In our previous post, we provided a few quotes from the trinity of contemporary atheism-- Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. In the present posting and future ones I will be examining the arguments they present against Christianity. After evaluating their arguments against God, I will discuss some of the arguments that Christian Apologists provide for belief in God. As you are well aware, I am not approaching the subject as though I could care less the outcome. I believe in God and am convinced that believers have no reason to be embarassed by their faith. However, I think we must assume that some atheists and agnostics are sincere in their beliefs and deserve to be answered and not just dismissed as evil people. My thoughts may not cause any unbeliever to re-consider their conclusions, but maybe at least those of us who are believers will be more convinced that we need not fear criticism of God. God is bigger than man and will not shrink away from man's criticism. When God created us free to think for ourselves, He undoubtedly knew that not all would reach the same conclusions. However, if we are to represent Him in the world, we must represent Him to atheists and agnostics. We must be ready to give an answer to them, as well as others.

One of the primary arguments being put forth today against Christianity is that it is a religion and all religion is dangerous. Faith is evil and produces ignorance, hate and violence. All of the authors of these recent books would tend to agree on this point. Such a view is not new, it has characterized atheism for over 200 years. However, it has gained traction in light of 9-11. The timing of the appearance of these books within a few years of 9-11 is not coincidental. Another factor that helped give birth to these books, in my opinion, was the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004. Most pundits at that time credited Bush's victory to conservative Christians. Those two factors, one, an urgency growing out of political concerns and second, an opportunity growing out of concerns about religious extremism, offered a fertile field for these works.

Its important to note that the authors of these books do not see extremism as the problem, but to them it is religion. "Why" asks Dawkins "would anyone want to destroy the World Trade Center and everybody in it?" He quotes Harris in answering his question "The answer is that men like bin Laden actually believe what they say they believe--they believe in the literal truth of the Koran". He adds a quote from Muriel Gray, writing in the (GlasgowJ) Herald on 24 July 2005, "The cause of all this misery, mayhem, violence, terror and ignorance is of course religion itself". "The take-home message is that we should blame religion itself, not religious extremism...Voltaire got it right long ago:'Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities".

He makes a specific application of the danger of religion to christianity when he adds that "Christianity, just as much as Islam, teaches children that unquestioned faith is a virtue. You don't have to make the case for what you believe....Faith is an evil precisely because it requires no justification and brooks no argument."

Hitchens says that "Religion poisons everything. As well as a menace to civiization, it has become a threat to human survival".

The argument of these authors develops in three steps:

1. Religion is a problem as evidenced by 9-11.

2. All religions call for blind faith and it is faith which is dangerous whether expressed in Islam or Christianity.

3. Its not religious extremism that's a problem but religion period!

Lest we argue that Christians are not bombing women and children, they point to the crusades and bombing of abortion clinics as the equivalent of 9-11 and imply that Christians could easily be moved to kill if they believed it was God's will. Remember Abraham and his willingness to kill Isaac. Was not he, a hero of faith, ready to commit an unspeakable atrocity in the name of God?

How do we respond to such an argument? Well, I've got to head for home now. Stay tuned and if time will allow, we will try to respond tomorrow.