Learning from Atheists

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE ATHEISTS

Atheists can teach us many things about our belief in God.  During my PhD studies I took a seminar called “Science and Religion,” in which our professor would bring up a religious topic and ask, “Why would anyone in their right mind believe this?”  Psalms 14 and 53 may both begin “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God,’” but for Dr. Grünbaum, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is a God.’”  I deeply appreciate the challenges to my faith that he presented, because they forced me to consider what I believe, and why.  I came away from the seminar with a better understanding of what I had previously accepted without reflection.

A couple years ago I came across a collection of quotes by famous people who are atheists.  Just as my seminar challenged my faith and helped it to grow, their words can give us food for reflection and thought.

Sir Richard Branson, a British entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group, once said, “I would love to believe.  It’s very comforting to believe.”  I think we would all agree that faith in God can be very comforting.  We can be reassured with the knowledge that the  all-mighty & all-loving One has us in the cradle of his arms.  But if that’s all that our faith is about, we are missing something.  God is not a cosmic security blanket to make us feel good and to heal our boo-boos.  God makes us uncomfortable and challenges us to turn our lives upside-down.  He demands that we quit running our lives on our own terms, and to surrender authority of ourselves to him.  Suddenly, believing is not quite as comforting.

Brian Eno, a composer and performer of ambient music, wrote “What religion says to you, essentially, is that you’re not in control.  Now that’s a very liberating idea.  It’s quite a frightening idea as well, in some ways.”  And he’s right.  Our knowledge that God is in charge sets us free from the anxiety of trying to manage all the affairs of our lives.  We can release the sense of responsibility for making sure everything is taken care of.  On the other hand, the thought of letting go of our lives terrifies us.  What if we trust God and he lets us down?  And when we do surrender ourselves to him, we still want to second-guess what he does and we try to “help” him.  We easily forget the words that Moses spoke to the Israelites, fresh out of slavery, as the Egyptian army bore down upon them, with their backs to the Red Sea: “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14).

Hugh Laurie, the actor best known for playing the lead role in the TV series “House,” has said , “I have this idea that if there were a God, if he saw you taking anything for granted, he’d take it away.”  While we may disagree with his harsh notion of a God who goes around taking things away from us, imagine for a moment if he did what Mr. Laurie suggests.  I wonder how much would be left after God removed all that we take for granted.  God’s blessings are not like cheese doodles that we mindlessly stuff into our mouths while watching TV.  Each is a precious gift to savor, relish, and enjoy.

Comedian Kathy Griffin shocked the nation when she accepted an Emmy Award in 2007 by saying, “A lot of people come up here and they thank Jesus for this award.  I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.  He didn’t help me a bit.”  While we may not be able to take her words to heart, they offer a warning for us.  Even when we say that we believe in God, we may share her attitude without realizing it.  We often take full credit for our accomplishments.  We can take satisfaction and even have appropriate pride in what we achieve.  But we easily forget that the Lord is the one who supplies the energy, skill, and wisdom we used to do so.  We overlook the many factors beyond our control or even awareness that he guides.

Isaac Asimov, one of the greatest science fiction writers, wrote “If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who prefers an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul.”  Even though Romans 10:9 tells us to declare with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount by telling us that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21).  Our witness to the world suffers greatly from the hypocritical words that come from mouths of Christians.  While we are considering words of atheists, let them consider not what we say but what we do.