caught somewhere between real life, simple faith, & raw emotion
Want to Know Why I Hate Atheists?
This weekend brought many reflections. If you are intent on following and understanding the teachings and life of Jesus of Nazareth, it better. That’s what commemorating his death and resurrection should do at a minimum.
Maybe I’m really messed up, but I was sitting there during my church’s Easter service as I began reflecting on an odd musing.
What was it?
I started to realize how much I despise Atheists. For a few seconds it became very potent. My passions seemed to flood my mind and distract me from what was supposed to be a very somber and respectful moment. Here was jerky old me destroying a once-a-year-special-event with jerky thoughts and my usual jerkiness. But hear me out for a second before you send me jerky emails.
Why do I hate Atheists?
Because they have decided. They’re done. They’ve settled the matter in their minds and moved on.
For me, faith requires a constant and untiring vigilance. I continually battle doubt, discouragement, pain, and unmet expectations (to name just a few). I always have to figure out how what Jesus says applies to my life. What does it mean to me as a husband? A father? A business man? A citizen? Is my world-view influencing my faith? Or is my faith affecting my world-view (which is my goal)? Not to mention, did he really rise from the dead (what it all hinges on)?
So I guess, in a way, in this regard, I am really jealous of Atheists. I wish I could let it go and be done with it all. And not let it bother me. I just can’t. I have to fight every day to maintain my faith. Yes, I choose the fight. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard.
Make no mistake, I choose my way over theirs. I mean no disrespect. I simply mean to solidify what I do in fact believe with my final thought. I hold dear the wager that the philosopher/mathematicians Blaise Pascal held dear (and said much better than I):
“But your happiness? Let us weigh
the gain and the loss in wagering that God is… If you gain, you gain
all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation
that He is.”
| Decision Matrix | God exists | God does not exist |
| Wager for God | Gain all | Status quo |
| Wager against God | Misery | Status quo |
[chart courtesy of Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
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Not bad.
Pascal’s Wager is illogical in several ways. Mostly it’s predicated on several false dilemmas — namely, that one can only choose for or against God and have no other opinion; that there is only one God to be chosen for or against, and no others.
In other words, there are MANY more potential results than just the 4 in your chart.
Furthermore, Pascal’s Wager is predicated on the assumption that salvation is not universal. There are Christians — going back to Origen and even before — who believe salvation will, in fact, be universal. That would make the choice for or against God irrelevant.
Pascal’s Wager may offer some emotive support for believing in God, but in the end, it has no rational foundation, and therefore its logic is too weak to compel belief.
Thanks Chris.
For sure, a post about Agnostics would also be difficult.
I’ll have to think about that one…
I used to love Pascal’s wager and it still holds if you think of it as belief vs non-belief (which works in this context cause you were talking about atheists). But I don’t think it’s as helpful when trying to decide between types of belief. Many religions have their own conception of “God” and so once you’ve accepted the Wager, which “God” do you believe in? Hindu, Jewish, Islam etc…Cause I do think it does matter which one you choose cause all roads don’t lead to Rome, so to speak. Anyone have any thoughts on that?
well as an Agnostic I have to be jelous of peoples faith in something that they can’t see and to witch all scientific proof says otherwise. having faith may be a struggle but it sure isn’t taking the easy way out.
“well as an Agnostic I have to be jelous of peoples faith in something that they can’t see and to witch all scientific proof says otherwise. ”
Scientific proof has not proven otherwise. Science can explain alot of things. But not all. Science yet to explain conciseness. They know what parts of the brain dose what. But thats it. or even how a god damn bicycle stays upright while you ride it. Im not even joking by that one. The universe is so vast. How can anyone be 100% certain whats out there. The problem i have with atheists is they can be just as closed minded as religious people. Being open minded means leaving yourself open to anything. God or Spirits or whatever. Many Atheist believe in aliens. But the only proof they have is some math that could very easy be wrong. Not to mention other unknown factors, black holes, solar nova, etc. So how is that different then guy with a bible in his hand. They both have no real evidence.
Good thoughts.