Zev Porat

Monday, August 20, 2012

Hard Core Atheists Have "Wishful Dreams"


  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."
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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