Rationality!

Rationality is inescapable. Everybody uses it because it is hardwired into our mind from the Creator. Those who wish to deny rationality must use rationality to deny it.

Ravi Zacharias tells the story of his encounter with a Hindu professor of Eastern philosophy. The professor asked him to speak to his philosophy class on the topic "Why I am not a Hindu." Ravi spoke, revealing several areas in which Hindu religious philosophy is self-contradictory, and concluded that Hinduism must be false because it contradicts the law of non-contradiction. At the end of the lecture the Hindu professor dismissed Ravi's arguments saying, "You have made a grave error. You are trying to evaluate an Eastern religion using Western logic. You must use Eastern logic to evaluate Hinduism, and when you do you will find there is no contradiction." The professor then went on to explain how there are two forms of logic: Western, Eastern. He said, "Western logic is either-or logic. It is either this, or that. God is either personal, or He is impersonal. Eastern logic is both-and. It is both this, and that. God is both personal, and non-personal. To understand Hinduism you must use Eastern logic, and when you do you will find it is a perfectly coherent system." At this point Ravi responded, "Sir, let me ask you just one question. Are you telling me that if I want to evaluate Hinduism I must either use the both-and system or nothing at all?" The professor was completely stunned. After a few moments he said, "The either-or does seem to emerge, doesn't it." Ravi said, "Yes it does. And I will clue you into a little secret. Even in India people look both ways before they cross the street. They understand that it's either the bus, or them, not both." The laws of logic cannot be avoided. It doesn't matter what part of the world you are from, or what religion you were raised in. The laws of logic apply equally to everyone because they accurately describe the kind of world we live in. We may deny rationality if we like, but we have to live in a world governed by rationality. While we may deny rationality with our lips, we cannot deny it with our actions. Our actions will always betray the errant philosophy we claim to follow.

Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 63.