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.
(Ecclesiastes 1:9~11; 12:13, 14) and (Philippians 2:5~16)
We will continue to pray and to live and to work together for His purposes. And together we will make every effort to trust Him to watch over those we love! I am so thankful for this forum and for you and so many others here. Have a good day, "Marysecretary:!
Nancee
"I wonder if the author expresses the same outrage when books are published deriding atheism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or any other set of beliefs?
Probably not."
Did I miss something? What 'outrage' are you talking about? Did you find Chuck Colson to be full of outrage or were you talking about someone else? (I'm not being sarcastic, I promise.) I got to the end of the article and was just silenced, for lack of a better word, by the spirit of compassion and turn-the-other-cheekness that Colson showed. I found it quite shaming and humbling (as Mr. Silverback mentioned). I've always been the type of person who has a bit of a mean and snarky streak, and I'd be the first to fly off the handle and be 'outraged' at the people who criticized 'MY' religion. I'm starting to get better about it now, but that's absolutely ONLY because I've been putting more time and effort into my relationship with Christ and giving Him the reins. (Still have a loooooong way to go, of course.) Anyway, I saw in Colson's article the grace which all Christians should embody. He didn't strike me as outraged or mean-spirited, just calm, matter-of-fact, and charitable.
And you're right, Chuck Colson probably doesn't get outraged over criticisms of other religions. He is a Christian, first and foremost, not a generic "world religions" talking head. His allegiance lies with Jesus Christ, not Allah or Buddah or Mother Earth or Charles Darwin. I'm sure he'd prefer that the rhetoric be dignified in comments on any religion at all, but mainly because he, as a Christian, wants Christ's follwers to reflect well on Him and draw others to Him. I'd agree with you that Colson came across as outraged if he were calling on Christians to behead Sam Harris and those like him. I'd call him outrageous if he advocated violent mass protests against the critics of Christianity. Look what happened to the Pope for simply making reference to someone else's comments on Islam. That's outrage. But from what I've seen, Colson walks the walk.
Thanks, Nancee. FR is a great place because of you and other Christian brothers and sisters. Mxxx
Good Morning BUMP!!
Ditto, Nancee, although this is late evening bump. We are having some severe thunderstorms and wind but so far it hasn't been bad here. Lots of times it goes right around us. Hail is expected but so far nothing. We just put a new metal roof on and that should be fun to listen to with hail (smile). Mxxx
Nancee
It got pretty windy and it started to sound like a train was coming. My friends got into their cellar but nothing bad happened around here that we know of. Tomorrow morning we may see some downed trees. One of ours, which was a fairly young tree, blew right over a couple of weeks ago in a windstorm. It had been girdled by some animal and that killed it. We've had our share of rain and flooding in the area as well.
Glad to hear you're okay!
Nancee
I freepmailed you. M
LoL....
How strange...it's been five days since I asked you the question in post 34...and you've been on the site since then, commenting on other threads. I wonder, why haven't you given any examples of Christian books similar to Dawkins' efforts? It couldn't be because there aren't any, could it? Nah...
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