Good will to all men? Not from the grumpy atheists! (Thank God not all atheists are grumpy but there sure seems to be a lot of them)
Why is it that so many in the atheist community cannot bring themselves to get past their anger whenever they engage in discussions? The language of many of their contributions in public debate is laced with invective and dripping with sarcasm and bile. There are exceptions of course, but they tend to fall more into the category of being the 'exception that proves the rule' when compared to the hostility of many of today's atheist posters. Comment offered by the theists in the public square is often depicted as being 'malicious' or 'venomous' and intended to enslave the 'feeble minded and weak' by those who post. Nothing could be further from the truth. Venom is something that is oriented to death. Christians are oriented in a 180 degree different direction. We speak not to the culture of death that grips our world but rather for the culture of life and light which ends with the gift of eternal life. For example, the Catholic Church in its hum...
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ReplyDeleteVirtually all of the "atheists" that garner notice in the media are post christians who were raised in and share values with some christian denomination. This is why they still have an interest.
Many in the younger generations have no such attachment to religion and know very little about religion except that they are not religious.
When older people like Dawkins die off, there will be much less dialog between the dwindling number of those who are religious and those who are not.
People like Dawkins are also the basis for the claims of many religious that atheism is a religion. When they are gone, there will no longer be such basis.
It is true, however, that as long as religion continues to lose large numbers who then deny a belief in God there will be such contacts.
Prof. Dawkins has always advocated studying the Bible in school as it forms the basis of much of Western literature. He's also been in favour of comparative religion classes as one can't understand the world with knowledge of world religion. For example why were so many in the Bush administration suprised at the natural affinity between a Saddam-less Iraq and Iran. They didn't know the difference between Sunni and Shi'te Muslims.
ReplyDeleteThe late Christopher Hitchens also wrote on the importanceof the Bible (albeit in the KJV trnslation) as literature (http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/05/hitchens-201105 )