polite folks, who do not wish to argue, is that I ought not to judge, because only God is an all-knowing judge, and apparently only an all-knowing judge can know the truth. It's difficult to square this circle with the gratitude that we ought to feel, as Christians, for the many and varied gifts, which god has bestowed upon us, none the least of which is knowledge of truth, sometimes called science.

There really is no point in arguing with a bad faith interlocutor. But for the kids out there, let's rehearse the rebuttal to this tempting copout, itself a prime example of sloth (if not cowardice). What they are basically saying is that the whole truth will not be revealed until Judgment Day, so you should reserve judgment until then. But wait! Isn't Judgment Day an after-death type of thing? So we are supposed to just do whatever, hold our tongues, reserve our indignation...until we die? Surely that can't be right!

In the meantime, our god-given faculties of reason, perception, and empathy do in fact give us real insight into the world and each other, if imperfect insight. Does that mean we should close our eyes 'til death? That to me sounds like blasphemy. Why would God have given us language, hypotheses, conclusions, corollaries, eyes and ears and fingers and love, if he did not want us to use these gifts?