Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Lessons from an Atheist

Christopher Hitchens has some very interesting things to say about conservative Christians based upon his experiences debating Douglas Wilson.
I haven't yet run into an argument that has made me want to change my mind. After all, a believing religious person, however brilliant or however good in debate, is compelled to stick fairly closely to a "script" that is known in advance, and known to me, too. However, I have discovered that the so-called Christian right is much less monolithic, and very much more polite and hospitable, than I would once have thought, or than most liberals believe.
AND
Wilson isn't one of those evasive Christians who mumble apologetically about how some of the Bible stories are really just "metaphors." He is willing to maintain very staunchly that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and that his sacrifice redeems our state of sin, which in turn is the outcome of our rebellion against God. He doesn't waffle when asked why God allows so much evil and suffering—of course he "allows" it since it is the inescapable state of rebellious sinners. I much prefer this sincerity to the vague and Python-esque witterings of the interfaith and ecumenical groups who barely respect their own traditions and who look upon faith as just another word for community organizing.

HT: Church Matters

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting article – I’d like to see the movie – wonder if it will ever be widely released in theatres? I recently viewed a debate between John Lennox and Richard Dawkins – it was eye-opening for sure. From what I can tell, the “new atheists” in a sense believe in God more staunchly than does the average person. They fight against Him with such anger and passion. They know He is but wish He wasn’t. After all, Stalin wasn’t shaking his fist at nothing in his dying moment…

Todd Pruitt said...

Yeah. I often wonder why, if Richard Dawkins is truly convinced there is no God, is he so angry at Him.