May 13 2008
The fastest-growing faith in America is no faith at all.
It seems unlikely that many of the 850 or so people at the Society for Ethical Culture on a recent Saturday night believed that God was still extant. But evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and possibly the most famous atheist in the world, was not taking any chances. He gave a PowerPoint presentation driving home that religion does not meet any of the standards of basic scientific inquiry, before casually flicking away a few of His last crutches. Doesn’t God provide people some solace? asked an audience member. “Isn’t that a little childish?” Dawkins replied. “Just because something is comforting doesn’t mean it’s true.” Then someone asked about death, and Dawkins quoted Mark Twain: “I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born.”
The room erupted in loud applause. God had definitely left the building—if he were ever here at all. Dawkins and his colleagues had helped to produce a kind of atheist big bang, a new beginning. But what kind of new structures might evolve?
The Society for Ethical Culture was formed in 1877, eighteen years after Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species and made the religious universe wobble on its axis. But godlessness can be a little scary, even for an atheist. Ethical Culture’s imposing 1910 edifice on Central Park speaks to its patrons’ wealth, as well as their concern that society might fall apart if it didn’t have a church. But for all the grandeur of its secular cathedral, Ethical Culture peaked at maybe 6,000 members, with only about 3,000 today.
Now, once again, nonbelievers have a fresh sense of mission. The fastest-growing faith in the country is no faith at all. The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released the results of its “Religious Landscape” survey in February and found that 16 percent of Americans have no religious affiliation. The number is even greater among young people: 25 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds now identify with no religion, up from 11 percent in a similar survey in 1986. For most of its modern history, atheism has existed as a kind of civil-rights movement. Groups like American Atheists have functioned primarily as litigants in the fight for church-state separation, not as atheist social clubs. “Atheists are self-reliant, self-sufficient, independent people who don’t feel like they need an organization,” says Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists for the past thirteen years. “They’re so independent that if they want to get involved, they usually don’t join an organization—they start their own.”
The quartet of best-selling authors who have emerged to write the gospel of New Atheism—Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, and Dawkins (the Four Horsemen, as they are now known)—has succeeded in mainstreaming atheism in a nation that is still overwhelmingly religious and, in the process, catalyzed a reexamination of atheistic raison d’être. But for some atheist foot soldiers, this current groundswell is just a consciousness-raising stop on the evolutionary train, the atheist equivalent of the Stonewall riots. For these people, the Four Horsemen have only started the journey. Atheism’s great awakening is in need of a doctrine. “People perceive us as only rejecting things,” says Ken Bronstein, the president of a local group called New York City Atheists. “Everybody wants to know, ‘Okay, you’re an atheist, now what?’ ”
So some atheists are taking seriously the idea that atheism needs to stand for things, like evolution and ethics, not just against things, like God. The most successful movements in history, after all—Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc.—all have creeds, cathedrals, schools, hierarchies, rituals, money, clerics, and some version of a heavenly afterlife. Churches fill needs, goes the argument—they inculcate ethics, give meaning, build communities. “Science and reason are important,” says Greg Epstein, the humanist chaplain of Harvard University. “But science and reason won’t visit you in the hospital.”
Read more here.
[From me]
I wonder why Dawkins and others are so evangelistic to prove God doesn’t exist? If they don’t believe in God, OK. But how is it hurting them for people to have faith?
What do you think?
7 responses so far
What a mess. I hate when Christians say things like, “Doesn’t God provide people some solace?” as if that is some sort of reasoned defense. But Dawkins uses equally stupid quotes like Twain’s, “I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born.” Note to Mark and Richard: You weren’t created before you were born, but now that you exist your soul will live forever.
These evangelical atheists are a joke. I had some “raiders” from Dawkins’ site come to mine. They picked 5 blogs to attack. Oh what fun it was to point out to them that in their drive to eliminate religion and save the planet - all from their keyboards! - they picked Christian blogs 100% of the time. Uh, guys, have you noticed this Muslim thingy? They tried to rationalize that they knew Christianity better, etc. but one guy had the honesty to admit it and added a token Muslim blog to their list. And some of them live in countries being taken over by Islam, so their excuses were lame.
Hitchens is no better. What a miserable guy. He, like Dawkins, has a strong sense of right and wrong but no foundation to explain it and no reasons why we should believe him if there is no God. They don’t just think God doesn’t exist, they hate God. Listen to Hitchens for a few minutes and see what I mean.
I’m waiting to hear about their travels to Muslim countries to convert them. Or at least they could fund atheist missionaries if they care so much.
Atheists are like the pro-gay movement: They don’t just want tolerance, they want affirmation and for the church to go away. Ain’t gonna happen.
Neil’s last blog post..Are Mormons really Christians? Are Christians really Christians?
I listen to a lot of mp3 debates between Atheists like Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Dan Barker, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennet etc and some top Christian Apologists. I listen to these as I walk or ride my trail bike.
It is interesting to hear the atheistic arguments although usually presented with hostility, sarcasm, condescension and arrogance. I look past these attitudes to consider their arguments and to learn the great answers Christian Apologists present. These help me gain a better understanding of the Bible and to learn how to answer the attacks.
Some of the best Christian Apologists I have encountered are : Ravi Zacharias, William Lane Craig, Alister McGrath, Phil Fernandes, J P Moreland, Francis Collins, Jason Gastrich, Josh McDowell, Ray Comfort, Hugh Ross, Michael Behe, Dinesh D’Souza, Phillip Johnson, Albert Mohler, Gary Habermas and more…..
The way to get to these mainly FREE Mp3’s on the internet is to go to Google and just type the name of the person you want with a comma behind their name and type mp3 behind that and hit enter. Usually many sites will come up with that name and mp3 somewhere on that site. Go to that site and click on the mp3 icon to download it to your Itunes. from there transfer it to your shuffle or Ipod.
These men have helped me greatly. Music is nice but teaching mp3’s can teach and prepare you ……to give an answer to every man who ask you of the faith that is in you….
Frank
These guys think sending kids to Sunday School and Vacation Bible School is child abuse.
Quinn Hooks’s last blog post..Think about it
Frank,
Do you ever listen to R. C. Sproul? He’s my personal favorite day-time AM-radio (don’t know about MP3) apologist. Also, do you ever listen to Robert Price (a.k.a. The Bible Geek)? He’s one of my favorite MP3 critical scholars. I think the reason I like those 2 best is that I appreciate the critical thinking and erudition that each brings to bear. I personally get more out of that than I do the point-counterpoint or talking-point type of dialog. I highly recommend them!
A3
Let me clarify.
I listen to a lot of debates, yes, but many of those mp3’s are straight presentations on issues by both atheists and Christian apologists. Several of these Christians were atheistic scientists but the evidence pointed them to faith in Christ. Dr Francis Collin was the head of the Genome Project. Dr Alister McGrath, a professor at Oxford knows Richard Dawkins personally and debates him regularly…. He was an atheist.
RC Sproul is great too. The problem of making a list is forgetting several top names that should be there.
Frank
Frank,
Debates are fun to listen to too - I didn’t mean anything by the comment other than to say what my preferences are and why. In fact, I’m impressed with the various different people you like to listen to.
I’d never heard of Francis Collin before, I looked him up and discovered that he is an Evangelical that rejects both creationism and Intelligent Design (which makes sense based on his background as a geneticist). I’d never heard of Alister McGrath either - I looked at some excerpts from a few of his books. He seems a lot like R.C. Sproul (whom I mentioned I like) in his approach to apologetics: willing to wrestle with the hard issues instead of ignoring them or addressing only a watered-down version. I like that.
A3,
Commitment to Christ does not require my having to accept every position of the so called “Approved” Christian authorities. I personally have made my commitment to Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior and I accept and believe the content of Apostles Creed and hold to the authority of the Bible.
However, I don’t see in Scripture that I have to accept the interpretation of my Pastor or the leaders of Evangelical Christianity without question. As the Berean believers in the book of ACTS, I need to listen to and weigh their positions and hold them up to the Bible to see if they are true.
I can also consider the attacks aimed at the Bible without fear. If the Bible is God’s Word, I don’t need to defend it that much as to skillfully and prayerfully unleash it and watch the Holy Spirit use it to change hearts. You don’t protect a Tiger, it can protect itself.
I have grown a lot in my walk with Christ by considering the attacks against Him. The Bible constantly amazes and impresses me to see how up to date and accurate it is. Fulfilled prophecy is one of the top proofs that It was written by God through fallible men.
The reestablishment of the nation of Israel in 1948 in fulfillment of prophecies of over 2,000 years ago are awe inspiring. (Check Is 43:4-5, Ez 37:22 and more)
Frank