Dobbs Raves On
by Farrell Till

1994 / July-August

Bill Lockwood's article "The Skeptic's Sword," submitted to and published in TSR (Spring 1994, pp. 8-9), was also published in the *Firm Foundation* (April 1994, pp. 10-12) but without Farrell Till's response, of course. At the end of the article editor H. A. "Buster" Dobbs added the following editor's note:

Farrell Till has been a teacher of English literature at a little-known college in the backwoods of Illinois for 28 years. He has no following, no influence, and no standing, even in the atheistic community. He has spent his life for nothing, and, in his sunset years, is without hope or purpose. "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God." Of this we are absolutely certain: There will be no atheists in hell!

We won't take the time to correct the factual errors that Dobbs made in this statement. However, if Dobbs really believes everything he said, we have to wonder why he wasted space in his paper on someone who has no standing "even in the atheistic community." As for Till's living in the "backwoods of Illinois," Dobbs just might be surprised if he would visit the area and review its history. Be that as it may, we do agree with one thing he said. There will be no atheists in hell, and that is because no one can be in a place that doesn't exist. If we are right about this, then it's pretty obvious who "has spent life for nothing." Dobbs, in fact, had better wish that we are right, because we have witnessed conduct from him (including lying) that his Bible warns will condemn a person to eternal hellfire.

We could say much more about Dobbs's comments, but why bother? Such remarks from a preacher whose church is barely known outside the Hee-Haw environment that spawned it has little room to criticize the "backwoods" that Till or anyone else lives in. As time ticks on, it becomes more and more apparent that Dobbs is still smarting from the humiliation that he suffered in his debate with Till.
 

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