Best selling author
says that atheists are harder to pin down than "Jello to a wall."
By Carl
Gallups
On April 13 Yahoo news reported a
story titled "The rise of atheism in America." It is listed as having
been written by "The Week’s Editorial Staff."
The article begins with a two-pronged
statement followed by a thought-provoking question. The editorial staff writes,
"The number of disbelievers is growing, but they remain America's least
trusted minority. Why?"
Let me begin with the first premise
that the "number of disbelievers is growing." Actually, this article proves
what the majority of collective worldwide statistics have been saying for
decades, that is - the number of those who actually claim "there is no
God" consistently remains at around the 2-4 percent level. In order to say
that atheism is growing in America, another completely separate group of a
growing phenomenon had to be included in their figures.
Observe the next sentence of the
article, "How many atheists are there? It depends on your definition of
the term. Only between 1.5 and 4 percent of Americans admit to so-called 'hard
atheism,' the conviction that no higher power exists. But a much larger share
of the American public (19 percent) spurns organized religion in favor of a
nondefined skepticism about faith."
And here we observe another trick of
the atheist movement: the movement's definition is really tough to identify -
by their own admission. Here we see a bold and admitted example of that fact,
"It depends on your definition of the term," the writer proclaims.
Yes, it does depend upon definitions. Atheists are notorious for wanting to
include anyone in their "club" who has the slightest disgruntlement
with church or "organized religion." As a result of this desire, the
definition of atheism can often be a little "loose"... kind of like
trying to pin Jello to the wall.
In order for the article to say
that atheism is growing, the writers found it necessary to include in their
analysis the 19 percent of Americans who "spurns organized religion in
favor of a nondefined skepticism about faith." I hate to disappoint the
atheist crowd, but the definition of this particular group does not even come
close to the atheistic claim that "there is no God."
As a matter of fact, this
statistical phenomenon of disgruntled churchgoers is something the Christian
community has known in America for a long time; the church is losing a
generation to societal confusion. This generation is not necessarily lost to
atheism - but rather to cynicism and disappointment. They are groping around in
the darkness - many of them looking for a church that is real and Spirit-filled. All too often and sadly, the disgruntled
group finds communities of believers (churches) with internal strife,
misdirected focus, and a biblically lost direction. The disgruntled ones are
also now finding entire denominations that used to be the bulwark of the
Christian faith turning to the political correctness of the times rather than
standing on the clear Word of God.
The article continues, “This group,
sometimes collectively labeled the ‘Nones,’ is growing faster than any
religious faith in the U.S. About two thirds of Nones say they are former
believers; 24 percent are lapsed Catholics and 29 percent once identified with
other Christian denominations. David Silverman, president of American Atheists,
claims these Nones as members of his tribe. ‘If you don't have a belief in God,
you're an atheist,’ he said. ‘It doesn't matter what you call yourself.’”
And so there you have it. The
"disgruntled ones" are collectively swept up into the
"atheist" category because the President of American Atheists
declares them to be members of "his tribe." And, he proclaims, it
“doesn’t matter what you call yourself.” Apparently, it only matters what the
atheists “call you.” This truly appears to be more "wishful thinking"
than statistical and practical reality.
Now we come to the standing
question of the article - "WHY?" The two statements posed before this
ominous question were:
1. "The number of disbelievers is growing" - but I
have just shown how numbers and definitions are easily manipulated and the
number of atheists, in reality, is probably at about the same statistical level
that it has been - for decades.
2. "Yet, atheists are still the least trusted minority.
Why?" Could it be partly because
of the very thing that I have pointed out here - atheists are notorious for
shifting definitions, facts, statistics, and people groups in order to
assimilate them into their statistical "tribe"? I would think this
could be at least one very important reason why the atheist community is a
largely "distrusted" community.
Of course, this is not the reason
given by the writer of the article for why atheism is "on the rise"
in America. No, their reason is much more "atheistic" in rationale.
Observe the next statement, "Why are so many people leaving religion? It's
primarily a backlash against the religious Right, say political scientists
Robert Putnam and David Campbell. In their book, American Grace, they
argue that the religious Right's politicization of faith in the 1990s turned
younger, socially liberal Christians away from churches, even as conservatives
became more zealous. The dropouts were turned off by churches' Old Testament
condemnation of homosexuals, premarital sex, contraception, and abortion."
How convenient. People are leaving religion
because of a backlash against the religious Right. The dropouts were turned off
by Old Testament condemnations of such things as homosexuality, premarital sex
and abortion? What? First
of all - the entirety of God's Word condemns such things, from Genesis to
Revelation - not just the Old Testament. Secondly, these condemnations are such
a foundational part of the understanding of God's heart as expressed in the
Bible, that to say "socially liberal Christians" are turning away from
the church because of these things is like saying a bevy of atheists have
recently turned from atheism because they are shocked that atheists don't
actually believe in God! While it may be true that some in this category of
"disgruntled" ones are now claiming to be atheists, it could just as
easily be argued that many of them were not real "believers" in the
first place.
To further illustrate the absurdity
of much of the "atheist movement," along with our developing
understanding of why they may be so "distrusted," let me comment on
the closing statement of the atheist's article.
The last several sentences of the article read as follows, "In attempting to secure the same rights and support enjoyed by religious soldiers, the association (The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers) lobbies against the idea that "there are no atheists in foxholes," and wants "atheist chaplains" made available for the ranks of the armed nonbelievers. Jason Torpy, the association's president, says that nonbelievers outnumber every religious group in the military except Christians, yet receive no ethical and family counseling geared to their own non-beliefs. "These are things that chaplains do for everybody," he said, "except us."
The last several sentences of the article read as follows, "In attempting to secure the same rights and support enjoyed by religious soldiers, the association (The Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers) lobbies against the idea that "there are no atheists in foxholes," and wants "atheist chaplains" made available for the ranks of the armed nonbelievers. Jason Torpy, the association's president, says that nonbelievers outnumber every religious group in the military except Christians, yet receive no ethical and family counseling geared to their own non-beliefs. "These are things that chaplains do for everybody," he said, "except us."
So now, the
"nonbelievers" need a chaplain to help them with their
"nonbeliefs" while they are in the foxholes of war. Why, pray-tell?
Is there a "danger" of the atheist in a foxhole becoming a believer
unless an atheist "chaplain" is there to help them hang on to their
"unbelief?" And if the definition of "Atheism" is a
non-belief in God - why do the atheists need the same "rights" as the
"religious soldiers" who DO believe in God? And they wonder why much
of America just doesn't trust the atheist community.
THE MAGIC MAN IN THE SKY: Effectively Defending The Christian Faith
Carl Gallups
Publisher: WND Books - Washington D.C.
Visit http://www.carlgallups.com
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