I've been doing a lot of reading about the New Atheism and skepticism. There are some really great books out that question some of the basic assumptions of many of those who argue against God's existence. The Reason for God is written by a Pastor who has built a church of over 5000 people in Manhattan, many of whom are young and new to the faith. He reasons for the faith intelligently and with grace. Really good stuff.
Alister McGrath is a scientist and an Oxford theologian. He examines the conclusions presented by Richard Dawkins (author of The God Delusion). McGrath presents some clear arguments that make a lot of sense, but he's a little nasty about it in places - disappointing because he's a brilliant thinker and a faithful Christian. Still worth a read for sure.
Guess what happened in Communist Russia when Christianity was banned by the government? That's right, Stalin became the new deity! Within years of the destruction of the Church in Russia and the murder of many clergy, songs sprouted up that claimed that "Stalin lives in your heart". Former Time journalist David Aikman makes a great point: We are wired to worship something, and if it isn't the Christian God it will likely be something more harmful - such as (he would claim) atheism.
Why does the Church insist on meeting in large buildings? Where does the idea of a paid Pastor who is uniquely gifted to preach come from? Frank Viola is a committed Christian who claims that most of the modern Church's traditions come from assimilated pagan rituals - not from the Bible. I'm being stretched by this book, but I think he's on to something here... 
3 comments:
"We are wired to worship something, and if it isn't the Christian God it will likely be something more harmful - such as (he would claim) atheism."
Um...this doesn't follow. He said himself that Stalin became, essentially, a deity. Thus they are worshiping Stalin, not atheism.
You can't worship the lack of belief in a god.
Hey morsecode,
Thanks for reading and responding...
I may not have stated his point as accurately as I should. The point was that even when regimes that are decidedly and militantly atheist (not only promote but MANDATE no belief in a God or public expression of it) many people then turn the highest power they can find or that exhibits itself into a deity of sorts. That deity ironically turned out to be an atheist. Whether it's my intellect, or Buddha, an atheist, or Jesus - we all worship something. I think there are differences between those objects of worship that are very important for our lives and the course of the world.
Thanks for an intelligent and well-stated response - it got me thinking...
Rich
About the Stalin and atheism issue: sometimes the word "worship" is used rather generically to really mean "make this or that my religious commitment". And "religious commitment" already has a secular usage in describing anything that grabs one's whole heart and soul, and is usually followed by specific action. So when you are talking about a religious commitment to atheism - a considered approach to the spiritual itch humans seem to universally have - it seems to come full circle and be quite fair to call atheism a "worship". I do agree, however, that in this specific paragraph, the telling thing is how quickly a substitute diety was elevated, Stalin. Most folks, sans God, elevate themselves - at least that is the American way.
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