Reflections on Atheism

Atheism - literally "without God." 

Far far away and long long ago, this was my belief.
Some people call it a religion as it is a  belief which.....

1. Describes origins of all things - the universe, plants, animals and humans
2. Describes what happens when you die
3. Is a belief which needs faith - i.e. no proof as no one was there in the beginning , no one there after death, no science proves the history.
4. many atheists try desperately to convert others to this belief system 

Regardless of whether you call it a religion, a worldview, a philosophy, a belief, or an idea, it is a complete "ism" that dictates how life and our world are viewed.

I seem to have been inundated with worldviews lately so I have been thinking back to my history as an atheist and have some reflections.

• Pride: Dr. Danny Faulkner (PhD in astronomy and a Biblical Christian) says "Pride gets us to atheism and pride keeps us there." This is huge. We are told by our culture that science and math are more intellectual than art and poetry and thus more worthy. Atheism plays to our natural sinful bent of pride. We are intellectual if we believe in "science." We are told religion is fantasy. It is only for weak people who need a crutch to get through life. You are weak and stupid if you believe in God. 

Story: 
My husband is brilliant (OK I may be a little biased but not too much). He loves learning, and can learn about any subject and has. He works in an atmosphere filled with very bright atheists. They say some derogatory things about religion and Christianity but they all know Dave is a born again believing Christian.  They start to say something about how dumb Christians are, until they look at Dave and then they stop and say something along the lines of "But then there's you..." They are confounded by how a seemingly brilliant man can believe in God.  They are stymied and have to think twice about their position.

• Ignorance: LOL. This seems so silly. I've just said atheism plays to the pride of intellectuals and here I am saying ignorance. What I mean here is ignorance as in a lack of knowledge. I was what I will call an ignorant atheist. 

➥  Had I researched the "science" we were taught as evidence of evolution which we have been conditioned to believe from Elementary School onward? NO! In fact, the more I grew in understanding real observable science and not the "Just So" stories of extrapolation to prove an already believed philosophy of evolution, the more I recognized the "proof" for the Wisdom, Majesty, and Power of a Creator God Supreme.

➢  Richard Dawkins (world renowned passionate atheist from the  UK) says "evolution put me on the road to atheism. I could now be an intellectually satisfied atheist."

➢  I bring evolution into this discussion because it is the first step toward atheism. It is the route used to explain a world without God. It is a must in order to hold the philosophy that all the universe happened without a Designer.

➥  Had I read and studied the claims of the Bible before I made my decision to become an atheist? NO! I did not know who Jesus claimed to be. I did not know the account of creation, the fall, or redemption. I did not know how the Biblical worldview could explain the world around me. I had not researched the incredible evidence for the truth of the history and account of the biblical text. In ignorance and pride I had accepted what the Godless school curriculum taught.

• Idolatry: Atheists believe that there is no God. Well, they think they believe this. Once I became a Christian I realized this was untrue. I had believed in god alright, but god was ME!  I was accountable to no one but me. I called the shots. I did what I wanted. Thankfully I was raised by parents who taught good values; honesty, integrity, and caring about others. But still, values are not what makes a  Biblical Christian life and they are not how to become reconciled with the one true God. So although I was a "good" person according to the world's standards (Miss Goodie Two-Shoes actually), I was still an idolater.

So much of our world today is made up of people who think they are their own gods. "It's my body so I will abort that life inside me." "I can decide if I identify as male or female or neither - no one is going to tell me what I am."  "Marriage or lack thereof, is whatever I want it to be. I will marry same sex, or get divorced and remarry if I want to. I am not accountable to anyone!" 

You can see idolatry and pride and ignorance all wrapped up in where our world has gone with evolution and atheism.  

• Hurt:  This one is a bit different. I did not experience this, but a few atheists I know have. They become passionate atheists because as a youngster they experienced the death of a parent or sibling. They rant against God because they were hurt and blame Him. Not really an atheist after all in fact; they hate Him.

 Next blog post I'll look back at how I got delivered from the kingdom of darkness of atheism to the kingdom of Light of Christianity.