Friday, April 06, 2007

Good Friday: Answers to the Atheists

Today's column by E.J. Dionne, Jr., has, on the Washington Post op-ed page, the headline "Answers to the atheists." (Interestingly, over at the St. Petersburg Times, the headline is "Serious Christians also doubt.") Dionne's rejection of the atheist position cites Michael Novak's questioning of his faith, which surprised me somewhat considering my impression that Novak and Dionne probably disagree completely on matters of domestic politics. Dionne cites Novak's book Belief and Unbelief and Novak's March 19, 2007, book review in the National Review. (I've read neither.)


Apparently, the neo-atheists claim that serious Christians do not study their faith or question why they believe. According to the column, Novak states that "Questions have been the heart and soul of Judaism and Christianity for millennia." Moreover, according to Novak, "Christianity is not about moral arrogance. It is about moral realism and moral humility."


It seems obvious to me that Christians must study their faith and understand (to the extent that we can) what we believe. It is, of course, a never-ending process. As mentioned in a previous post, I've learned a great deal as we've helped Colleen prepare for the sacraments. Our beliefs are not irrational or unjustified. They make sense if one takes the time to understand them.


Those who criticize Christianity because it supposedly makes believers intolerant and therefore dangerous must not understand Christianity. Christians do believe something extraordinary - that God became man and that Jesus died and rose from the dead to forgive our sins. And from this belief, guided by Scripture and the teaching of Christians throughout the years, come many other beliefs about a variety of topics, including how we should live our lives and the nature of reality and what our priorities should be. The belief that all men are sinful should inspire humility, not arrogance.


Terrorists who claim to do the will of Allah are scary but misguided. Social conservatives who refuse to go along with what is popular or easy are stubborn and annoying, perhaps, but they are thoughtful. Neither group should be an excuse to attack religion.

1 comment:

حامد said...

Hello. You wrote:"Terrorists who claim to do the will of Allah are scary but misguided". I totally agree that these terrorists are misguided but my question is, how could they avoid being misguided? Is there anything in their approach to religion or God that is different than others?