When Strangers Come Knocking---Part 24

 

This is the next installment of my series to be published the first Monday of each month.

There are members of false sects, like Jehovah's Witnesses, that come knocking door-to-door hoping to convert you. Instead of ignoring them, it is we who should try and convert them. In 1 Peter 3:16, our first Pope writes, "But in thy hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks thee to give the reason for the hope that thou hast. But do this with gentleness and respect,..." Before the Great Apostasy, the Church would send missionaries to the ends of the Earth to make as many converts as possible. 

Those in false religions don't always come (literally) knocking at your door. It may be a Hindu at work who wants you to try yoga. It could be a "Christian Scientist" who lives next door and invites you to come to their reading room. Each month, I will present a false sect. Unlike the Vatican II sect, I do not see them as a "means of salvation" or possessing "elements of truth" that lead to salvation. That is heresy. They lead to damnation, and the adherents of the various sects must be converted so they may be saved.

In each month's post, I will present one false sect and give an overview of: 

• The sect's history
• Their theology
• Tips on how to share the True Faith with them

Atheism

At first glance, someone might think, "How in the world is atheism a religion?" The so-called "Internet Atheists," who attack religion every chance they get, claim atheism is simply a "lack of belief in the supernatural." This is not accurate. The First Commandment does not read, "Thou shalt not be an atheist," but rather "Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me." Humans are incurably God-centered. If someone does not have the True God at the center of his life, a false god will fill the void. I'm not speaking merely of the false gods of false sects such as "Allah" or the demon-gods of Hinduism. In the case of those without a formal religion, most will worship the Unholy Trinity of money, sex, and power. The rest must, in some way, worship themselves as the center of all things and become their own "god" to one degree or another.

A religion is usually defined by the "three Cs:" a creed (things to be believed), a code (things to be done, esp. as it entails morality), and a cult (the proper way to worship/have rituals, etc.). In this post, I will demonstrate that atheism does indeed fit this definition. I'm reminded of a debate that took place between a prominent atheist and Dr. John Lennox, the brilliant professor of mathematics at Oxford University and defender of the existence of God (how I wish he was--or becomes--a Traditionalist). The atheist castigated Dr. Lennox's assertion that atheism was a religion. Lennox countered, "But you believe it is true don't you?" 

The specific "types" of belief called atheism will be explored, and it is more important today than ever before to know how to defend against it. You are much more likely to meet an atheist online (or in person) than most followers of the other sects I've covered in this series thus far. For example, I've never personally crossed swords with a UFO sect member, but I've had exchanges with more than one atheist. Hopefully, this post will give you a clear understanding of atheism, and some good beginning ammunition against it. Further study on your own is highly advisable as most atheists come very well prepared to try and get people--especially Christians---to lose their faith in God. 

Types of Atheism

[I have attempted to place the different beliefs that have been called "atheism" into categories. This will make clear what it is we are (and are not) investigating. I have used several sources, most especially Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments In Philosophy ed. by  Macmillan Reference USA (2019)---Introibo]

Atheism: The system of thought that denies the supernatural and the existence of any "higher power."

Anti-theism: A subdivision of atheists. These are atheists who do not merely hold to the tenets of atheism, but they believe that all forms of religion are harmful and should not exist. They mock and actively seek to destroy belief in God and the supernatural to the best of their ability. Anti-theism is exemplified by the so-called "New Atheists"--who are new insofar as they try to proselytize for atheism--such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and the late Christopher Hitchens. To them, theism must be countered and eradicated from society as "dangerous superstition."

Agnosticism: Those who deny the ability to know if God exists. Agnosticism may be subdivided into "soft" agnosticism, whereby the person claims he personally is not convinced of the existence of God, and "hard" agnosticism, which declares that it is impossible for anyone to know whether or not God exists. 

Apatheism (aka "practical atheism"): Refers to those who are apathetic towards God and say they don't know or care if He exists or not. It also refers to those who pay God lip service by claiming belief when socially convenient to do so, but they live as if God didn't exist, and He occupies no real place in their lives.

Secularism: The position of those who want all religion removed from the public domain. There must be separation of Church and State, and belief in anything religious must be confined to the private lives of people. Not all secularists are atheists, but the overwhelming majority are devoid of belief in God. Those who claim belief in God, assert that only by a complete separation of religion in public life can there be less strife among (and persecution of) religious people.

Skepticism: The belief that every claim must be called into question (except the belief in one's own existence and immediate sense perceptions) and scientific claims almost exclusively are worthy of intellectual assent. Almost all skeptics are atheists. 

This post will concern itself principally with atheists, properly so-called, and the militant version of atheism; anti-theism.  

The Atheist's Creed

On Nature: Materialism

(a) Physicalism: The only substance that exists is matter (God, angels, and souls do not exist)

(b) Determinism: Every event has a natural cause (miracles cannot happen)

(c) Mechanism: Humanity, including life and mind, is like a machine (people are not immortal or special in any way. Life is here by pure chance)

The Atheist's Code

On Values: Conventionalism

(a) Subjectivism: Ethics and values are subjective human standards (there are no objectively true morals; there is nothing eternal and external to the subjective human experience in which morality can be grounded)

(b) Hedonism: The only ethical standards are pleasure (good) and pain (evil), relative to the individual

(c) Relativism: Standards of morality vary according to person, place, time, and culture

The Atheist's Cult

(N.B. Atheist's have no set rituals of worship. They worship themselves as the pinnacle of existence, and have awe and reverence for the governments they form.---Introibo). 

On Society: Contractualism

(a) Individualism: The atomic individual is the basic political unit

(b) Social Contract: Governments are based upon artificial contracts people enter into out of fear and basic mistrust of other people

(c) Positive Law: All "rights" and "laws" are man-made rules that are always subject to change, abolishment, or embellishment

On Cosmology and Meaning: Absurdity

(a) Contingency: All events are chance (there are no ultimate explanations)

(b) Pessimism: The universe is doomed to extinction by entropy

(c) Humanism: Human beings are the center of all things. They can face the universe heroically and responsibly with dignity and idealism

Some Quick Facts On Atheism

• Atheism has been around since at least circa 300 B.C. 

• 4% of American adults say they are atheists when asked about their religious identity, up from 2% in 2009. An additional 5% of Americans call themselves agnostics, up from 3% a decade ago

•  Roughly one-in-five self-described atheists (18%) say they do believe in some kind of higher power. However, they reject belief in “God as described in the Bible"--which apparently is what makes them "atheists" by their way of thinking

• Atheists make up a larger share of the population in many European countries than they do in the U.S. Roughly 25% of adults in the Czech Republic identify as atheists

• About seven-in-ten U.S. atheists are men (68%). The median age for atheists is 34, compared with 46 for all U.S. adults. Atheists also are more likely to be white (78% vs. 66% of the general public) and highly educated: About four-in-ten atheists (43%) have a college degree, compared with 27% of the general public. Self-identified atheists also tend to be aligned with the Democratic Party and with political liberalism

• Most Americans (56%) say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral, while 42% say belief in God is necessary to have good values

(See pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/06/10-facts-about-atheists/).

Proselytizing Atheists and Anti-theists

I strongly caution against engaging atheists (esp. anti-theists) unless you have done a large amount of preparation. Anti-theists in particular will spend many hours studying ways to attempt refutations of theistic arguments (Christianity in particular). What I will offer here are some guiding tips and their application to a main atheistic attack on belief. 

 Four Preliminary Considerations:

1. Pray and study. Know your faith extremely well. 

2. If the atheist does not appear to be open, but just wants to harass you, tell him you will not listen to people who are rude, and get away from him.

3. Do not let vague attacks against the Faith go unexposed. For example, "Faith is for idiots and children." Respond, "Why do you say that?" Wait for the response. Ask, "Are you claiming that some of the most brilliant people in history, like St. Thomas Aquinas, and Fr. Georges  Lemaitre (who came up with the Big Bang Theory) were idiots?" Another example, "Religious leaders are hypocrites." Respond, "What do you mean by that?" Wait for the response. Ask, "If Stalin said 'Murder is wrong' he would be a hypocrite, but that doesn't make his contention WRONG does it?"

4. Learn some classic proofs of God's existence, such as the Teleological Argument.

Dealing with the most common objection: "There is no proof of God."

If you ask the atheist why he disbelieves in God, the objection you will hear most frequently is that "there is no evidence for God," and that He is "like Santa Claus" in which only children believe. 

You should respond by saying, "What evidence for God have you ever heard?" The atheist has only one of three possible answers to your query.

(A) Possible Response #1: "I've never heard any evidence for God because there isn't any."

If this is the answer, tell them, "Really? You've never heard of the teleological argument? Let me tell you about it!" Very few atheists giving this response have never really investigated the issue and therefore "found no evidence." They either are arrogant and think you don't know any evidence, or they believe all evidence "amounts to nothing" so it counts as "no evidence." The latter will be examined in the next possible response.

(B) Possible Response #2: "The only 'evidence' I ever heard is very flimsy and counts for nothing, or it is not stronger than the case for atheism."

In many cases this may be true. Those who don't know their faith well offer subjective experiences or unjustified premises. Examples include:

• I prayed for something special and I received it.
• Nature is pretty and seems designed, so God must have made it that way.
• I know God exists because He revealed Himself in my heart

Such evidence is weak (at best) and you should agree with the atheist on that point. "That is weak evidence. However, have you ever heard of the Teleological (Cosmological, etc.) Argument? That's much stronger evidence. Do you want me to tell you about it?" 

(C) Possible Response #3: "I've heard the evidence and there's problems with it."

Here, the atheist admits of evidence, but finds fault with it. For example, "I've heard of the Teleological Argument, but I think the multiverse explanation is more plausible." This is where real debate ensues and why you must do your research and know your faith. You have to show why the atheist's objection is not a defeater for the Teleological Argument. 

Points to Remember:

• Claiming there is no evidence is not the same as showing there is no evidence. The atheist is a liar who claims there's no evidence for God. He must say the evidence is weak or flawed; and you must show his objections don't stand up to scrutiny

• Scientific Evidence is not the only evidence. Many atheists want empirical evidence that God exists. A couple of things need to be said to address this alleged problem. Empirical evidence is needed when you would expect such. Example: If I were to say "There was an elephant in the back of my house," one would expect calls to the police, screams from neighbors, damage to the concrete, coverage on the news, etc. If there is none of this, you have reason not to believe me. If I said, "There was a flea in the back of my house," what kind of evidence would you require? Certainly not the same as the elephant. Second, science investigates the natural not the supernatural. There are other lines of evidence such as historical, philosophical, and moral evidence--as well as conclusions from scientific facts. You are no more justified in claiming God doesn't exist because He is not empirically verified, than you are in claiming love doesn't exist because "you can't see it empirically." 

• The strength of evidence is not dependent on the numbers who believe. "If there is proof of God, why doesn't everyone believe?" Because God is not immediately present to our senses. This is necessary to have a world of free creatures who can accept God or reject Him and His moral Code. No one would reject God or behave badly if He were immediately evident. Some choose not to believe because they don't want to live morally. God is as apparent as necessary. In St. Luke 16:31 we read, "He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." Emphasis mine. 

• Let us also remember that it was infallibly taught at the Vatican Council of 1870 that God can be known with certainty by human reason. No one can remain a convinced atheist their whole adult life in good faith. That makes most of them closed to what you say. Having prayers and Masses for the conversion of atheists you know is a must. The Vatican Council of 1870 decreed: If anyone saith that the one, true God, our Creator and Lord, cannot be known with certainty from the things that have been made, by the natural light of human reason: let him be anathema. 

Conclusion

Atheism is the "religion in vogue" of our decadent times. It has a creed, a code, and a cult. Despite cries to the contrary, it is a worldview that of its very nature, demands assent to certain beliefs--dogmas, if you will. There are people who hate God so much, they even try to kill Him. Think of King Herod and the Holy Innocents. Modern day atheists are out to kill and destroy the very idea of God and eliminate all references to Him. They want Him out of the public, as well as the mind, heart, and soul of humanity. They want you to join them, and you must be very prepared. 

Let us become the greatest witnesses against atheism and for the Church by doing as St. Augustine said, "A Christian is: a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, and a hand through which Christ helps."