Posted on 11/28/2006 9:53:53 PM PST by Mr. Silverback
Perhaps you’ve noticed a chill in the air this autumn. No, I’m not talking about the weather. Maybe you shared with a colleague your religious convictions, and in return, you received a look that would blow the leaves off a tree.
It doesn’t take a meteorologist to read the forecast. A quick glance at the New York Times’s bestseller list will do. High on the list is Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. One reader describes the book as “a wonderful source of ammunition for those who, like me, hold to no religious doctrine.” Another reader jubilantly gushes, reading the book “was like sitting ring side, cheering the champion, yelling ‘Yes!’ at every jab.” The barrel of the gun and the sting of the fist, however, are aimed directly at Christians.
Further down the list of pugilistic bestsellers is Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion, weighing in at 416 pages of hot air. Even Publishers Weekly rightly cautions readers, “For a scientist who criticizes religion for its intolerance, Dawkins has written a surprisingly intolerant book, full of scorn for religion and those who believe.” Publishers Weekly continues: “While Dawkins can be witty, even confirmed atheists who agree with his advocacy of science and vigorous rationalism may have trouble stomaching some of the rhetoric: [According to Dawkins] the biblical Yahweh is ‘psychotic,’ Aquinas’s proofs of God’s existence are ‘fatuous’ and religion generally is ‘nonsense.’”
In a recent interview with Wired News, Dawkins said, “At some point there is going to be enough pressure that it is just going to be too embarrassing to believe in God.” Certainly if books like The God Delusion succeed in heaping “fatuous,” “delusional,” and “nonsensical” epithets on believers, some Christians will choose to remain silent rather than face derision.
But it’s not simply the streams of the book market that are swollen with icy scorn for Christians. Recently the New York Times ran a week-long series on church and state. With titles like, “Where Faith Abides Employees Have Few Rights,” and “As Exemptions Grow Religion Outweighs Regulation,” there’s little doubt that Christians are in for a season of harsh criticism, if not outright scorn. So how ought we to prepare ourselves for what may be a long winter of cultural disdain?
First of all, the situation isn’t new, and neither is the answer. The Apostle Paul, a former Christ-scoffer, responded to pressures of his day by reaffirming: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for all those who believe: first for the Jew, and then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16). In 1 Peter 2:15, a favorite verse of mine, Peter instructed us to silence the ignorant talk of foolish men by doing good.
The truth of the matter is that the ones heaping derision on Christians are probably the ones who most need our prayers. So, in the end, maybe the best way to prepare for this cold front is by fanning the coal of our own devotion to Christ through good works. If our lives are aflame with care for the least, the last, and the lost, the kind of thing we do here at Prison Fellowship, perhaps even the coldest hearts will thaw.
And don’t let this anti-Christian barrage intimidate you. Just keep making the case for a Biblical worldview ever more winsomely. And if you need worldview materials, visit us here at our website.
You made a comment on how those who are atheists are often filled with a terrible hatred of God. Not every one, but many. Makes one wonder what spirit they are filled with.
For instance, my bride teaches math at a local high school. I recently bought here a nice (but small) crucifix to wear that matched my cross. Some students (who have SSAD) reacted to it much like the vampires do in the movies.
Excellent and so true. Love your enemies, indeed!
Actually, in countries where Christians are persecuted, the church grows at a faster rate. We Americans have gotten fat in our faith and to many it means nothing. When you are in danger of having it taken from you, it becomes precious and worth dying for.
lol! Oh no, he wants others to know how to deal with his narcissism. There's nothing wrong with him. ;)
"Why not? For instance, I write a lot about Islam but I do not believe in Allah "
Ah, but your concerns are reasonable and well-founded.
No analagous concerns exist with regard to Christianity.
Therefore, your writing so much about Islam is rational, while his writing so much vitriol about Christianity is irrational.
"Makes one wonder what spirit they are filled with."
Well, you know what I think about that.
"Some students (who have SSAD) reacted to it much like the vampires do in the movies."
Satan hates blessed objects.
Good article - thanks for the ping.
Ooooh, OK -- thanks for clearing that up! ;-)
This was my point exactly though I must not have made myself clear. We are in danger of having it taken from us, in my opinion; not our faith, but the God-given right to express it openly in the public forum. And as it has always been (Hebrews 11:37, 38):
"They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground."*
It hasn't come to this yet, but we are heading in this direction.
Nancee
*New American Standard Bible, p. 1145
Bookmark for later.
Probably not.
Why did Edith Hamilton write all those books on mythology?
If Satan is affected by man-made objects, he isn't all that much to worry about, is he?
Nice try. Dawkins wants to eliminate my religion. When's the last time that you saw the following two things:
1. A book by a Christian that called for atheists or non-Christian theists to be bullied into silence and abandonment of their beliefs
2. Said book being taken seriously by anyone in the media, especially the Christian media.
Please, provide an example. Bonus points if said book got a good review from Chuck Colson.
Oh, and you can be sure I'm going to take Chuck's advice:
The truth of the matter is that the ones heaping derision on Christians are probably the ones who most need our prayers. So, in the end, maybe the best way to prepare for this cold front is by fanning the coal of our own devotion to Christ through good works. If our lives are aflame with care for the least, the last, and the lost, the kind of thing we do here at Prison Fellowship, perhaps even the coldest hearts will thaw.
You're welcome!
Junior, you might want to consider the context of dsc's question. Dsc is a former atheist and feels he knows what the motive is. Seems to me the question was rhetorical.
What about the word "blessed" escapes you?
"Why did Edith Hamilton write all those books on mythology?"
Not to ridicule and scorn mythology, that's for sure. IMO, it was a work of scholarship, intended to preserve and illuminate the subject matter.
"The more apt question is why atheists like Dawkins and Harris are so threatened that the rest of us believe in Harvey the Rabbit"
Yes, that's the issue my rhetorial question was intended to raise.
It's just not rational that they hate it so much that they are willing to spend such huge amounts of energy attacking it. Nothing explains that except the influence of the Father of Lies.
"What about the word "blessed" escapes you?"
Perhaps Junior doesn't believe in the reality of the supernatural properties of blessed objects. Good thing Satan does.
I agree. I don't worry so much about myself but I do about my children and their families. One family comes to church and I have sent them many prophetic articles that I've received over the years. They believe it's coming. The other two..well, they need a lot of prayer.
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