When I was younger I loved to play a video game called Plants vs Zombies Heroes. It is a turn-based game that goes like this: The zombies first get to place their fighter down, the plants get to place their fighter down, and then the zombies get to play tricks. Afterward the battle begins. The zombies have the power of last say because anything the plants place down; the zombies can completely and utterly destroy it. Assuming they have the right tricks, their fighter they put down before is still standing. Sometimes the plants will place down such a formidable force that even tricks will not work, but usually the plants fate lies in the zombies’ hands. This accurately describes the power of last say. No matter what the plants play if the zombies have the right tricks they can dominate. There are always exceptions, but this rule usually applies. Let us take this rule to the real world, and we will look at a hypothetical situation made by me about an atheist debating a Christian.
Atheist: There is no God
The “zombies” have played first, throwing their fighter out on the field. Now it is time for the plants to play.
Atheist: There is no God
Christian: It is true that the theistic God exists this is evidenced by the Cosmological Argument, Teleological Argument/Anthropic Principles, and the Moral Argument.
Who do you find the most convincing? Obviously, the Christian because he/she demolished the Atheist’s claim. The zombies still need to play their tricks. Consider this exchange:
Atheist: There is no God
Christian: It is true that the theistic God exists this is evidenced by the Cosmological Argument, Teleological Argument/Anthropic Principles, and the Moral Argument.
Atheist: Those arguments have been completely refuted by now and are old useless arguments. Natural Selection shows complexity can arise in simply cells so it can obviously everywhere. No need for a creator! Plus, who made the creator?
Now the atheist has been given last say. Unless you have properly studied this topic it seems as if the atheist has done exactly what the Christian just did – demolished the opponents argument. The power of last say thrives in these areas because it is impossible to know everything about God, the universe, philosophy, etc. Since the reader often will not know much about the topic other than a belief in a certain one; it is extremely easy to fall captive to the power of last say. Whoever has last say gets the power of responding to the opponent’s argument and concluding that their own is the best. Young people can especially fall prey to this advantage because they will know extraordinarily little about the topic. In the real world there are more than just three turns though. To further prove the power of last say I will continue the conversation this time allowing the Christian the power of last say. (For the sake of space, the rest of the conversation will not be repeated)
Atheist: Those arguments have been completely refuted by now and are old, useless arguments. Natural Selection shows complexity can arise in simply cells so it can obviously everywhere. No need for a creator! Plus, who made the creator?
Christian: You have not responded to my argument instead have focused on one detail of one argument. You say natural selection proves there is no need for a creator, but how does a non-life become life? There are also five huge lines of evidence that disprove natural selection in the macro form. Genetic limitations, cyclical change, irreducible complexity, nonviability of transitional forms, and molecular isolation. You are also mistaking the law of causality. It says everything the comes to be needs a cause. God did not come to be.
The tides have now turned, and the atheist’s argument has now been demolished. Often in debates against atheist, the atheist will excel at the early “turns” and throw its slogans around like: “Evolution disproves God,” “Who made the creator?”, “You have made old useless arguments” etc. Letting these slogans stand unchallenged will usually lead to your downfall, and you need to address them right away. To conclude the debate, I will show you an example of where the Christian places down such a formidable force that the atheist cannot counter.
Atheist: Your so narrow minded! Haven’t you realized that there is no truth! Truth can’t be known so there is no truth in religion.
The atheist appears to have taken the upper hand, but a closer look will reveal he/she has dug their own grave. Someone just needs to point it out.
Christian: You say there is no truth. Is that a truth claim? You say there is no truth about religion so is that a truth about religion?
The Christian has now placed such a powerful force that he/she has won. The atheist can wiggle, turn, and attempt to find a way out; but there is no hope. The power of last say is no longer on their side. One common response I will often see is this:
Atheist: Well, you think everyone who does not agree with you is going to hell!
Notice how even though the atheist got the last say is does not help them. They have attempted to change the subject and throws out another slogan. I’ll leave this one for the reader to figure out how to counter.
Conclusion
What can we conclude from this encounter? We have now seen the power of last say, and how it can be an unstoppable force if left unchallenged. You need to be careful of who you are letting get last say in your life. Young people can especially fall prey to this tactic. Your children are often being taught at school, social media, books, by professors, that God is not real, and science can explain everything. If you are letting this get, last say in your children’s lives this will plant dangerous seeds of doubt in their mind. Since the youth do not know a lot about the subject, they cannot counter it themselves. Often the average Christian can not deal with every single objection thrown at them.
Nobody can know everything about this subject, so you need to ensure that atheists are not getting the last say in your life. Here is another example, I find common among all Christians. They will read an article (since there are numerous of them and you are bound to find them some time or another) on why Christianity is “wrong”. Do not let that person get the last say in your life. Ask other Christians, read books on apologetics, ask the pastor, look it up more carefully all of this could ensure that they are not getting the last say.
When you are trying to convince your friend of Christ and you don’t want last say to have such a powerful effect, consider this: The book Tactics by Greg Koukl explains how you can share your faith in a non-confrontational way, and I have noticed it usually will make last say less effective. Consider this exchange:
Friend: I don’t believe there is enough evidence for Jesus. That’s why I don’t believe in him.
You: What do you mean by that?
Friend: I just haven’t been shown any evidence.
You: Then why are you jumping to conclusions if you haven’t seen any evidence.
Friend: I doubt there is any.
Last say has not lost all its power, as you can see. If we left the conversation at this the friend still has a slight advantage, but it has been nullified. If you want to avoid having the person who spoke last to have the most power, you should use these tactics. Of course, last say can never be avoided in your life so you should be aware of its powers. Do not let others abuse this power to make themselves seem higher than the other side. When your opponent has completely lost the power of last say and must change the subject; you can rest satisfied, you have won.