You know what I don't like? I don't like this "New Atheism." This is not to say that I approve of the old atheism either, it's just that this latest mutation of the old godlessness is particularly ugly. The New Atheism is lead by the likes of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, and of course by the peanut gallery that buys their books, cheers them on, and assumes that the intellectual abilities of these men also belong to themselves by proxy. Christianity has always seemed irrational to the atheist, but now there is more of an edge it seems. Christianity is not only painted as stupid, but also as dangerous, threatening, detrimental, standing in the way of knowledge and progress.
Yesterday as I was driving in the car here and there, I caught bits and pieces of a local talk radio show that gave a platform to a couple of atheists who were arguing that Christians, indeed all religious people, were ultimately kooks, and basically should not be allowed to have a public face at all -- and religion should DEFINITELY have nothing to do with education and civil government.
Listeners were calling in and opposing the atheist guests. Sadly, the callers that were allowed to speak lacked the capacity and the preparation it takes to answer them. The basic "This country was founded on the Bible" arguments were trotted out and quickly stomped into a mud hole. The few times that I heard a promising argument from callers, they were quickly interrupted by the host and were not allowed to continue to build any substantial argument, the partial argument was then handed over to the atheists to dispatch in short order, much like my dog does when I drop him some of the fat from the meat being prepared for supper. For example, one caller began by pointing out the atheists that all law is an imposition of morality of some sort, and then the host cut him off and shouted, "What the hell are you talking about?" as if to pretend "I didn't understand a word you just said," and the man was not allowed to continue. The atheists then just laughed at the idea that Christians think morality should be legislated.
By the end of the show, the atheists were defending such basic human rights as sexual perversion, killing the unborn who are unwanted, and suicide. "If an adult who is suffering in pain wants to end it, who are we to say he shouldn't be able to do that?"
Hey, wait a minute... I have some questions. First, forget about suffering in pain. What if the guy's having a bad day? And why limit this to adults? Why shouldn't a 14 year old be able to off himself if he wants to? Who do you think you are to put your own limits on suicide, while denying others the option of limiting it? Second, where do you get the idea that humans have rights in the first place? Even our Christ-less Declaration of Independence founded human rights upon the Creator. Remove the Creator, and what right do you have to have the rights He has bestowed? Who granted you rights if not the Creator? Natural Selection? Marx? The government? Third, given your worldview, why should I care about a word you are saying? You yourself believe you are an accidental, purposeless, complex bio-chemical reaction whose "mind" is not a mind at all, but a secretion of what is essentially an ape-brain. I, in your worldview, am likewise. So, why call a radio show at all? Why try to share your ideas (read
brain secretions) at all?
Of course, I don't believe that's what you are, and I don't believe that's what I am. So, in my worldview, your ideas are important. They are important because they are dangerous, and threatening to human life, and human dignity, and human freedom, and are criminally blasphemous against the very God that gave you the ability to think and communicate at all.
Anyway, that's my rant for the day. Readers, please be aware of this New Atheism, and have a ready answer (to sure up your own faith, to help others who may be shaken, to tear down every imagination that dares to stand against the knowledge of Christ). In the past, such a nasty atheism would have been socially unacceptable and would not have gained popularity. But things have changed, and the New Atheism books are best-sellers, and their ideas are being taught in universities, and the groundwork is being laid in the minds of children in the government schools. One does not have to spend too much time finding the effects of atheistic social Darwinism in the 20th century, and I wonder if this is not the direction we are heading towards. After all, you Christians are stupid, dangerous, and you're getting in the way.
(Jesse ate them whole... head first... CRUNCH!)
And we buried her two days later :(
