Atheist's Hypocrisy Revealed!

 

            Belief/faith is present in the lives of both the atheist and the theist. Although an atheist chooses not to believe in God, ‘belief’ is not nonexistent in his life. Interestingly, the Covid pandemic reveals a contradictory feature in the ‘belief’ of an atheist with respect to the evidence.

            The Covid pandemic has motivated us (both the theist and the atheist) to believe in so many facets of life insofar we take enormous risks predicated on those beliefs. Let us consider five important aspects:

1.      Mask: We simply believe that which has been claimed about the mask and we wear it. When we wear masks (N95 or others) we believe it will prevent the coronavirus from entering through the mask. We believe the manufacturer adhered to and has provided 100% quality. At times, when the mask strap loosens or gets cut, we even, desperately, wear a mask bought from the roadside vendor, believing it will do its job. At no point, have we researched or posed a million questions about the quality of the mask.

2.      Sanitizer: Similarly, we believe that which has been claimed about the sanitizer. If the manufacturer claims there is 70% alcohol, we blindly believe and use it. We neither have the time, nor the expertise and tools to find out for ourselves if the sanitizer does have 70% alcohol content.

3.      Healthcare: When we or our loved one is sick, we believe in the healthcare system to enable our recovery. During the pandemic, we did not have the luxury to choose the hospital. We were forced to go to the hospital that had the space for admission and when we did, we believed they will provide the best treatment.

4.      Medicine: Same holds true with medicines. When we take the meds, we believe they will cure us. We do not question the efficacy of the medicines. Often, while being treated in the hospital, we do not have all the information as to whether the medicine can effectively combat the coronavirus. Yet we believe in the medicines.

5.      Vaccine: We believe the syringe contains the vaccine and not saline. We do not question the nurse as to whether there is saline or vaccine in the syringe. Although we do not know much about vaccines, we obey our government and take the vaccines believing that they would prevent us from Coronavirus infection. Simple belief!

            We can go on, but we will stop here.

            So in an effort to save his own mortal life, the atheist (and even the theist) believes in that which is proximal and available. He barely spends time researching and hardly questions the solutions offered to cure him.

            But when it comes to God, wherein his eternal life is involved, the belligerent atheist refuses to accept even the most reasonable evidence offered to him.

            This then is the hypocrisy in the belief system of an atheist.

            During the Covid pandemic, he believes just about everything that’s been offered as a solution to him. But when he or she is challenged to believe in God, they blatantly reject even the most plausible and reasonable evidence.

            Therefore, the atheist primarily believes in the goodness of an imperfect man who is prone to multivarious and a broad spectrum of nefarious practices. It is the imperfect man who manufactures the vaccine, mask, and medicines. Yet, without asking any question, the atheist primarily believes in the product or the treatment offered.

            In contrast, the Christian theist primarily believes in God. God, according to the Christian, holds the key to life and death. When we wear the mask or use the sanitizer or get admitted to the hospital or when we take the vaccine, we primarily believe in God for health and cure.

            There are many atheists who are sincerely seeking God. These atheists are not referred to in this article. The atheist featured in this article is the belligerent one.

            It is our prayer that all atheists would humbly and sincerely seek and believe the one and the only living God. Amen.

Unholy Benefits Of Atheism

Examining atheism from the vantage point of Christianity motivates a Christian to ask two questions. First, “what would I gain if I convert to atheism?” Second, “Is there any value to the benefits stockpiled from atheism?”

What would I gain if I convert to atheism?

Thankfully, the “Creed” penned by the English poet and music journalist Steve Turner reflects the panoramic voice of an atheist whose godless worldview mandates an embrace of relativism:

We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin

We believe everything is OK

as long as you don’t hurt anyone

to the best of your definition of hurt,

and to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.

We believe in the therapy of sin.

We believe that adultery is fun.

We believe that sodomy’s OK.

We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything’s getting better

despite evidence to the contrary.

The evidence must be investigated

And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe there’s something in horoscopes UFO’s and bent spoons.

Jesus was a good man just like Buddha, Mohammed, and ourselves.

He was a good moral teacher though we think

His good morals were bad.

We believe that all religions are basically the same –

at least the one that we read was.

They all believe in love and goodness.

They only differ on matters of creation,

sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing

Because when you ask the dead what happens

they say nothing.

If death is not the end, if the dead have lied, then it’s compulsory heaven for all

excepting perhaps

Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Kahn

We believe in Masters and Johnson

What’s selected is average.

What’s average is normal.

What’s normal is good.

We believe in total disarmament.

We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed.

Americans should beat their guns into tractors

and the Russians would be sure to follow.

We believe that man is essentially good.

It’s only his behavior that lets him down.

This is the fault of society.

Society is the fault of conditions.

Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that

is right for him.

Reality will adapt accordingly.

The universe will readjust.

History will alter.

We believe that there is no absolute truth

excepting the truth

that there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds,

And the flowering of individual thought.

Postscript:

If chance be

the Father of all flesh,

disaster is his rainbow in the sky

and when you hear:

State of Emergency!

Sniper Kills Ten!

Troops on Rampage!

Whites go Looting!

It is but the sound of man

worshipping his maker.

The benefit an atheist accrues is predicated on an assumption that atheism sets him free.

If I’m an atheist, I’d be liberated from religious demands. I no longer need to love and worship God.

If I do not love God, I’d not be shackled to a morally pure life required by Christianity. As Friedrich Nietzsche thought, if God does not exist, everything is permitted. I am my own god.

Decisions abhorrent to a well meaning Christian would be desirable to an atheist. An atheist can abort his / her unborn child. Gaining wealth by hook or by crook cannot be condemned by moral relativism. Fraud and bribery are acceptable. If anyone impedes his pursuit, he can bulldoze them, figuratively and literally. Thanks to atheism.

Pleasure in all forms is acceptable to an atheist, for atheism is sufficiently undergirded by the relativistic paradigm. An atheist is free to practice adultery, polygamy, homosexuality, child sex and what not. Thanks to the power of subjective moral values.

This is not it.

An atheist could also live a depressing life, for he would suffer a constant existential struggle.

This metaphysical struggle is between moral relativism and the law of the land, which is fundamentally predicated on objective moral values (you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you cannot rape etc.).

Although moral relativism prescriptively allows an atheist to gain wealth through unholy means, the law of the land legislates various stipulations that stifles and could imprison him for gaining wealth through unholy means. So he should painfully ponder over the wisdom behind the law of the land not being predicated on moral relativism!!

Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer, expressed this struggle, “If a person doesn’t think there is a God to be accountable to, then—then what’s the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime. When we, when we died, you know, that was it, there is nothing…” (Jeffrey Dahmer, in an interview with Stone Phillips, Dateline NBC, Nov. 29, 1994.).

Is there any value to the benefits stockpiled from atheism?

Atheists who wholly experience the unholy pleasures of this material world are destined to become weary of pleasure so to doom themselves into the darkened dungeons of meaninglessness.

Edward Young, in his work “Night Thoughts” ridiculed pleasure, “Sure as night follows day, Death treads in Pleasure’s footsteps round the world, When Pleasure treads the paths which Reason shuns.” And wasn’t it G.K Chesterton who said, “Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness comes from being weary of pleasure.”?

The author of Ecclesiastes pronounced the meaninglessness of pleasure, “I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards…I amassed silver and gold for myself…I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 2: 1-11, NIV).

So atheism does not set anyone free instead it imprisons its devotees to meaninglessness. Atheism offers perishable benefits, not enduring benefits.

What about those atheists who have lost faith in God because of the problem of evil and suffering? If you’re one of those atheists, please read the book of Habakkuk in the Bible.

The author of Habakkuk complains to God about evil, injustice and God’s apparent inactivity. But after hearing God’s response, he wholeheartedly proclaimed, “Though the cherry trees don’t blossom and the strawberries don’t ripen, Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted, Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty, I’m singing joyful praise to God. I’m turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God. Counting on God’s Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength.  I run like a deer. I feel like I’m king of the mountain!” (Habakkuk 3: 17-19, MSG).

To conclude, yes, atheism offers a plethora of unholy benefits. But unholy benefits cannot enrich life.

There’s a God. HE desires that we love HIM. When we love God truly and wholly, we don’t gain pleasure from anything the material world has to offer. We find pleasure in enjoying God’s presence and the peace HE offers us through the good and the bad days of our lives. Because we love HIM, we long to be with HIM forever – even beyond this earthly life.

So let’s echo the words of the author of Ecclesiastes, who after having considered everything the material world has to offer, finds meaning in God alone, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12: 13-14, NIV).

Note: This article was originally published at http://christianapologeticsalliance.com/2017/03/02/unholy-benefits-of-atheism/ for the Christian Apologetics Alliance

How Do Atheists Encourage The Dying & The Suffering? (Evaluating Atheism’s Response To Pain)

            How does atheism respond to pain? Does atheism offer meaningful comfort to those in pain? This is a critical aspect to consider so to validate the truth claim of atheism.

            Atheists claim that their worldview is factual. Christians and other theists, by positing God’s existence and value, passionately deny this truth claim.

            A mere propositioning of a truth claim does not confirm the proposition as truth. Hence a statement that atheism is true does not necessarily confirm it to be as true. A truth claim ought NOT to be systemically contradictory i.e. atheism as a worldview should not contradict itself.

            If atheism cannot console atheists, it contradicts itself. Learning how atheists console or encourage those in pain will crucially determine atheism’s constructive relevance in painful situations and meaningful value to those in pain. If atheism is not of value to those in pain, then it would considerably weaken and negate atheism’s truth claim.

            At the other side of the coin is theism and most especially, Christianity, which asserts that the chief end of man is to enjoy and glorify God. When a Christian enjoys God’s presence, he, most certainly, will not voluntarily be in a permanent state of depression¹ or sadness. (Depression or sadness may be a temporary phenomenon in a Christian life.) Therefore, Christians would predominantly be peaceful and joyous for they are constantly experiencing and enjoying God’s presence in their life.

            Suffering challenges God’s intent for a man to be joyous. But it is the sovereign God who allows suffering upon the vulnerable man (cf. Job 1: 10; Isaiah 5: 5). Hence, it is incumbent upon God to offer peace and comfort to those believers who are in pain, yet call upon HIM (Philippians 4: 4-7).

            If atheism is factual, it should ensure that its adherents are peaceful and joyful in all situations of life; even the suffering atheists should be peaceful. But peace is not the default attribute of a person in suffering – be it a theist or an atheist.

            Since peace is not innate in man, peace that leads to joy should be offered by an external source greater than man. But atheism ignores or chooses to be blind to the most powerful external source that can ever be – God. Therefore, learning how atheists console and encourage each other would be a valuable means to discern either the truthfulness or the deceit of atheism.

            Atheism operates within the paradigm of rejecting God and enabling man. So instead of asking how atheists console each other, we could ask what atheism offers to its adherents that would be valuable and meaningful for encouragement and consolation of the atheist in pain.

            For the sake of this discussion, I have considered an article from Huff Post written by an atheist striving to write comforting and meaningful words of consolation to a suffering theist.²  

YOU ARE LIVING THROUGH YOUR OFFSPRING

            When the theist lost her father, the atheist strived to console her by saying that she is the epitome of her father and that she should be encouraged about it, “…we're alive through our offspring. You are physically an embodiment of your father's biological and genetic essence. This includes everything from how you look to many of the behavioral and personality traits you have. In other words -- and this is not an exaggeration -- your father is literally alive through you, as mine is through me. For me, knowing that is incredibly powerful and comforting.”³

            If the departed person was a parent, spouse or a friend who loved us deeply and unconditionally, then how does the knowledge of he/she living in me comfort me? I know I live, but then I loved the departed person because he/she loved me unconditionally. When that person is dead and gone, I would miss his love for me.

            (A Christian, on the other hand, knows that God lives in him and that he/she is the image of the living and loving God. God’s love for us far exceeds that of any other person’s love. Hence Christians go to God during times of bereavement, for only God satisfies the yearning of our souls.)

WE BECOME A PART OF THE EARTH THAT GIVES RISE TO NEW LIFE

            The comforting atheist continues to console the suffering theist, “I know that we continue to exist through the earth…As part of this huge reservoir of terrestrial carbon, we die and become part of the earth, which gives rise to new life, as it once gave rise to us. That is also very powerful to me in a more collective, worldly sense.”⁴

            When we die, our physical bodies decay; this is what this atheist refers to as becoming a part of the earth. But earth does not produce new life! Humans are born of humans. The earth, other than the fact that it provides a habitat for our existence, does not play any role in the birth of a baby. So this consolation is meaningless.

            (A Christian believes that upon death his body would decay but his soul would exist in the presence of God. The knowledge and the reminder that I and my loved ones would be living in God’s presence after death will be greatly encouraging and satisfying.)

AFTER DEATH, WE GO BACK INTO THE PRE-BIRTH PHASE⁵

            In other words, atheism believes that we cease to exist after death. If that were to be factual, this life is all that we have to make sense. But this life does not make any sense. I see evil thriving and evildoers prospering; justice seems to aid only the rich and the powerful. The evil in this world is depressing.

            There is no consolation in ceasing to exist, especially when atheism offers neither a solution nor justice for the prosperity of evil and the suffering of the good. Hence, the knowledge that evil would be unpunished and justice would never be rendered to the suffering people of this world, which is the entailment of atheism, greatly intensifies the depression.

            Non-existence is more painful to consider than existence. If you are offered an option between life and death would you not choose life over death? Anyone would choose life over death, if at all that option is offered to them. In other words, existence is exceedingly superior and greatly desirable than non-existence. If this be the case, how would non-existence console an atheist?

            Atheism has no proof that we cease to exist after death – let’s not even go near the validity of the “Near Death Experiences!” Atheism’s primary proof is that there is no news from the other side of life; hence atheism considers an impossibility of life after death. Silence from the other side of life does not necessarily mean a lack of proof. Hence the belief that we do not exist after death is based on conjecture predicated on pure flights of atheistic fantasy.

            (Christianity relies on the objective truth of the Bible and believes that God would annihilate the Satan and punish the evildoers thereby serving justice. Moreover, the knowledge of the fact that a perfect heaven (sans evil) awaits a Christian is good enough to forget the perils of evil in this world.)

WE'RE PART OF A MULTIVERSE AND MAY EXIST IN SEVERAL UNIVERSES SIMULTANEOUSLY

            The comforting atheist says that we could continue to exist in other universes, since we are a part of multiverse. Atheism rejects Christianity for the lack of satisfactory evidence. But atheism does not offer satisfactory evidence of a multiverse or humans’ existence in the multiverse to anyone, let alone an atheist, while asserting that we are a part of a multiverse and may exist in several universes.

            Cosmologist George F. R. Ellis, virtually known as an eminent cosmologist who knows more about cosmology than any single living person, strongly debunks the idea of multiverse.⁶

            Speaking at the conference to debate whether string theory is science, theoretical physicist David Gross asserted that multiverse is not even a potentially testable theory, “…Much more troubling, he says, are concepts such as the multiverse because the other universes that it postulates probably cannot be observed from our own, even in principle.”⁷

            On one hand, atheism demands satisfactory evidence for the presence of God, but on the other hand, atheism believes in a concept that is bankrupt of evidence. Therefore, atheism contradicts itself, for any consolation predicated on our existence in the multiverse is meaningless.

            (Christianity offers greater evidence for its veracity than atheism or even the multiverse theory. Death to a Christian is the gateway to heaven or an eternal life with God. The belief that we would live when we die is a stunning consolation to anyone in death bed or in pain, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies…” (John 11: 25, NASB, Emphasis Mine).)

ATHEISTS LOOK TO PEOPLE FOR COMFORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT

            Both the atheist and the theist have people to comfort them. But people cannot satisfy the longings of our soul. Our intangible soul longs for enduring comfort and answers when we are in pain.

            While in pain, loneliness adds greater pain if there is no proper comforting mechanism. When I am lonely, only a perpetual source of comfort would save me.

            There are moments of acute loneliness in our lives. I could be alone while in company of people or when am in my vehicle or when am in my bed (there may be a spouse or a child by my side, but I still am alone when I am in bed and pondering over my pain and problem at hand.)  But by rejecting God, the atheist deprives himself of the source of perennial comfort and encouragement.

            (The Holy Spirit is the perennial comforter of Christians (John 14:16). A Christian, when he prays to God, is comforted mightily by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the soul of a Christian who remains in Christ will be at peace and will yearn for God more than people.)

CONCLUSION

            Meaning to life ought to be discovered and not invented. The sovereign and transcendent God, who creates and sustains, can alone offer credible meaning to life.

            When atheists reject God, they bankrupt themselves of the overarching meaning to life and begin a series of fictitious inventions of comfort that are utterly hopeless. When one loses sense of the real meaning of life and death, there remains only emptiness harshly revealed through vain and empty words of apparent consolation that is devoid of any sense or true meaning to console a person in pain.

            Can the atheist comfort those in pain? They surely can utter words that they think would bring comfort to the others. But do those words offer comfort? No, not by any chance!

            Does Christianity offer true comfort? Yes!

            Those who go to God would be comforted. True comfort is found in God alone, for the Lord Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11: 28, NASB)

Endnotes:

Websites cited were last accessed on 3^rd November 2016.

¹We are not considering depression linked to medical problems.

²http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/atheists-death_b_4134439

³Ibid.

⁴http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/atheists-death_b_4134439

⁵http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/atheists-death_b_4134439

⁶https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-the-multiverse-really-exist1/

&

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-multiverse-may-be-the-most-dangerous-idea-in-physics/

⁷https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-string-theory-science/

Why Do Christians Become Atheists?

            If we have had our “questioning-God” moments in our own life, we can most surely empathize with those who convert to Atheism. Atheism is disbelief or lack of belief in God, a minority of atheists do believe in a universal spirit or god.

            On the other hand, if our [Christian] life has been hunky-dory and comfortable thus far, we would be surprised, shocked, and even judgmental at those converting to Atheism. But the fact of the matter is that we ought to empathize with those who convert.

            Today’s younger generation is more resistant to Christianity. 70-80% of young non-Christians believe that Christianity is judgmental, hypocritical and old-fashioned.¹

            Why do people convert to Atheism?

            Notable author and columnist Larry Taunton, based on a research conducted in the USA, lists seven characteristics of those who have become atheists: ²

            1. They had attended church.

            2. The mission and message of their churches was vague.

            3. They felt their churches offered superficial answers to life's difficult questions.

            4. They expressed their respect for those ministers who took the Bible seriously.

            5. Ages 14-17 were decisive.

            6. The decision to embrace unbelief was often an emotional one.

            7. The internet factored heavily into their conversion to atheism.

            Moreover, proselytes or those who convert to atheism think that Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution adequately explains the origin of the universe and life, respectively. Hence, they see no need for God.

            Then there are those who believe that science offers all answers to their questions. Scientism is a view that any belief should be scientifically proven. If it cannot be scientifically proven, then it should not be believed. So Scientism posits science as the sole source of knowledge and truth.

            But Scientism is not all encompassing. Scientism does not permeate into all domains e.g. how would science determine morality e.g. whether torturing a little child is right or wrong?

            Scientism is also self-refuting. Scientism argues that any proposition, if it cannot be proven by science, should be discarded. But this very proposition i.e. any proposition that which cannot be proven by science should be discarded, cannot be proven scientifically. Therefore, scientism is self-refuting. So we do not need to believe in Scientism.   

            Best selling author Nancy Pearcey considers the unanswered intellectual questions as a great motivating factor for people to abandon Christianity. Churches should take the blame for this occurrence.

            Churches, Pearcey reckons, are good at establishing an emotional commitment but fail to satisfy the young Christians intellectually. Although apologetics resources are freely available on the internet, churches continue to neglect these resources.³

            People are confounded when they try to understand certain aspects of the Biblical narrative such as God killing people or the concept of hell, the virgin birth of Christ, hatred towards homosexuality etc. Since reasonable answers are not forthcoming from the local church the migration towards atheism continues.

            But there is another side of the coin to this predicament. Some people do not want to hear the good answers. It is not that any amount of good answers convinces these people but that these people do not want to be convinced. They consciously reject the perfectly reasonable answers to the biblical conundrums.

            Why do people not want to be convinced by reasonable answers to the difficult questions?  

            Quite a few people embrace Atheism because of emotional reasons such as an untimely death of a loved one, abuse, childhood scars etc. But they would not openly cite these reasons as cause for their conversion; instead they would cite intellectual reasons as cause, since citing intellectual reasons elevates them in their society. These emotional reasons remain unattended and unresolved in their lives plunging them deeper into the realms of warfare against God.

            BBC hosts an article that cites more reasons for people choosing Atheism. The reasons are: ⁴        

            Lack of evidence

            God is unnecessary

            Arguments for God aren't convincing

            The problem of evil

            Science and the history of thought

            God is meaningless

            God is a psychological factor

            God is a social function

            Karl Marx's criticisms of religion

            God is not apparent

            Christian scholars have debunked every reason to more than adequately claim that Christianity is true. If Christianity is true, then Atheism is false. If Atheism is false, then none need believe in Atheism.

            Consider this from another perspective. What does Christianity offer that Atheism does not? Here are a few salient features of Christianity that demonstrate God’s power upon those who believe HIM.

            First, the salvation (deliverance) offered by the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of mankind, is the most realistic and practical solution. All we need to do is to believe in Christ, love HIM for what HE has done for us, and obey HIM all through the days of our lives. No amount of good work that we may do will fetch us salvation, for we cannot be perfect in this life.

            Second, God offers hope and justice to every Christian – a hope that I will blissfully coexist with God in heaven unto eternity. I know that God will annihilate evil and judge men for what they have done. Hence justice would be upheld, especially to those who did not receive it in this time and age.

            Third, God offers joy to every Christian. I am joyful, for I am wonderfully made in the image of the living God and that I am not alone but God lives in me to help me through life’s painful situations. This joy is neither predicated nor is an entailment of my material possessions, but this joy is a fruit of my spiritual connection with God.

            Lastly, God offers me peace. God overwhelms me with HIS peace especially when I am in distress. This peace transcends human understanding.  

            In a nutshell, God redeems me and offers me hope, justice, joy and peace! These intangible essentials are not linked to our earthly success but God offers it to everyone who believes in HIM, for these are necessary for the successful sustenance of our life.

            In contrast, what does Atheism offer?

            Significantly, some secular thinkers have even reasoned that Atheism is nothing but a farce. Here are the words of one such secular thinker, “I was in fact rather a staunch atheist myself. I tried to be respectful but in private often railed against the “silly” people with their “sky god fairy-tales.” Pretty standard stuff really, the funny thing, the funniest thing is that all throughout this time, decades of life. I was both completely ignorant of the fact that my beliefs themselves were the product of cultural indoctrination of a rather crude variety.. At that stage I also believed that all religious beliefs were the result of indoctrination and that having avoided that my atheism was the natural and correct human response to life on earth.

            Eventually I realised that Atheism, was rather flawed in its confident claim to know that there is no god. It occurred to me that it would be almost impossible to prove or know that there is no god.

            The point about the death of Atheism is not that the existence of god has been proven, the point is that the existence of non-material interactions of many kinds has been proven. The existence of the world beyond the visible physical material world has been proven in dozens if not thousands of ways.”⁵

            Atheism isolates man by disengaging God from him. An atheist would be lonely. He would be free to act on his own selfish and imperfect counsel or be dependent on the imperfect, selfish and corrupt counsel of fellow men. Atheism neither posits salvation nor offers an eternal hope, joy and peace.

            Atheism is firmly anchored in the temporal and the tentative now. Atheism reduces our life to a mere social activity thereby robbing us of a fascinating and a life changing communion with God. Atheism robs man of the hope and joy of expecting an eternal life post our death.

            In a nutshell, Atheism is a dark phenomenon, for it dumps man into a greater darkness.

            What could we as Christians do when we see fellow Christians embrace unbelief?

            Here’s a very simple thought. If we are in the domain of those abandoning Christianity to Atheism, then we could love and pray for them and offer ourselves as an ever-available option for any discussions or prayers.

            May we be able to present the reason for the hope that we have in Christ. May those who have abandoned God realize God’s presence and offer their lives to Christ. Amen.

Endnotes:

Websites were last accessed on 18^th April 2016.

¹ http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/watchman-on-the-wall/46618-why-are-so-many-christians-turning-into-atheists

² http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/listening-to-young-atheists-lessons-for-a-stronger-christianity/276584/

³ http://www.christianpost.com/news/young-christians-spiritually-failing-in-real-world-because-youth-groups-depend-too-much-on-emotional-high-says-nancy-pearcey-cp-interview-1-2-137420/

⁴ http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/beliefs/reasons_1.shtml#h10

⁵ https://crimesofempire.com/tag/reductive-materialism/

Church of Satan Proves Atheism Is Evil

            Atheism is a dangerous worldview. Obviously, atheists will vehemently deny this claim. No sane human will agree that their worldview is evil. But a proponent of atheism reveals atheism as an evil worldview. 

            To say that atheism has an innate propensity to perpetrate evil is not to assert that religion is a peaceful worldview. Killers do represent religion. There are rank evil people professing to some religion or the other.

            Reality also reveals many morally upright atheists. What makes an atheist a good person?

            Christians claim that atheists could be good because God’s law is written in their hearts (Romans 2: 15). Contrarily, atheists believe that the rules of sociology, psychology, and neurophysiology enable their good behavior [1].

            A Christian will be a good person if he loves and obeys the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ did not teach us to hate each other rather love each other.  

            What makes a religionist an evil person?

            From within a Christian perspective, if a Christian remains a namesake Christian without any love for the Lord and the knowledge of God’s Word – the Bible, then he would most likely be an evil person. Such a Christian would have succumbed to the deception of the Satan.

            Evil Christians are not Christians to begin with. Those who have succumbed to Satan’s deceptions to perpetrate evil are Satan’s disciples, not Christ’s disciples.

            Other than denying God, what is innately wrong with the atheistic worldview that it motivates atheists to be evil? (Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot are famous atheists who ruthlessly murdered millions of people.)

            If atheists believe that rules of sociology, psychology, and neurophysiology enable their good behavior, then it’s reasonable to deduce that corruption in sociology, psychology, and neurophysiology would entail evil. (How would an atheist explain the corruption that enters sociology, psychology, and neurophysiology to motivate evil from its adherents? What is the nature and source of that corruption? Let’s not enter that metaphysical domain now!)

            Say hello to the Church of Satan!

            Do not be surprised by the rules of existence of the “Church of Satan,” which is published in their website, “When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him.” “If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy” (Emphases Mine) [2].

            “If he does not stop, destroy him” ????

            “… treat him cruelly and without mercy” ????

            How does the Church of Satan justify destroying people? This is their justification, “Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek!” [3]. The Church of Satan does not believe in the biblical version of Satan i.e. Satan is a living spiritual being.

            Satanists or the members of Church of Satan are self-centered atheists, “Satanists are atheists. We see the universe as being indifferent to us, and so all morals and values are subjective human constructions.

            Our position is to be self-centered, with ourselves being the most important person (the “God”) of our subjective universe, so we are sometimes said to worship ourselves. Our current High Priest Gilmore calls this the step moving from being an atheist to being an “I-Theist.”

            Satan to us is a symbol of pride, liberty and individualism, and it serves as an external metaphorical projection of our highest personal potential. We do not believe in Satan as a being or person” (Emphasis Mine) [4]. The fundamental belief of the Church of Satan exposes atheism in all its glory.

            When atheists deny God, they affirm man. (They do not have another option!)

            When atheists deny [the sovereignty of] God, they affirm the sovereignty of man. The Church of Satan blatantly declares that man is sovereign, “Our position is to be self-centered, with ourselves being the most important person (the “God”) of our subjective universe, so we are sometimes said to worship ourselves” [5].

            When sovereignty of man is affirmed, then as an entailment, subjectivity invades their domain. The Church of Satan affirms subjectivity, “We see the universe as being indifferent to us, and so all morals and values are subjective human constructions”[6].  

            By affirming and subscribing to subjectivity, the Church of Satan offers itself absolute freedom to determine its own rules and policies. In fact, the Church of Satan plays God by offering itself absolute freedom via its justification of man’s sovereignty.

            If man declares himself as sovereign, he gives himself the powers to kill and to destroy. This is the source of ruthless dictatorship or ruthless man. Atheism is capable of gross ruthlessness.

            Lack of a common belief system, an entailment of negating objective truth, is another reason why atheism could be a dangerous killer, “The only common thread that ties all atheists together is a lack of belief in gods and supernatural beings. Some of the best debates we have ever had have been with fellow atheists. This is because atheists do not have a common belief system, sacred scripture or atheist Pope. This means atheists often disagree on many issues and ideas. Atheists come in a variety of shapes, colors, beliefs, convictions, and backgrounds. We are as unique as our fingerprints”[7].

            When atheism negates objectivity and upholds man’s sovereignty, subjectivity or relativism is a natural entailment. “Every man for himself” is their motto.

            Thanks to Richard Dawkins, every man is free to dance to the music of his DNA. Every man is free to hypothesize and establish the rules of his sociology, psychology, and neurophysiology. Sociology, psychology, and neurophysiology become prisoners of atheists.

            Within the atheistic worldview, what seems evil to one atheist could be conceived as the greater good of another atheist. On what grounds would you argue with those who perpetrate evil under the assumption that their contentious act is essentially not an evil act?

            Consider child sex abuse as a case in point.

            Thankfully the Church of Satan believes in not harming children, “Do not harm little children” [8]. The American Psychological Association (APA) also considers sexual abuse of children as a harmful practice, “sexual relations between children and adults are abusive, exploitive, reprehensible and properly punishable by law” [9].

            But NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association) believes that consensual sexual relationship between a man and a boy is beneficial to the boy [10]! Significantly, the American Psychological Association does not refer to consensual sex between man and a boy as being beneficial to the boy. Whether consensual or not, sexual relations between boy and a man is an abuse and a disorder – an evil deed.

            But this is my point; what’s evil to APA is not evil to NAMBLA. How would you resolve this situation under an atheistic worldview that subscribes to man’s sovereignty and subjective moral laws? At best, these organizations could debate this matter endlessly. Even if one deems the other as evil, the other could find justification from within the atheistic worldview to justify the evil.

            The scope for evil’s rule is much greater if atheism prevails. If Christianity as a religion perpetrates evil, then it is a gross misrepresentation of Christianity. Evil is not inherent in Christianity. But evil is a natural entailment of atheism.

            Christianity cannot, by any means, justify evil. But atheism, through the portrayed instances of the Church of Satan and NAMBLA, can justify evil.

Endnotes:

[1] http://atheists.org/activism/resources/ethics

[2] http://www.churchofsatan.com/eleven-rules-of-earth.php

[3] http://www.churchofsatan.com/nine-satanic-statements.php

[4] http://www.churchofsatan.com/faq-fundamental-beliefs.php

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] https://atheists.org/activism/resources/what-is-atheism

[8] http://www.churchofsatan.com/eleven-rules-of-earth.php

[9] http://www.apa.org/about/policy/sexual-abuse.aspx

[10] http://nambla.org/data.html