Well, the current lack of civility in the public square has invaded the once hallowed halls of polite discourse in the area of religion. Have you heard about the “new atheists”? Why new, you ask, haven’t they always been around? Surely you remember Madalyn Murray O’Hair and her success in getting prayer banished from the public square?
To paraphrase a bit from a political debate, Richard Dawkins ain’t no Madalyn O’Hair. These folks don’t strongly disagree with faith. They actually believe that it is “child abuse” to introduce one’s offspring to faith. They claim that religion is to blame for ALL of the wars and conflicts throughout history!
Do you think we are exaggerating? Recently, one of us engaged in a debate with a committed atheist. He claimed that, in the last century, most of the wars were caused by religion. He was confronted with the fact that communism and fascism, both known to be anti-religious, were in the forefront of the conflicts of most of the wars of the last century. She was nonplussed by his response. He claimed most of those leaders were religious and spent the next number of exchanges trying to convince her that Adolf Hitler was a Christian!
The leaders of this movement are bright, and they know it! They spend an inordinate amount of time apprising listeners of their high IQs. In fact, they now wish to be called the “Brights” instead of the “Atheists.” Obviously, besides being self-professed geniuses, they are arrogant and they want you to know how very stupid you must be if you believe in God. In fact, they claim belief in God is some sort of genetic malfunction! They allege that belief in God was genetically necessary for groups of ancient people to unify. This in turn caused societies to develop and share information. However, now that we humans have evolved to such a high state of being, we can cast off the last vestiges of belief in a mythological higher being. They, of course, have evolved to a higher state of being. If we decline to enter into this new higher state of consciousness, we are to be pitied.
Are we being fair? Absolutely. All of these accusations are true, and we will prove it to you as we discuss this topic in the coming months. These atheists have become quite popular. Their books are showing up on best-seller lists, and these guys fill stadiums with adoring crowds who come to hear their lectures.
In the interim, we would like to give you the names of some of these leaders, as well as some of their best selling books, along with counter resources from the Christian community. One can also find debates between these atheists and those who believe God is real and knowable on You Tube.
Frankly, we Christians have fallen down on the job. A simple tract like The Four Spiritual Laws is rather useless to answer their claims. Every Christian in every pew must be able to give a reason for the hope (s)he has and not retreat in fear or disgust. Christianity is a valid faith which can be defended, and we have an obligation to do so. Perhaps The Wartburg Watch can assist in this education. We will be providing resources and information in the coming months.
1. Richard Dawkins: The God Delusion
2. Sam Harris: Letter to a Christian Nation
3. Christopher Hitchens: God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
4. Bart Ehrman: Misquoting Jesus
5. Daniel Dennett: Breaking the Spell
6. Bill Maher: Religulous (movie)
7. Debate between John Lennox (Christian professor) and Richard Dawkins: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xdboeXnwgI )
8. Alister McGrath: The Dawkin’s Delusion
9. Douglas Wilson: Letter From a Christian Citizen
10. Timothy Paul Jones: Misquoting Truth