I’ve encountered a couple of Billy Graham’s advice column responses and done posts about them to offer an alternative view and now I’ve discovered he recently wrote about the rise of atheism, calling it “a fad only fools follow.”
Hemant Mehta at Friendly Atheist wrote a rebuttal worth reading and I thought I’d take a stab at replying, too.
So, the letter:
Why does atheism seem to be growing so much in recent years? I guess there have always been people around who didn’t believe in God, but atheists seem to be in the public eye a lot more than they used to be. — M.M.
Yeah, I think there have always been, too. Why atheism is more known about now, though, might have something to do with the way people in the world can express themselves now. It’s easier getting news out that shows the trouble religions are causing (and trouble specific religious people are causing) when so much of the world is connected to a media outlet such as the internet. It’s easier now to show that there’s another way to think and live independently of religious regamentalism and preachy propaganda and still be good and do worthwhile things.
Atheism grows because people are finally becoming aware of the choice to be an atheist. That it’s okay to not believe what a church says is true. That it’s okay to question. In fact, I think it’s pretty depressing how many generations of people have grown up satisified with “God did it” as the be-all end-all answer to everything. How can that be a satisfactory answer? I’m glad people all throughout history have found answers beyond that non-answer. In the end it doesn’t matter if they were devout believers or what. They knew there was more to know and didn’t stop until they had cured diseases or invented airplanes or designed telescopes.
It’s human nature to ask questions and it seems to to be the nature of church to only answer certain questions and skirt around other ones with answers that can’t be proven with anything other than the faith they’ve been pushing. A lot of people now see an answer like, “God works in mysterious ways,” as a very lame cop-out and want real facts about nature and space and biology. Real answers and proof that can be measured and duplicated, not just prayer and platitudes and a “God Bless.”
Billy’s reaction to this question is as follows:
Yes, atheism has been in the public eye more in recent years, largely because of a few atheists who’ve captured the public’s attention through their books. They aren’t large in number, but they do tend to be aggressive in promoting their ideas.
I’m not parading the streets shouting that god lovers should go to the hell they love to threaten us with. I’m not torching churches or attacking people because I don’t like how they think. I’m not aggressively promoting my ideas. I could, I suppose, but I’m not out to alienate people who do want to put their faith in some ineffible, supernatural being. They can if they want. I just want the space and freedom to make the point that life can be just as worthwhile and joyful without all of that.
Why have they drawn so much attention? One reason, I believe, is because they know how to use the media very effectively. They also appeal to people who want to be free from God or any moral restraints. Like the philosophers of Paul’s day who were constantly looking for new ideas to debate, many people today eagerly latch on to the latest fad (see Acts 17:21). Atheism attracts their attention, at least for a while.
Yeah, okay. Some “backsliders” walk the penitent path and return to the fold, ashamed of doubting and then reaffirm their faith as if they never had the idea to leave at all. Others de-convert for good, and I think that alarms church leaders more than anything. They’ve had control and power for so long, they’re used to dominating every level of the mind and body. Now people have stood up and said, screw that, and more and more people are coming to the same conclusion. Then, the religious right has to find something to blame so they blame something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer for it. It has nothing to do with the way the church itself operates, no never ever.
This idea that no god equals no morality is a thorn in the atheist’s side, though. That’s a fallacious assumption. Sure, there probably are atheists committing atrocities but we aren’t all immoral anymore than every Christian agrees with Fred Phelps.
Atheism attracts attention because vocal atheists are making good on their promises, that life can still be worth living without a deity involved. Frankly, I think it’s more than a little disturbing how a group can say in one breath, “Jesus is love” and in the next be joyfully wishing all those who don’t agree with them an eternity tortured by hellfire. How do they justify the illogic of that? Encouraging obedience via threats and fear hardly seems like love.
In reality, however, modern atheists have very little new to say. In fact, atheism has been around for thousands of years; even the Psalmist, writing hundreds of years before Christ, referred to them: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’ ” (Psalm 14:1).
Don’t be misled by those who claim God doesn’t exist, because he does. And the ultimate reason we know it is because he came down from heaven and walked on this earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Christ was God in human flesh, and he proved it by rising from the dead.
But the only proof we have of that is one book, put together by people who had a political agenda they were pushing at the time. There’s no corroborating evidence of any of that, although people keep looking and hoping and praying for it.
I’d say don’t continue to be misled by all the people who claim God does exist, because he probably doesn’t. The reason we know it is because we’re learning more about the world with every passing day. We’ve looked at the history of other cultures who had gods too and why they died out. We’ve seen what’s going on in space and we know how many years it took the light from a supernova to get here. We know what’s going on inside an atom and we know we might not be seeing all that as it happens either because some particles are moving pretty damned fast. We know the earth is a lot older than 6000 years because we know there were dinosaurs and we know humans didn’t ride them like ponies.
What we don’t know, we’ll keep trying to find out until we do. The attempt to find an answer is just as important as the answers we’ll find, maybe moreso.
There’s probably more I could add, but I think I’ll stop there. Read Hemant’s response if you haven’t already. He’s said it all better than I ever could.
