Since I'm currently not enrolled in any Bible classes, I've decided to keep myself in mental shape by listening to sermons, following a few pastor's blogs and reading some books. My choices for the next couple weeks are:
"The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason"
written by Victor Stenger
and
"I don't Believe in Atheists" written by Chris Hedges
No one recommended these books to me and I have never read them before, I just picked them off the shelf while aimlessly wandering through what I thought was the non-fiction section of the library. I tossed them in my basket next to a season of Gilmore Girls and vowed to read them simultaneously.
(Now, to be fair, I have only read the introduction of New Atheism, but my eyes are already rolling.) I'm really fascinated by atheists. I don't dislike them, understand them or have a problem with any one in particular, I'm simply curious how/why they live their lives. It's not hard for me to come up with reasons why believing in God is difficult or why someone could easily avoid it their whole lives. I'm just really interested in why they've developed a religion against religion. It seems counter-productive. The idea of a godless existence is understandable; I understand agnostics a lot more.
That being said, after reading the introduction of New Atheism I see I've made a poor choice in my reading material. I'll spare you the gloating first few pages where he repeatedly reminds us how successful his latest work has been and skip ahead to the closing paragraph:
"Most believers have been brainwashed into thinking that religion is necessary for happiness and contentment. This flies in the face of the fact that the happiest, healthiest, most content societies are the least religious. The new atheists are not trying to take away the comfort of faith. We are trying to show that life is much more comfortable without it."
Well, Stenger, your work here is done. I can't think of one Christ-follower in my life that would disagree with that sentence. Life...relationships...middle school...and any other fragment of existence would be easier, "more comfortable" without faith.
Jesus himself warned us repeatedly to count the cost of following him, that this life will be difficult and hard and if we follow and love him, this world will hate us. Only one of his precious, treasured and loved disciples escaped a brutal death. Paul's letters to the church were filled with encouragement to 'take heart' and 'fight the good fight'.
Oh, and here's the final reason I'm returning this book tomorrow to read something from a more educated author:
"One final myth is that religion is growing in the world and secularism is dying. As we will see, the facts tell a different story. There are from one to two billion nonbelievers on this planet, depending on how you count the Chinese. This makes nonbelief either the second or third 'belief system'. And the fastest growing."
No one is disagreeing with that one, either. He is not impressing me with his seemingly-shocking statistics. He is, however, pointing out that Scripture is being fulfilled. More people will walk away from Christ than to Christ, more will curse his name than praise it and very few are the workers of his harvest.
I know that reading a book written by an atheist is going to rub me the wrong way, frustrate me and make my heart ache with the lies that are being believed by readers, but I would at least like to read a book written by an atheist who has actually spoken to a Christian before.
Just a thought.
You could try George Smith's "Atheism: The Case Against God." I liked that one. If you want to find about about the New Atheists go for Dawkins, Hitchins or Sam Harris. If you wanna read something not by an asshole, don't read those guys. They're asshole. One big one. They're the Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Koran-burner-guy of atheism. There's one by a pastor turned atheist. That might be interesting for you. I can't remember the guy's name though.
ReplyDeleteAnd now to defend myself. I think the argument that atheism is a religion is true but only in very few cases. It doesn't meet the sociological criteria of a religion (nor theological, though thats not always needed). The problem with agnosticism is that it only speaks to what we know (or can't know). All it says is that the type of information that goes into supernatural beliefs is not the type of information that can be firmly understood empirically. But it doesn't say anything one way or the other about whether god exists or not. So hypothetically, and practically, there can be agnostic atheists and agnostic theists.
Also, hi. Its been a while. I think i saw that you're moving to camarillo. you'll be next door neighbors with my girlfriend!
I thought of another one. Though its not about atheism in general, its about the problem of suffering. "God's Problem" by Bart Ehrman.
ReplyDeleteI should add, Ehrman used to be a christian. He was a pastor for a short while, went to Moody Bible and Princeton Theological Seminary. So he has not only talked to Christians, he was one.
ReplyDeleteI second George Smith. From my understanding, he used to be Christian as well, so he has an understanding of both theism and atheism. He doesn't just spout off pompous/arrogant gobbledygook like Dawkins, Hitchens, et al.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my personal understanding of atheism is that when you break down the etymology of the word atheism, it basically just means without (a-) belief (theism). It doesn't mean that I believe that God doesn't exist; it means that I don't have the belief that he does. The former shows an active belief, while the latter shows a passive belief.
Also, I'm loving your blog, Carlie. It's helping me understand your values :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like it! But I think I disagree with your definition of atheism in this context. I think people are allowed to carry their own definitions of faith and choose how they live that out, but the author explains that atheism for him is proving that life is better without faith. Obviously not taking a passive route, and not indifference towards God.
ReplyDelete