Sunday February 15, 2009
When atheists turn evangelical
I don\’t understand why advertising for atheism raises so many hackles.
To put that comment into perspective – in case you haven\’t been following the news too closely – it started when some rather surprising books shot to the top of bestseller lists.
Biologist Richard Dawkins\’ book The God Delusion rode the New York Times bestseller lists for 51 weeks, where it got as high as #4. It reached #2 on the Amazon.com bestsellers\’ list.
Not far behind came Christopher Hitchens\’ acerbic God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and Sam Harris\’s The End of Faith.
Together, they created a new social phenomenon – evangelical atheists.
The atheist ad campaign began last October when an atheist was offended by an placard on a London bus that asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find Faith on this Earth?”
She checked the related website. It assured her that, as a non-believer, she would be “condemned to spend all eternity in torment in hell.”
She went onto the Internet herself, and suggested that atheists should get together and run some counter advertising. Donations rolled in. And London buses started carrying placards that said, “There\’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
For what purpose?
“If the objective was to undermine people\’s belief in God,” wrote internationally syndicated columnist Gwynne Dyer, “it was a waste of time, because most British people don\’t believe in God anyway.”
Only six per cent of British people attend church on any Sunday; 75 per cent never attend church at all.
Reactions were stronger elsewhere. The first rejection came in Italy, under suspicion that the Vatican had influenced Italian authorities to ban an ad that declared, "The bad news is that God doesn\’t exist, the good news is that you don\’t need him."
When the Freethought Association of Canada tried to place atheist ads in Canada, Halifax and Vancouver vetoed them. But Toronto and Calgary transit systems accepted them.
Canada Family Action Coalition president Dr. Charles McVety called them “attack ads."
"These ads are not saying what the atheists believe, they are attacking what other people believe," he said. He described the atheists as "bigots… intolerant of someone else\’s belief system."
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Calgary, Fred Henry – rarely mentioned in the media without the adjective “outspoken” – branded the ads as “hate” literature. If they appeared on Calgary buses, he said, he would demand equal time.
He didn\’t indicate that he would be willing to pay for that equal time.
Tempest in a teapot To receive this column regularly via e-mail, send a request to [email protected]. E-mail subscribers also get excerpts from correspondence about these columns. Please forward a copy of this column to anyone who might be interested in subscribing.
If you want to order my books, you can call 1-800-663-2775 in Canada, 1-800-328-0200 in the U.S., or order them on-line at the Wood Lake Books website.
For a lighter look at ethics, faith, and life, I recommend Ralph Milton\’s weekly e-newsletter Rumors. You can subscribe to it at the Wood Lake Books home page in Ralph Milton\’s Site, or by sending a note directly to [email protected].
It\’s also worth pursuing Charlene Fairchild\’s United Online site. Another site worth visiting is David Keating\’s \”SeemslikeGod\” page.
The United Church of Canada did pay for equal time. Its ads said simply, “There probably is a God. Stop worrying and get on with life.”
An electronic poll on the United Church\’s WonderCafe website started off running roughly two to one against God, but evened out by the end of this week.
The whole thing strikes me as a tempest in a teapot. Perhaps, given the subject matter, the ultimate tempest in a teapot.
Because both arguments contain an internal contradiction.
Opponents of the ads fear that the promotion might persuade people to stop believing in an eternal God.
So what? Does God\’s existence of God depend on humans believing in Him? Or Her?
If everyone in the world stopped believing in God, would God cease to exist?
If so – and that\’s a big if – the atheists would be right; God is a human invention.
But the atheists\’ argument is also flawed.
An American Humanist bus ad, in Washington DC, said, "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness\’ sake."
During a pair of radio debates with David Giuliano, Moderator of the United Church, the Freethought Association\’s Justin Trottier reiterated that theme of morality without religion. He maintained that “non-believers could lead moral and deeply satisfying lives…without having to label these values with the imprimatur of God.”
But where did those values come from? Why do we believe that compassion is better than cruelty, that kindness is better than selfishness, that forgiveness trumps vengeance?
Obviously, from the same religious traditions that the atheists now disparage.
Pascal\’s probabilities
In fact, reason and experience both teach us that morality is not inborn. The ruthless get ahead, the greedy get rich, the unscrupulous seize power.
Personally, I believe that God does exist. But I have no proof, other than personal experience. I subscribe to what\’s commonly called Pascal\’s wager.
Mathematician Blaise Pascal developed the basis of modern probability studies. There are no certainties, he asserted; life is a gamble.
So what are your odds? That depends on whether God exists, and on how you choose to live.
Suppose you stake your life on the conviction that God does not exist. If you\’re right, you gain nothing and lose nothing. But if you\’re wrong, you lose.
Conversely, suppose you live as though God does exist. If you\’re eventually proved wrong, you lose. But if God really does exist, you win.
By Pascal\’s mathematics, only one of the four outcomes offers a winning formula.
My own conclusion? God will be neither increased or diminished by human beliefs. So stop worrying about it and get on with life.
=====================================
Copyright © 2009 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups permitted; all other rights reserved.
=====================================
PROMOTION PLUGS