Saturday, December 26, 2009

Putting the "A" in "Atheism"

Here is an interesting window into the culture.

The prefix "A" in Greek negates a word. A "Theist" believes in God. An "A-theist" does not. But the "A" in "Atheism" is increasingly becoming "Antagonist" and "Anti-freedom."

Atheists believe the Christian faith is simply a fairy tale. But notice that the Atheists do not put agitate and push their intolerance next to displays of Aesop's Fables or Harry Potter. They don't hand out leaflets in the children's section of the bookstore. It's interesting that in this Illinois State Capitol incident, the "festivus pole" was not targeted - the Atheists' religious display was put next to the Christmas tree. How can anyone conclude that their goal is anything other than specifically targeting Christianity? This serves to bolster our claim that the Christian faith is the one true faith and that it is the one faith that is hated by Satan. Where is all the Atheist bile aimed at the Dalai Lama? Why aren't they putting such signs up in front of the Holocaust Museum in Washington? Let's see them open a chapter in Riyadh.

The current vapid and intolerant materialist culture that denies the existence of God and worships the self is increasingly in bed with the state. Even many of the politicians who claim to be Christian often make a mockery of our faith. I think the best thing would be to sever all ties between the Christian faith and the godless state. The Triune God and His bride do not need the stamp of approval of tax-feeding bureaucrats. We don't need to have our faith mocked or in any way tainted with this circus. When it comes to religion, government is not our friend. This is why the founders sought to protect the Church from the state by the adoption of the first amendment.

Lutherans, of all people, should be leery of such church-state coziness. This kind of partnership led to the rise of the monstrous medieval papacy, the bloody government purges of Lutheran cities and states in the sixteenth century, and even the collapse of the once-pious Scandinavian state churches in the twentieth century, having been taken over by Socialists, Atheists, and skeptics. Confessing Lutherans were on the outs in Nazi Germany, and it was the king of Prussia in the nineteenth century that compelled Lutherans and Reformed Christians to take communion together. It was also the Atheist state that executed Lutheran pastors and seized the churches of Lutherans in Russia. Make no mistake, this has happened everywhere in the world where Atheism has fully seized the mechanism of the government. Unlike Christians, Atheists see no intrinsic value in human life. Atheist governments do not protect life. Our own government is increasingly under the sway of those who protect convenience and selfishness over life.

Will we ever learn from history?

There is plenty of private property to erect Christmas trees and displays. We don't need to be putting them up in statehouses. How about we not authorize the bureaucrats to spend our money to buy Christmas trees, menorahs, Asherah poles, and moronic signs put up by sour Atheists - and instead pay down the deficit that the politicians continue to run up? I think we Christians may even find common ground with Atheists on this point - at least with the Atheists who are truly reasonable, who genuinely want freedom - as opposed to those who are simply being obnoxious and adolescent attention-grabbers who would like nothing more than the eradication of Christianity (even if it means using force to get the job done).

We have to accept the reality that the world is increasingly hostile to the holy faith, and the culture and the state will continue to decay and spiral into utter savagery. Let the Barbarians and the politicians have their Atheism, and how about we focus on keeping them out of our churches?

5 comments:

Eric Haas said...

Atheists don’t bother with displays of Aesop’s Fables or Harry Potter, because very few people believe they are real.

As for targeting Christianity, Christianity is the religion to which most atheists are exposed to most frequently. Judaism is probably second, but it is a non-evangelical religion. There are more than a few atheists who have spoken out against Islam and Hinduism. And, no, that does not bolster your claim that Christianity is the one true faith.

How about we not authorize the bureaucrats to spend our money to buy Christmas trees, menorahs, Asherah poles, and moronic signs put up by sour Atheists - and instead pay down the deficit that the politicians continue to run up? I think we Christians may even find common ground with Atheists on this point…

That is probably the one point in your post with which I can agree.

Rev. Larry Beane said...

Dear Eric:

You write: "Atheists don’t bother with displays of Aesop’s Fables or Harry Potter, because very few people believe they are real."

Aren't people free to believe whatever they wish? Why does it bother Atheists that I believe in God? I mean, some of them get really angry and hostile about it. There are Atheists who make no bones about wishing to take children away from believing parents, and using other arms of the state's authority to take away the rights of believers. Homeschooling is a crime in Germany out of fear that Christians might not allow state indoctrination of their children.

I don't know why people have to be such busy-bodies.

Atheists used to be far more libertarian. The new breed seems for more interested in controlling other people. But then again, fascism is completely at odds with the Christian teaching of the sanctity of each individual life. Without the radical individualism of Theism (which comes from the assertions in the Book of Genesis), there is no philosophical basis for human rights.

Ingrid Newkirk sums it up: "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy."

I think when the velvet gloves come completely off, we will see the very ugly underbelly of the New Atheism - and it will be Stalin and Mao all over again.

In spite of our disagreement, I appreciate your weighing in!

Eric Haas said...

Yes, people are free to believe whatever they wish, or at least they should be. But, people are also free to point out what they believe to be fallacies in other people’s beliefs. Having an atheist tell a Christian that "Belief in God is wrong because blah, blah, blah…” is not at all equivalent to prohibiting a Christian from believing in God.

I don’t think it does bother most atheists that you believe in God. Atheists, however, are told frequently by Christians that they should believe in God, that they can’t be good people if they don’t believe in God, that they can’t possibly value human life if they don’t believe in God, and so on. It’s only natural for atheists to respond to this by saying why they think it’s wrong.

Rev. Larry Beane said...

Dear Eric:

I agree with you - it's just that when Atheists get in control of governments, very bad things happen. Again, the New Atheism has become rather strident.

My own extensive personal experience (especially with Atheist friends and family members) is that they work way harder to "evangelize" me than vice versa.

It's just curious and funny to me that *they* are always the ones who want to talk about religion. I never bring it up.

If there is no God, who cares? We're all going to be worm meat in a century anyway, so why get so hot and bothered about Christian home schoolers or if the statehouse has a Christmas tree?

It all gets back to Augustine's phrase: "the lust for domination."

Fraser Pearce said...

The picture for this post made me laugh out loud!

Happy new year, by the way!