Whenever I quote an atheist to demonstrate his folly, the atheist will show up and take credit for his foolishness. Despite my efforts to give him anonymity the narcissist is compelled to reveal himself.
I’ve written a few times about the phenomenon of diplomatic atheists. These are self-appointed moderators of the conversation between religious people and the eternal void of atheism. The diplomatic atheist says stuff like:
“I do my best to befriend Christian apologists, and to advertise how we can hang out respectfully & productively. This is literally the heart of my ‘ministry.’ I want to show that diplomacy can happen between our camps. I want to mitigate the vitriol between Christians and atheists however I can.”
The best way to ‘mitigate vitriol’ is to submit yourself to Jesus. Malice, impatience, pride, and hate are not coming from the Christian ‘camp.’ We’ve got the Holy Spirit helping us keep sin in check so we don’t need the counsel of fools. Jesus has made peace between us and God. There will never be peace between God and atheists.
Letting an atheist teach me how to communicate is like letting a fish teach me how to knit. A fish COULD teach a class on atheism though. So could a head of lettuce. Lacking belief in metaphysical reality is a characteristic that atheists share with vegetables, minerals, articles of clothing, automobiles, and household appliances. It is the philosophy of all inorganic matter.
We have nothing to learn from those with the same philosophical insights as toaster ovens. A toaster over is handy when you need to warm up fish sticks, atheism is not. Things like love, joy, kindness, compassion, mercy, generosity, and respect are already part of Christian orthodoxy. Humanism offers no morals, values, or virtues. It can’t even make toast.
(Proverbs 21:4) Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!
6 Responses
Happy 4th of July!
Happy 4th, Tom!
The Bible provides an instruction seems relevant here.
There is little doubt the Atheism is foolish, and the Bible makes that clear. However, we are still supposed to treat Atheists with gentleness and respect. What do you think? Do think an Atheist is automatically wicked?
I do think Atheism automatically denotes wickedness. This is mostly the result of my interpretation of Romans 1:18-
Gentleness and respect are subjective concepts that have gotten me into trouble with some fellow Christians. I’ve said that it’s not possible to truly ‘respect’ ideas that we believe to be false. It seems to me that Christians sometimes talk about ‘respecting other religions’ as a way of flattering unbelievers in order to be ‘winsome.’ I don’t believe that ruthlessly destroying false doctrines is a violation of our instructions to be ‘gentle.’ I’ve repeatedly told atheists (and fellow Christians) that changing your mind and adopting a better idea is not something to be ashamed about. If I have an argument that’s better than yours, you don’t ‘lose’ when you toss away an old belief for a new, better one.
The reason that atheists don’t convert is ALWAYS pride. It’s never that they’ve got a better, more rational orthodoxy. That is what makes them wicked.
@John
I don’t disagree. I think this quote makes sense and likely describes your position.
In the last paragraph on the second sentence, you wrote “a toaster over” instead of “a toaster oven”. Just thought you would like to know that.