99 Things That Piss Off the Godless

I just recently finished reading a book, ‘Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things that Piss Off the Godless’, by Greta Christina. I know that most of my Christian friends would be offended by the overall message of Greta’s book, that most religious types don’t think much about what they say, most don’t understand the bigger implications of the tensions between the science community, the religious or theological community and the over simplification of life issues that most religious make. I too agree that over the centuries of man’s existence that many atrocities have been committed in the name of God or some derivation.  

I know that most people react to anyone that comes across as if his or her answers to life’s big questions are the only answer. I know that the zeal and fanatical tendencies of many Christians can even drive their family and Christian friends to drink. I can look back at my life and am embarrassed to see how I treated my dad and even my future father in-law when it came to my newfound faith. I was just a teen who had barely touched the surface of the mysteries of the universe, hadn’t read much or studied either science or philosophy. I was more concerned about expressing my point of view in deference to theirs that I totally missed out on learning about the simple fact that even in my own religious group there are a variety of views to answer the big questions in life. I have come to better understand that we live in a society that is eclectic and pluralistic.

Yes, I reacted to Greta’s shortsighted summary that most Christians don’t think or have any heart for scientific study or philosophical inquiry. Yet, the majority of her book really showed the lack of concern that most religious types have for those around them that differ from them and clearly don’t like because of their views. I know that the whole topic of whether there is truth or whether there is a unifying equation that will perfectly explain reality is a heated debate.

It’s not that I delight in pissing people off but I do love to have a healthy dialogue about whether anyone really knows the truth, is there such a thing as truth and if God does exist how is it possible to know that my version of God is correct. I know that having lived around San Francisco a good portion of my life I have been exposed to views that are extremely contrary to my Christian World View. I am learning to be open to listen, think more and be slower to peg someone as being a ‘wacko liberal’ type. Just as I have, some friends or acquaintances, that are definitely wacko religious types. I cringe when I hear about someone bombing a clinic or someone that has delivered a death threat to someone on the other side.

Is it ultimately possible for me to persuade a Greta type of person to see life through my worldview ala presupilitionalism from one of my professors? I know that Greta was quick to admit that most religious types don’t convert to atheism during one heated debate but over a period of time when their pat religious answers don’t work. I have faced much tragedies in my life and know that at any point it would have been easy to walk away from God and truly say what difference does it make? I watched my mom die slowly over a decade from the ravages of cancer. I prayed along with hundreds for God to heal her and spare her life. She died and it would be easy to say that if there is a God he didn’t hear my prayers or he, she or whoever delights in torturing grandma types.

I know that my adult kids or the youth we are working with at New City in the hood are growing up in an age of relativism where anything goes or as I would say nothing really matters. I know that while studying philosophy in college that I was exposed to what life would be like if God didn’t exist. I was fascinated by Kant’s notion that it would be better to live as if God existed to provide a moral structure for life than to concede that God is man’s invention. I read many of the existentialists of the early 50’s-60’s and understood the crisis of faith that might produce a rather negative view of whether life is worth living.

I know that I’m not going to persuade someone like Greta to walk away from her present worldview much as I’m not going to ‘chuck’ God because of the tension of whether further scientific discovery erases the need to buy into the existence of God. I thoroughly enjoyed getting my philosophy degree, which was both a focus on religious studies, classical philosophy and the philosophy of science. One of the books that profoundly influenced me was written by Thomas Kuhn, “Theories of Scientific Revolution”. He made the case that both the religious types and scientific types aren’t quick to admit to their own changing views or paradigms. It is so true that change is part of life. Yet, how do I address the change in the scientific theories of today that are contrary to the past? Just as it is difficult for the theologian to admit that his or her doctrinal views have changed over a lifetime.

I know in the past I would have made the sarcastic point that to be an atheist requires having infinite knowledge and the ability to be omnipresent so you can objectively say that I have searched the universe or the mysteries of knowledge and know absolutely that God is a figment of my imagination. Just as it would be the same for the atheist to ask me if I can absolutely prove the existence of God from an empirical perspective. We would both have to admit, rather humbly I hope, that no one has absolute knowledge about anything. I know that during my Jesus freak days we sang a song that said, “the more I know, the more I know I know nothing”. The point, which Solomon echoes, is that man isn’t God, the eternal mind or eternal matter but a being that has a definite beginning and a definite end. The question is why do I live as if I know everything instead of just being honest and saying I’m searching or I look to the one I believe has the answers to my life quest?