“I’m an atheist.”
The newest fashionable philosophic stance! But I’m not sure what people mean by it!
Used to be we had Madalyn O’Hair around to aggressively point out that atheism was not Christianity. Then we had the university crowd who wanted freedom from teenage ideas of God. But now?
Now we have the new atheists. Of course, there are the agnostics. Meaning they don’t know whether their is a God or not. They take a neutral stance. But, the new atheists would not like the term agnostic.
I hear some of the most spiritual people claim they are atheists. Spiritual in that they believe in visions, yoga, coincidences, big bang theories and almost anything! They seem to want to deny “God”, but accept anything that looks like God – as long as it is not called “God.”
And so the new atheist says there isn’t a God. And by saying it, dismisses God. Then they look at phenomenon around them and create new linguistic categories that sound a lot like the old word “God.”
So, help me out. When is an atheist an atheist?
I think it boils down to avoiding responsibility and accountability. A lot of these people you’re describing understand the need to think beyond themselves and therefore consider “spiritual” ideas and awareness as being healthy. The problem with embracing the idea of God is less about having doubts of His existence, and more about wanting to avoid any responsibility that would come with that. They desire a spirituality that can be self-created and self-managed, and is subject to change when they need it to. That’s my thought. 🙂
The hardest part about dealing with atheism isn’t those who admit they are atheists. The people who are hard to reach are the many who call themselves Christians but really live their lives as “practical atheists.” They talk about there being a God and say they believe in him yet live their lives as if he doesnt exist at all.
YOU COULD RITE A WHOLE SERMON ON
“THERE ARE NO ATHIEIST’S IN A FOXHOLE”