Like many, Joy and I have been watching the various unfolding scandals which are swirling around the current administration. Did the IRS target TEA Party and Patriot groups? If so was it rogue agents in Cincinnati or was it directed from higher up? Did the Obama administration turn a blind eye while the Benghazi attacks were under way and later did a cover up? Is Edward Snowden a patriot or traitor for exposing the NSA gathering of phone and Internet and credit card usage of millions of Americans for “data mining?” In Edward Snowden To South China Morning Post: Let Hong Kong ‘Decide My Fate’ he is quoted as saying:

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There are reasons for unbelief and then there are excuses to remain in unbelief. Unbelief can apply to lots of different things. For example, I am in unbelief that the universe popped into existence from nothing, by nothing for no apparent reason. My unbelief is based on reason rather than excuse. We can scientifically demonstrate that anything that came to be had a cause. The universe came to be, what was its cause? The universe exists physically but is it possible that it could have simply sprung forth from nothing? I have discovered no reason for belief up to this point and so remain in unbelief. On the other hand I do find many reasons to believe the universe was created which by definition would argue for a creator. There is an important key here. Unbelief usually doesn’t stand on its own. It is juxtaposted against something someone does believe. I am in unbelief in the miracle of nothing creating nothing by nothing and for no apparent reason but very much in belief that God created everything from nothing and for His own purposes.

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While most Evangelical churches are thrilled when an individual goes from unbelief to belief. They embrace the Bible, they recognize they are a sinner and turn to Jesus Christ and are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Cults and false teachers likewise enjoy bringing new members into their groups, especially if they came from a church that  would be considered biblically based. One of the biggest reasons we have seen for why folks leave what are generally Bible based churches is that the church leadership assumes too much. It is assumed, for example,  that because someone grew up in the church or is a regular attender and participates in Bible study groups, they have signed on to the doctrinal statement that they actually understand and are able to defend the doctrines in the statement. When questions are raised by false teachers on the Deity of Christ, the Trinity, the physical resurrection or even the reliability of the Bible they are stumped and unbelief begins to creep in.

In some cases followers are more wrapped up in a particular teacher or group and when the teacher or group is shown to be false their rejection of the teacher equals rejection of God.

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In my last post “Listening to Atheism” I ended my thoughts with some claims about what the real crux of the debate between atheists and Christians with this:

And there we have the crux of the debate when Atheists and Christians sit down and talk–how big a chasm is there between a scientific mind and faith in Christ. Believers think that chasm is not so great–that one does not have to commit intellectual suicide in order to “get with program” to use Rosenhouse’s phrase. Atheists, think that gap is a gaping chasm and on the other side is a kind of passivity about some of the most important questions in the universe and likely a smug, condescending sympathy for the poor benighted folk  who refuse to give up their intellectual freedom and integrity. The real debate between Atheists and Christians is how wide is that gap?

Not to belabor the gap metaphor but

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Years ago there was a book entitled Listening to Prozac . I don’t want to suggest by my title that I think Atheism is a mental illness that requires medication. I wouldn’t be so arrogant or dismissive as to think those who fundamentally disagree with me are wicked or insane or both,  though some prominent Atheists have said as much about Christianity. As I’ve mentioned a few times, for whatever reason, I have a soft spot for atheists. Today I want to look at an atheist who seems to have a soft spot for Christians. Jason Rosenhouse has written a book entitled Among the Creationists: Dispatches from the Anti-Evolution Front Line. I won’t go into a critique of his ideas about the Creation/Evolution/ID debate in this post. We can save that for another time. What I am interested in his opening chapter entitled “My Problems with Religion.” I want you, dear reader, and I to do exactly what my title says. Honestly listen to this particular atheist and thoughtfully respond. In order  to do that, I’m going to attempt to summarize Rosenhouse’s chapter accurately and fairly. And then I’m going to stop. I’m going to ask you to do the same. I’ll save my critique until next week. Norman Geisler once said that atheists should be respected as the loyal opposition because they make us stronger and better.

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Leaders speak with an authority accorded to them by their position. When Barack Obama gave the Ohio State University Commencement Address, he did so as President of the United States. With the authority of that office behind him, it will be few students that would question his direction to reject cynical voices. What are those voices saying?

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As we in the United States move further and further away from a Judeo/Christian worldview and morality the easier it is to be anti-semetic. This is not really anything new for the Jewish population. All through history nations have practiced racism against Jews. I like Tevia’s question to God in “Fiddler on the Roof,” about being the chosen people. “Why don’t You choose somebody else for a while?” This is the one kind of bigotry which seems to be very acceptable among the politically correct today. This isn’t overtly stated but the cliche, “what you are doing speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you are saying,” comes in to play. There seems to be great concern in the United States by politicians, Liberal news media and those leaders within the “Emergent” movement of the church, that American citizens will commit more hate crimes against Muslims in retaliation to the acts of Islamic terrorists. I recently heard an interview about hate crimes and the guest claimed that about 13.4% of hate crimes are committed against Muslims whereas 65.4% of the hate crimes committed were anti-Jewish. In other words, there are approximately 5 times more likelihood of a hate crime against a Jew than a Muslim but that seems to be ignored by the Left. (These statistics are from the 2010 Hate Crime Statistics in the “Religious Bias” category). The PC crowd regularly expresses concern about the possible rise (not the actual rise) of Anti-Islamic attacks but it is rare if ever that we hear any concern about anti-Jewish attacks.

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