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
Get the book at Amazon.com today!

RAVE REVIEWED IN THE WASHINGTON TIMES! 

"A must-read book! / A muscular defense of the Christian faith. /An arsenal of powerful rebuttals to Christian bashers."

Featured on TBN (PTL With Dwight Thompson), ATLANTA LIVE, DOVE NETWORK, COAST UP CLOSE TV, IN THE MARKET with Janet Parshall (Moody Radio) and in dozens of major radio markets coast to coast (From Mancow in the Morning (Chicago) to Bill Martinez Live (California). THIS BOOK HAS BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON!

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT Carl Gallups' Home Page -  http://www.carlgallups.com
This is a daily site of devotions, videos, articles and Biblical inspiration. Use it in your life and use it as a witnessing tool!  Listen to this clip of Carl leading a talk show host back to the Lord - largely because of the host landing on Carl's site - amazing!  HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3gX-Buf_7s&feature=plcp

Small Town Preacher Goes Up Against Big Time Atheist

Carl Gallups, author of the book "The Magic Man in the Sky", asks the question - "What if?"

What if an Ancient Book written 3000 years ago predicted dozens and dozens of specific and detailed events in the future; amazingly and seemingly impossible events; yet they all came true?

What if many of those prophecies focused on a specific person called "God's Messiah" or the "Christ" - a coming one? And what if this was the only book in the world to speak of such a coming one and to give these details in prophecy fashion?

What if the prophecies about this coming one fortold such facts as

- The place of his birth.

- The exact location of his birth.

- That he would come out of Egypt.

- That he would begin his ministry in Galilee.

- That he would preform amazing miracles.

- An exacting formula for the very day he would present himself as Messiah (Dan 7).

- That he would be rejected and beaten.

- That he would be crucified (Psalms 22, Zechariah 12).

- That the very words used to mock him were recorded (Psalms 22).

- That they would gamble for his clothing under his cross (Psalms 22).

- That he would be ressurected before full 3 days had passed (Psalms 16).

And what if ALL those and many more specific prophecies like these were fulfilled in only one person who ever lived? Out of 7 billon people alive now and billions who lived before now - only one - just one single solitary human being has EVER fulfilled all the prophecies to the letter, every exacting detail. And what if, just what if history and these amazing books in the New Testament record the fulfillment of those prophecies? And what if the calendars of the world were changed to mark the fulfillment of these amazing and statistically impossible prophecies?

But what if this amazing and ancient book went on to prophesy that a singular nation, Israel, would be brought out of another nation, Egypt, and it would be established as the nation that God would use to bring into existence his Word, his prophets, his church, his Holy Spirit, and the Gospel? And yet first this nation would go into thousands of years of exile because it would be disobedient to God but that God would eventually bring this nation back and restore its language, borders, peoples, government, glory and power? And what if, down through thousands of years of recorded human history, all of this, every single bit of it, happened. What if we see it on your television set everyday and what if only one book in all the world ever made such astonishing statements and predictions, yet they all came true anyway? And what if God declared in that book, thousands of years ago, that when we saw these things happen we would know that he was God, and only he was God, and that this was in fact - His Word.

Would these things just be a coincidence? Mathematically impossible coincidences?

Or might you believe that this ancient book was somehow supernatural, inspired, maybe even the Word of God from the Spirit of God himself? The one who moved ancient men of God to pen the words that would reveal the Glory of God to us - especially us?

What might YOU believe about these things?

If there was just one other book in the world that even came close to these amazing truths we might look at it differently, but there is not one, not even ONE that even comes close. Why is that? Because THIS is the Word of the Living God and Yahweh is God and Jeshua is his Christ.

Yet with all this evidence and more, Richard Dawkins refuses to concede. His book, "The Magic of Reality", as boldly declared by those who reviewed it, seeks to indoctrinate children of all ages into the most closed-minded delusion imaginable.

Now a small town preacher is taking on Dawkins with a powerful new book called "The Magic Man in the Sky". It is a book heralded as a definitive expose on that which most people already know. Gallups proves the existence of God in this first of his works by using rational, clearly understood language and finally closes to door to the doubt which plagues so many because of people like Richard Dawkins.

So order your copy today. Get the book which, even before its release, has made it to number one in its category on Amazon. Do it now.

Borrowing From Atheists - Part1 - Naturalism

I shall never forget the scene. There she was, my daughter, graduating from college on the Dean's Honor List. The commencement speaker? It was none other that renowned biologist David Suzuki.

Suzuki came to be known in popular culture back in the 70's for his inflammatory description of human beings as "maggots". Here is the unwashed teacher in his own words.

That was David Suzuki in 1972. When my daughter graduated college several years ago, Suzuki took his sideshow one step further. He stood at the podium and told the people in the auditorium they were animals and that was all they were. He proceeded to explain that when he was 14 he was "horny". He fell in love with nature because he used to go out into the forests and swamps of British Columbia to "relieve" himself. Suzuki's charge to these college graduates was to protect the swamps in their spheres of influence so that future generations of 14 year old "horny" teenagers would have someplace to go to "relieve" themselves.

Modern naturalism is embodied in the belief that nature is all there is and we are all part of an evolving line of animals with no transcendental value. Darwinian evolution is our creation story and there is no grand design or purpose for us. That is the presupposition which drives modern atheism. In fact, it was Richard Dawkins who said he would not be an atheist were it not for the theory of evolution.

Dawkins also said that Christians who believe in evolution, often called theistic evolutionists, are deluded. Here is Dawkins in his own words...

So there we have Dawkins actually defending those who understand the crux of the battle. Evolution is the engine which drives modern atheism. And it is a deeply entrenched theory even in the subconscious minds of most people. Naturalism has invaded the planet like a disease and made men into wimps and women into sex objects without any real connection to their divine purpose and assignment.

How many people, given the choice between keeping their earthly body alive and starving to death, would eat another human being? Remember that God created people in a distinct event and in his own image. We are not animals according to scripture and contrary to David Suzuki. We are not food. Yet in a survey conducted for Mike Shoesmith's book "The Atheists are Wrong" one hundred percent of the atheists said they would eat another person to stay alive. This 1 - is not surprising and 2 - makes them cannibals by their own admission.

The great travesty is that about half of the "Christian" respondents said that they would also eat human flesh to keep the body alive. In essence, these people have decided to borrow from atheists in this case. Could it be that these people only falsely believe themselves to be Christian? Could it be that they call themselves "Christian" because they want the fire insurance? Just in case there really is a heaven and hell?

Christians are to maintain the long view; to set our eyes on Jesus and to always be heavenly minded. We are to walk in a spirit-led obedience perpetually. We know, or ought to, that this body will die some day and we will inherit new bodies, not defiled by sin. Yet the vast majority of people would do almost anything to keep that from happening. Christians, who are so concerned about the affairs of this world and their own bodies, are borrowing from atheists.

By blindly believing the theory of evolution in spite of the plethora of researchers who have discovered mountains of evidence opposing it you have decided to borrow from the atheists.

We are commanded to glorify God with our bodies. Yet our bodies are not much, really. They lead people around with various lusts and temptations. Yet humanity worships the human body. This should not be the case for the true believer. We are to see past death. We are to take and cherish the long view. This body will perish one way or the other. But we will live on. We all will. And our earthly tent will die and return to the ground - whether we want it to or not. So get Mike Shoesmith's book today and learn the truth about modern atheism. Do it now.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

Luke 9:24

"The Atheists are Wrong" is a treatise on the effects of modern atheism in the world. It is the mission of the PPSIMMONS Ministry to DO the Daniel 11:32 "Exploits". This includes exposing the harm done in the name of the philosophy of naturalism disguised as intellectual atheism. Learn the truth about the "falling away" and be encouraged to move forward in your calling as sons and daughters of the most high. This is the second expanded edition of "The Atheists are Wrong" by the PPSIMMONS Ministry.

Dam Detonation Illustrates Noah's Flood - plus video -PPSIMMONS ANSWERS THE "THINKING ATHEIST" (Noah's Ark)

ICR

On October 26, strategically placed explosives breached the Condit Dam in Washington state in order to reopen the White Salmon River to salmon and other aquatic animals.

Upon detonation, the lake immediately began draining, but a video posted on a National Geographic website clearly showed that instead of clear water, fast-moving mud emerged from the torrent below the damaged dam.1 The time-lapse video also showed loads of silt sinking, settling, and flowing away with the dark fluid.

Given the small-scale nature of this event, what effects might a much larger torrent have?

The muddy water from this controlled dam breach resembled, though to a lesser degree, the more catastrophic mudflow that resulted from the uncontrolled 1982 breach of the Lawn Lake dam, which spilled debris and transported truck-size boulders into Colorado's Fall River.2 It deposited layers of mud and sorted sediment in flatter downstream areas. Eyewitnesses said that the front of the flood resembled a lumbering wall of mud that produced a terrible, thunderous roar.

If these local flood events, both controlled and uncontrolled, did this much damage, imagine what the earth's surface endured when the Flood of Noah's day completely covered it. Enormous sheets of mud and sediment would have scoured the surface. When the momentum decreased, the sediment load would have dropped out. Multiple massive, transgressive, and regressive mud-transporting phases would have formed layered deposits over the course of a year—the time specified by the Genesis record.

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens showed that the earth itself can produce muddy catastrophes greater than man-made floods. Fast-moving mudflows caused more damage than any other aspect of the volcanic explosion.3

How could Noah's Flood have buried countless creatures in sediments that later dried and hardened into fossiliferous sandstone and mudstone? First, as the Condit Dam breach showed, fast-moving water becomes fast-moving mud. Second, a worldwide flood would leave behind worldwide sediments. Today, continent-size and trans-continent-extensive sedimentary layers stand as monuments to the mud transported and deposited by the Genesis Flood.

Original Article with references.