“Faith is the great cop-out, the
great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is the
belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.” - Richard Dawkins
“The whole thing is so patently
infantile, so foreign to reality, that to anyone with a friendly attitude to
humanity it is painful to think that the great majority of mortals will never
be able to rise above this view of life.” - Sigmund Freud
“Organized religion is a sham and a
crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers.” - Jesse Ventura
“The plain fact is religion must
die for mankind to live. The hour is getting very late to be able to indulge in
having key decisions made by religious people - by irrationalists - by those
who would steer the ship of state, not by a compass, but by the equivalent of
reading the entrails of a chicken.” – Bill Maher
“Faith means not wanting to know
what is true.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
“I think religion is a neurological
disorder.” - Bill Maher
“All thinking men are atheists.” -
Ernest Hemingway
How about those E-Cards that
everybody loves?
“Religion, a tool invented by the
powerful to control the stupid.”
“Living a godless existence ensures
no terrifying batshit religious figure impacts my election decision.”
“Religion! It just doesn’t make sense. Unless you’re crazy, or had a stroke,
or are just really dumb.”
“If you could reason with religious
people, there would be no religious people.”
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I pose a challenge to those who find these statements as either factual or funny. Countless Christians have spent time in school studying science, psychology, and philosophy to include some of the prominent authors mentioned above. We are required to complete these courses in order to graduate. We do so willingly, without a fight.
We enjoy these classes, but they do not shake our faith. We pass these classes with flying colors. Christian Nobel Laureate's (from all disciplines), Ph.D's, M.A.'s, B.A.'s, and other brilliant thinkers have all [obviously] passed through these institutions. Yet these men and women are not thinkers? They are not rational?
You, on the other hand, are not required to pass theology courses. You are not required to pass lengthy classes dedicated to the study of science as it relates to creationism (these courses do exist).
My challenge is this: put down "The God Delusion" for a moment. Pick up the Bible and read through the Gospels. Wrap your own mind around what is being said. Go to a small church in your area and observe; listen. Pick up a Tim Keller or Tullian Tchividjian book and read it. You might be surprised to learn that most Christians are nothing like what you see at the Westboro Baptist Church.
In fact, you will learn that we are strikingly similar to you. Don't believe me? Take the challenge and see for yourself.
