ANOTHER OPEN LETTER TO MY ATHEIST FRIEND

"(The lady) doth protest too much, methinks."

Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act III, Scene II, 242

Dear Mike:

I've come to realize that Atheism, as you often express it, is not simply a disbelief in God, but what seems to be a genuine hostility against all things religious, and especially Christianity.  You seem to delight in pointing out our "superstitious" ignorance and the superiority of your beliefs (Oops! lack of beliefs).  Sometimes I wonder if the above quote is applicable to you.

You also delight in pointing out the sins and evils committed by those who claim to be followers of Christ.  I regret that I must agree with you that the church has often been right there with the rest of humankind in perpetrating evils.  I offer no excuses.  When evils are done by those who name the Name of Christ, I believe I feel it more than you, as I feel my own propensity to evil.  I believe that Christ Himself grieves more than I.

I think you said something once on your blog about how we should work to make the world a better place (sorry I can't find the reference).  Perhaps you haven't noticed that many Christians are involved in doing just that, even though we don't regard this world as our permanent home.  Christians around the world are involved -- often taking the lead -- in bringing medicine, education, food and disaster relief to those most in need.  They are involved in fighting human trafficking and in restoring its victims.  Check out the faith of those serving in your local soup kitchen.  When the tornados devastated our area of OK, the churches were some of the first there aiding in the cleanup and rebuilding.

So back to your Atheism, I propose that you think through a simple flow chart.  These seem to me reasonable alternatives to decide on.

1.  Either there is a God or there isn't.  If there isn't, then you can continue in your Atheism correctly and you don't have to waste your time fighting Him and His followers.

2.  But if there is a God, then He has either revealed Himself or He hasn't.  If He hasn't, I would suppose that Atheists would still be reasonably defensible in their attacks on those who believe He has.

3.  But if God has revealed Himself, then I would suppose you'd be under some obligation to examine the various claims made concerning His self-revelation.

I, along with others, happen to believe that God is real and that He has revealed Himself in the Bible and especially incarnated Himself in the person of Jesus.

I consider you still my friend and am hoping for more reasonable dialog.  However, if you persist in snipping line-by-line at everything you find on this blog, I'll not be publishing any more of your comments.

Your friend,

Bill