Dealing with trolls is tragic. It almost never ends well. A troll can be on both sides of the fence. This means that there can be Calvinistic trolls, and there can be non-C trolls. Spotting them is not hard. The first part of this post will focus upon spotting a few (and there are many more) tactics employed by the troll. The second part will focus upon a biblical response to trolling.
A troll can be spotted very quickly by making a few observations.
(1) Lack of objectivity: three common tactics appear here.
A biblical response is necessary when dealing with trolls.
(1) Listening is not optional when claiming to be a Christian and interacting in a forum. James 1:19 is not an optional verse for a Christian. "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." Being quick to hear is the exact opposite tactic of the troll. Listening, even when you disagree, demonstrates that you at least respect God and the other person enough to give them a hearing. A Christian is under the authority of Christ. Paul called himself a bond-servant of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ . . ." Obeying Christ is not optional for the Christian. God is over the Christian, and a true Christian will want to be obedient to the great God who bought him. Therefore, the Christian ought to listen, for God has commanded it in His word. And the Christian will want to listen because that would be loving a neighbor as oneself. I want others to listen to me, so I ought also to listen to others. When a troll repeatedly demonstrates an unrepentant violation against God, His word, and others by not listening and always being quick to speak and retaliate, then we are dealing with a person who does not value God, God's word, and others. Sinning against God, God's word, and others is not the way to go to present a case. Sure, you may think that you are right, but acting unrepentantly unchristian (sinning) to communicate truth to promote Christianity is to subvert the very truth you claim to proclaim.
(2) Slander is sin. (Lev 19:6, 2 Sam 19:27, Psalm 15:3, 50:20, 101:5, 140:11, Prov 10:18, 11:13, 20:19, 30:10, Jer 6:28, 9:4, Eze 22:9, Matt 15:19, Mark 7:22, Rom 1:30, 3:8, 1 Cor 4:13, 2 Cor 6:8, 12:20, Eph 4:31, Col 3:8, 1 Tim 3:11, 5:14, 6:4) The testimony of scripture is that slander is sin. The Merriam-Webster dictionary website states (1st definition) that slander is, "the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another's reputation." When you say that a person believes something, or that their belief leads to a certain conclusion, and you are both wrong about what they believe and wrong about what their beliefs entail, and you refuse to correct yourself, then you are engaging in slander. A true Christian will take this issue very seriously.
(3) Don't be lazy. Laziness is sin. Sometimes a poster raises a good point or a point in which you were not prepared to deal with. Stop! Actually think about it. Consider what they say. Reread it if you have to. Study the subject. Work! Then, maybe after an hour, after a few hours, after a few days or years, then respond with substance. Do the work. Don't rely upon fallacy after fallacy to troll others to promote your position. If you are not equipped to proceed further, stop! Learn to shore up your deficiencies. Read some books. Get better acquainted by examining primary sources. Learn the biblical languages. Do the work! Then actually engage with people and have substance.
(4) Lying is sin. I don't need to go through the scripture references here. This is simply too basic. And yet it is stumbled over so repeatedly. Sure, the logical fallacy is a straw man, but when you keep fighting for your straw man, and you refuse to listen to correction, then the straw man ceases to be unintentional. The intentional use of a straw man fallacy is scripturally called lying. The use of lying to promote what you think is truth has to be the most counterproductive way of arguing. Why fight the very Christianity you are promoting by using unchristian means (lies) to promote truth? Why act in such a blatantly hypocritical manner? What is really gained by acting in such a way? The greatest danger here is not just the sin itself, but the sin may demonstrate something much deeper. Jesus called his opponents children of Satan because they could not bear to hear His word, and because Jesus told them the truth they did not believe (Jn 8:43-45). Beware, your stubbornness in holding to a well-demonstrated lie may clearly identify you not as a zealous Christian, but rather it may demonstrate that you are a child of Satan and zealously plunging head first into hell.
Much more could be said. Much more! But here is a decent start on both identification and a Christian response.
A troll can be spotted very quickly by making a few observations.
(1) Lack of objectivity: three common tactics appear here.
- The troll will often start a thread with no objective sourcing. We are often told that Calvinists say something, but then nothing is cited and no external source is given to substantiate what is supposedly what Calvinists say. If this is not spotted, then the troll can literally say anything about the targeted issue. Every possible form of straw man can be justified by "well, somewhere somehow, and I won't quote it, or source it, but somewhere somehow a Calvinist somewhere said . . ."
- The troll will respond to a post without quoting it. This tactic, again, allows the troll to say anything because there is no accountability. There is no notification given to the poster that the person is responding to his/her post. The goal here seems obvious; the troll can say whatever he/she wants. Personally, I've seen the troll use this tactic to avoid refutation, to repeat already refuted claims, to act as if their position is stronger than it really is.
- The troll will arbitrarily apply your statements against you or arbitrarily claim fallacy. Sometimes this is called the parrot approach, or the "I know you are but what am I" approach. Not only does it display a lack of imagination and incompetence, but it is rather easy to dispel. Again, the point here is that the poster is making an accusation without backing it up. It is one thing to point out a logical fallacy, naming it, and showing how what someone said demonstrates the fallacy. It is another thing entirely to just label words as fallacious with no argument saying why it is fallacious. Again, no objective reason is given for the application of the words applied.
- Ignoring correction is commonplace for the troll. I cannot tell you how many times I read a post that is a straw man. It is a flagrant misrepresentation of the Calvinistic position. I and others respond by pointing out the actual Calvinistic position. But the poster completely ignores the responses. The most common response is that it isn't really a straw man; rather, it is a necessary ramification of Calvinistic belief. But then this gets responded to, and people once again point out that it isn't a necessary ramification of Calvinistic belief. The logical ramification is actually a non-sequitur (jumping to conclusions fallacy) in the thinking of the poster. And again, the poster simply ignores the responses. The method at this point is (1) to keep repeating the straw man or (2) to keep repeating the non-sequitur or (3) both. It is clear at this point that the poster never posted to learn or even to shore up their understanding. The purpose of the post was entirely to attack, at any cost.
- Jumping to conclusions is common place for the troll. This is, again, either an utter failure of comprehension and listening, or it can be even more problematic. Jumping to conclusions can also be all about inflaming another person. None of us likes it when we say something, and then someone else jumps to an entirely wrong conclusion about what we said. The troll may be using this tactic to create animosity in the other person, and the troll knows exactly what to do next. The troll may go into martyr syndrome at this point. The use of verses pointing out the how following Jesus will lead to persecution, or verses will be used to point out other character faults, etc. Once the poster is inflamed, then the troll has you exactly where it is super easy to tar and feather you.
- The name of the fallacy here is called "poisoning the well." This is often preemptive in nature, and sometimes it can be after. The poster doesn't want others to hear the reasons, so the poster just bad-mouths the reasons. Pejoratives are used in place of an argument. A few examples will be given. I've often given a rather lengthy response to a particular issue. The person responded by calling it "boring". I've also received the statement, "nonsense." Again, no reason is given why it is nonsense; it is just called "nonsense" as if the pejorative were meaningful. Sometimes people will say, "well, that's stupid." But then there is no reason given as to why that is stupid. This approach just arbitrarily associates negativity with a position as if that were an argument.
A biblical response is necessary when dealing with trolls.
(1) Listening is not optional when claiming to be a Christian and interacting in a forum. James 1:19 is not an optional verse for a Christian. "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." Being quick to hear is the exact opposite tactic of the troll. Listening, even when you disagree, demonstrates that you at least respect God and the other person enough to give them a hearing. A Christian is under the authority of Christ. Paul called himself a bond-servant of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ . . ." Obeying Christ is not optional for the Christian. God is over the Christian, and a true Christian will want to be obedient to the great God who bought him. Therefore, the Christian ought to listen, for God has commanded it in His word. And the Christian will want to listen because that would be loving a neighbor as oneself. I want others to listen to me, so I ought also to listen to others. When a troll repeatedly demonstrates an unrepentant violation against God, His word, and others by not listening and always being quick to speak and retaliate, then we are dealing with a person who does not value God, God's word, and others. Sinning against God, God's word, and others is not the way to go to present a case. Sure, you may think that you are right, but acting unrepentantly unchristian (sinning) to communicate truth to promote Christianity is to subvert the very truth you claim to proclaim.
(2) Slander is sin. (Lev 19:6, 2 Sam 19:27, Psalm 15:3, 50:20, 101:5, 140:11, Prov 10:18, 11:13, 20:19, 30:10, Jer 6:28, 9:4, Eze 22:9, Matt 15:19, Mark 7:22, Rom 1:30, 3:8, 1 Cor 4:13, 2 Cor 6:8, 12:20, Eph 4:31, Col 3:8, 1 Tim 3:11, 5:14, 6:4) The testimony of scripture is that slander is sin. The Merriam-Webster dictionary website states (1st definition) that slander is, "the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another's reputation." When you say that a person believes something, or that their belief leads to a certain conclusion, and you are both wrong about what they believe and wrong about what their beliefs entail, and you refuse to correct yourself, then you are engaging in slander. A true Christian will take this issue very seriously.
(3) Don't be lazy. Laziness is sin. Sometimes a poster raises a good point or a point in which you were not prepared to deal with. Stop! Actually think about it. Consider what they say. Reread it if you have to. Study the subject. Work! Then, maybe after an hour, after a few hours, after a few days or years, then respond with substance. Do the work. Don't rely upon fallacy after fallacy to troll others to promote your position. If you are not equipped to proceed further, stop! Learn to shore up your deficiencies. Read some books. Get better acquainted by examining primary sources. Learn the biblical languages. Do the work! Then actually engage with people and have substance.
(4) Lying is sin. I don't need to go through the scripture references here. This is simply too basic. And yet it is stumbled over so repeatedly. Sure, the logical fallacy is a straw man, but when you keep fighting for your straw man, and you refuse to listen to correction, then the straw man ceases to be unintentional. The intentional use of a straw man fallacy is scripturally called lying. The use of lying to promote what you think is truth has to be the most counterproductive way of arguing. Why fight the very Christianity you are promoting by using unchristian means (lies) to promote truth? Why act in such a blatantly hypocritical manner? What is really gained by acting in such a way? The greatest danger here is not just the sin itself, but the sin may demonstrate something much deeper. Jesus called his opponents children of Satan because they could not bear to hear His word, and because Jesus told them the truth they did not believe (Jn 8:43-45). Beware, your stubbornness in holding to a well-demonstrated lie may clearly identify you not as a zealous Christian, but rather it may demonstrate that you are a child of Satan and zealously plunging head first into hell.
Much more could be said. Much more! But here is a decent start on both identification and a Christian response.
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