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...
No more stupid than requiring a believer to deny the existence of a higher power in order to get state sponsored help.
ReplyDeleteMichael: I am very familiar with the 12 Steps of the A.A. Program. It is abundantly clear that the 'higher power' does not need to be 'God'. To paraphrase from a meeting leader, it can be a belief in the goodness of humanity, the strength of the human spirit to overcome difficulties, or a coffee maker! It's simply a step to acknowledge that the alcoholic needs to tap into more than his own resources. If that were sufficient, he or she wouldn't be at an A.A. meeting to begin with.
DeleteAdditionally, A.A. is not a state sponsored agency. They offer their help to any and all that ask for it not matter the state where they function.
It's still a stupid thing in my books since those who are objecting are so clearly misunderstanding what the program teaches.
Fr. Tim
That's a much more enlightened attitude towards a higher power than these people are being asked to embrace and that the AA requires as he is in fact "fighting back against the expulsion of the agnostic AA group he chairs in a Unitarian church". Your position is similar to the one I took when becoming a Scout leader and had to acknowledge a power greater than "mankind". I was tempted to say "womankind" by I repressed my snark and instead acknowledged this fascinating universe we have woken up in and spend our four score years or so. And my "duty to God" as in the Scout promise was to learn and share as much about this universe as I could. I therefore implemented one of our most interesting evenings each year, astronomy night.
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