Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Devout Non-Belief

I don't know if I was naive, ignorant, blind, shielded, deceived, non-perceptive, or just did not pay attention in the past, but until recently I always thought that people could be classified fairly easily: either they were theists (believed in a supreme being) or were atheists. And with the latter classification, I believed that the non-believers either had never really heard a believable form of theism or had heard it and rejected it. End of story.
I have recently seen more and more indications that many non-believers are not merely just non-believers. They are, in fact, ardent, devout, pious, fanatical, staunch believers of their non-belief. I have come across article after article, blog comment after blog comment, YouTube video after video, etc., of some non-believer spewing their non-belief beliefs. In a sick way, it is somewhat humorous to me to think of this spewing non-believer as being the identical twin of the Bible thumping Holy-roller that he so greatly despises. It would make a great comedic movie having some poor average Joe living in a home directly between the two.
My point is this... There is a very intelligent, highly motivated, highly dedicated, overly ardent, mobilized army of non-believers that are progressively becoming highly organized, focused and committed to their ideals and beliefs. They are not sitting back and being merely humored by "those silly Christians and their ridiculous beliefs." No. They are, frankly, quite upset with the God believing people of the world, and believe that a majority of the world's problems have either been created or have been perpetuated by God-believers.
There are multiple concerns that could be discussed regarding the organization of non-believers, but I want to address 2:

1.) With organization comes political persuasiveness.
2) The non-belief promotional information seems to multiply daily in mass and in creativity.

Regarding #1, take a look at FFRF which is The Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. The FFRF is an educational group working for the separation of state and church. Its purposes, as stated in its bylaws, are to promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to non-theism. This is one organization and one website among a multitude of similar ones. It is nearly impossible to Google a religious type keyword without getting hits by one of these type sites. More importantly, the organizations and sites, for the most part, are not fly-by-night type ventures. They are well thought out, well articulated and highly persuasive.
To understand what I'm sharing regarding #2, take a look at a site like GodTube.com and read the comments that follow some of the content. You will find comments from people who are ranting regarding their agenda of non-belief, and often the comments have very little or nothing to do with the content of the video. Or, go to a site like YouTube, and search for Christianity content. You will find, again, very well thought out, well articulated, highly persuasive and extremely creative God-belief bashing.
It would appear that, in a world desperately in need of a Saviour, the pathway to the Way, the Truth and the Light is becoming increasingly harder to perceive.
So, if you, as a Christian, believe that you are serving God to your fullest by attending church services on Sunday mornings, praying on occassion and reading some scripture, maybe you could learn something about living an active life of belief by studying the life of some of these flag-waving non-believers. Just a thought.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really like this. I think its really easy for us to live in our protected little churches on sundays and forget that outside in the world theres people who are not just apathetic, which is the most common form of disbelief at home, but who are angry and verbal against Christianity. We really need to step up! In more ways than one. We have to step up and stregnthen our relationship with God so that we can adequately fight the enemy. We have to step up and stregnthen our relationship wtih God so that we can be so in tune with the Holy Spirit that when someone is struggling, we know. We need to protect our own as well as win new people. What good does it do to win people to Christ if we just let them be led astray? Just some thoughts.
Blessings,
Keisha

Joe Cross said...

Interesting thoughts Ernest. Thanks for checking out my blog and your heart to lift high the name of Jesus in all areas of life.