Atheists often talk about religion like scientists at the Center for Disease Control talk about plagues and epidemics -- unambiguously bad things that we should work to eliminate. There is a difference, however. The scientists at the CDC know what they are talking about because they have studied epidemics. Their comments are based on more than a few documentaries on the Discovery Channel and headlines about the flu in local papers. Atheists, however, speak with great confidence about the evils of a religion that they seem to have encountered only in headlines -- a terrorist incident here, an assault on evolution there, a new survey connecting religiosity to young earth creationism, and so on. Religion as practiced by ordinary people is nothing like these headlines. If the scientists at the CDC were as ill-informed as these atheists, their knowledge of diseases would not extend beyond lethal high-profile plagues that were killing thousands of people.
Atheists should go to church and do some research if they want to keep talking about religion.
In a provocative piece certain (once again) to annoy the atheists, Brian Appleyard -- himself an agnostic -- defines new atheism, which he calls "neo-atheism," as a "tripartite belief system founded on the conviction that science provides the only road to truth and that all religions are deluded, irrational and destructive." The third leg of what he calls this "exotic ideological cocktail" is, of course, denial of the existence of God.
Although I believe in God, I am actually fine sharing the world with people who do not and I have friends who fit in that category. Belief in God is complicated and every thoughtful Christian I know will admit privately to having doubts about the existence of God from time to time. Even Richard Dawkins charitably -- and honestly -- admitted recently that his atheism was less than 100 percent certain. Foundational beliefs like the existence of God are not simple binary choices that one makes as a child and then never revisits or wrestles with as experiences accumulate.
What I am not OK with, however, are the mean-spirited caricatures produced by people who have virtually no real experience with religious people, beyond reading about them in headlines. I don't recognize these religious people.
I would like to invite atheists to join me at St. Chrysostom's Church in Quincy, MA -- or whatever church is convenient -- and spend a year doing research into what real life religious people are like -- the people who are not in the headlines. You may be surprised to discover that we don't all think the same. Some of us are cradle Christians with deeply rooted and unwavering beliefs. Some of us are new believers, wondering about our faith. Some of us are properly called agnostic because we have serious doubts -- but doubts we prefer to explore from within the Christian community, rather than from outside. None of us are overly concerned about this lack of uniformity. All of us are concerned about our mutual need for community and we invest energy in making our communities strong and healthy.
Some of us donate our time to a tutoring program for local students who need a leg up. Some of us run a weekly job fair to help people find employment. Many of us send money to troubled parts of the world to help people in need. Atheists, of course, also do these things but our city has no tutoring programs, food banks or homeless shelters sponsored by atheist organizations.
None of us have ever bombed an abortion clinic, or held a sign protesting gay marriage. In fact, our fellowship includes openly gay Christians. We are worried about climate change, widespread lack of healthcare, and the excesses of the Tea Party. In these and other ways, we find common cause with many of our fellow citizens, both believers and atheists.
I don't think a year in our church will transform your atheism into belief in God. You may leave even more convinced that Christians believe odd things. But I think your experience would help you see that our faith -- like our affection for our beloved Red Sox or our love for our glorious fall foliage -- is not an epidemic or a plague. The beliefs we pass on to our children are not harmful and abusive.
And the world is a better place because we are here.
Follow Karl Giberson, Ph.D on Twitter: www.twitter.com/gibersok
Do Atheists Need a Church of Their Own? -- New York Magazine
Do Any Atheists Go to Church? Why Would Atheists Attend Church ...
American Atheists | Welcome Free Thinkers
Atheists Who Go to Church: Doing It for the Children - ABC News
Or... he can stop acting like the hyperbolic trolls he is complaining about and realize that the vast majority of us don't generalize all Christians as bad or ignorant, nor do we consider the angry, self-righteous comments left after some story of liberal malfeasance as representative of Christianity as a whole. There is no dearth of rational, moderating voices representing the atheist/agnostic point of view in the mass media. Isn't it a shame that Dr. Giberson didn't choose to be that much rarer animal, a rational moderating voice representing people of faith.
And yet it still would be fair if he could point to outrageous bluster and hyperbole perpetrated by atheists in a variety of public venues. But most of the over-the-top statements made by atheists are usually made in comment sections like these. Let's face it, hyperbole is the bread and butter of the online lurker and commenter. Generally we accept this for what it is and respond with equally inflated derision. After all, we're here too, in the Huffington Post comments section.
But what undermines his position is that young earth creationists are trying to infiltrate and subvert science classrooms, fundamentalists are trying to inflict their particular moral strictures on those of us who don't share their faith, and religious fanatics are engaging in terrorist activities in the name of their faith. Atheists, as far as I know, aren't trying to close the doors of any church or stop the free practice or expression of anyone's private faith except where doing so would amount to state endorsement.
There should be a national take an atheist to church day. Maybe then they would see that from the north to the south east coast to the west coast there are actually churches that aren't bent on destroying the world, electing the next president or taunting them. There are churches that help their communities, serve people in need, and seek to be better people each day.
If irrational and illogical faith in Jesus is not a tenet of your variety of Christianity, I apologize. My understanding is that it's an important part of most Christians' beliefs. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
However I wouldn't suggest that is blind of isn't rational. A belief based upon the texts and historical records of many of the figures in the Bible can indeed be rational. Besides a person believing in one thing whether irrational or illogical cannot presuppose that they do not apply reason or logic to anything. There are some extremely intelligent academics even in science who are very logical minded.
William Hamby points out that the Fox FB page will be sanitized of death threats against atheists. Except for the quick screen-saving by readers, the evidence is gone. But atheists remember that there are people, lots of people, who would like to see us dead and who are so emboldened by the current political climate that they feel safe in announcing their threats in public.
"What's worse, we have to spend hours defending ourselves to the "Good Christians" who would never do that kind of thing, and think we're awful people for trying to paint Christians with such a broad brush. How dare we call attention to the hateful Christians! How dare we suggest that we're a hated minority and that Christians are responsible? The gall of it all!"
Mr. Giberson, if the shoe fits, wear it! And then apologize.
I, too, hope that he gets his wish, and that it grows into a most magnificent tree. Then, maybe a lumber mill company will come along and cut it down. And, the tree is turned into paper, and then Bibles are printed on his backside.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbMvB7M18Ws
--neither very Christian nor very original.
Your jump to conclusions is appalling. A brief examination of verifiable empirical data with refute your claim.
The main problem here is that the good doctor is completely on the wrong side of the facts. Overwhelmingly, atheists in America are ex-Christians. And in survey after survey, we know more about Christianity than Christians.
http://www.examiner.com/atheism-in-atlanta/christian-claims-atheists-don-t-know-anything-about-religion