The rise of the new atheism
Pastor Dale Morgan
The rise of the new atheism*
Jonathan Falwell encourages Christians not to be antagonistic when
standing for faith
Posted: October 13, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Renowned World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle is often attributed with
coining the phrase, "There are no atheists in foxholes." Pyle, who
traveled with servicemen in Europe, Africa and the Pacific Theater,
apparently witnessed men turning to God while enemy fire rained down on
them. There was no comfort in their disbelief as they faced eternity
without God.
Six decades later, atheism has become a trendy subject, gaining new
exposure in the media. Atheists have become known as "free thinkers,"
insinuating in that title that those who choose to walk with God are
slaves to intellectual dullness.
Authors such as Christopher Hitchens ("God is Not Great: How Religion
Poisons Everything") and Sam Harris ("The End of Faith: Religion,
Terror, and the Future of Reason" and "Letter to a Christian Nation")
are rising new champions of disbelief.
Further, the leftist radio network Air America has launched a nationwide
show focusing on atheism. The program is hosted by the co-presidents of
the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
There are now websites such as AmericanAtheists.com, Exchristian.net
(which is designed to "encourage" ex-Christians) and others that are
paving the way for this new atheism.
There are also less adamant agnostics who smile on the new atheism, such
as Gary Wolf who, writing in the November 2006 issue of Wired, scoffed
at "antique absurdities like the virgin birth."
In the midst of this new atheism campaign is the concurrent effort to
purge our nation of its religious heritage by eliminating historic
public images of America's Judeo-Christian founding.
Christians today find themselves in a so-called tolerant culture that is
quite often intolerant to our Bible-based beliefs.
But we must not be intimidated by these efforts to denigrate our God.
Instead, I believe Christians must prepare their hearts and minds to be
diligent apologists for the cause of Christ.
This does not mean we should be browbeating those who do not believe. We
never should be antagonistic in expressing our faith.
Listen to the words of Sam Harris in his "Letter to a Christian Nation":
"Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to
believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from
Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no
faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than
their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by
Christ's love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism.
While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such
hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this?
The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse."
Now let me say that I certainly do not believe that the Bible endorses
hatred toward nonbelievers. Jesus was never intimidating in presenting
Himself as the Son of God and we, likewise, should never be vindictive
or forceful in sharing our faith.
We must show the love of Christ at all times. We must considerately
reason with nonbelievers, as the Apostle Paul did in the New Testament
and as my friend Dr. Ergun Caner does in many debates with atheists today.
Further, we must reach out to people who are in need, as the Bible
commands us.
Let us remember a very important question asked in I John 3:17: "But
whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts
up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"
Compassion should be a crucial component of the Christian life.
My fear is that many people like Sam Harris, who have chosen to live out
their lives believing in a godless universe, may have come to that
conclusion because Christians or so-called Christians were cruel or
uncaring toward them.
Living out our faith in the love of Christ must be paramount in our
lives. Christians are certainly under the microscope in this often
godless culture. That is why it behooves us to be constantly prayerful
that we may be upright representatives of Christ and effective
communicators of the Gospel.
Let us love and live "in word and truth" (I John 3:18).