Do you know any atheists? It seems like they are becoming louder on the world stage, so I thought it would be interesting to examine their beliefs a little bit but so far I have only found out what they profess not to believe. Even the definition is kind of squirmy. Webster says an atheist is “a person who believes God does not exist.” Another definition is “a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods.” I’m not sure what the difference is between one who disbelieves and one who lacks belief. I’ll have to leave that to greater brains than mine.
I did find that not all atheists are “purists.” Some do believe in some sort of Supreme Being. Some believe in something called Intelligent Design, which I think is some kind of back handed compliment to the maybe Supreme Being. Like vegetarians that may eat a little more than just vegetables, they also tend to wander outside strict dogma obscuring their identity.
They have become more vocal, even mounting a battle against narrow minded believers and the shackles of religion. I would call them more antitheists then atheists. I’m not sure why they care because I don’t think they do. They don’t like others ramming religion down their throats and I can understand that.
But I’m not here to pick on atheists. What I want to point out is they are not that special. There isn’t as much difference as you think between their beliefs and many that profess to believe in God, god, or gods.
Being a simple man, I am going to try and boil this down to the essentials. A-theist means not theist. Therefore, the entire world is made up of two subsets– the ones that are not and the ones that are, the a-theists and the theists.
Let’s start with the theists. They all think they are right; they are the ones going to heaven; everyone else is going to hell (or at least not going to participate in the invitation only private club of paradise). But believing in God or gods is no ticket to anywhere. James popped that balloon. Of course, if you are not a Christian, you don’t care what James said, but it certainly is worth pondering.
James 2: 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
Then there are the a-theists, the not theists. They know there ain’t no heaven and they pray there ain’t no hell. When you die, you die. End of story. They believe in human nature, themselves, love, aliens, whatever. Since they have no standard belief or creed, they are all over the map. The atheists will claim the others, the theists, are simply brainwashed dummies echoing beliefs that they don’t even understand. And one could argue that to be the case with many, including Christians. They are what they are because of the environment they experienced.
Without getting into the weeds of any specific beliefs, I want to introduce a simple concept called Truth. I’m sure you have all heard of it. This is what all these groups claim to have a lock on. There is just one problem–there is only One Truth! I know that contemporary thinking says there are many paths to god or God or something or someone, except for that to be true they all have to converge on the same Final Destination because there can be only one Truth. Now this is scary because I am pretty sure we are not all heading in the same direction.
I hate to say it, but somebody has to be wrong. I am not going to say who, but one thing is for sure, whenever we say yes to one thing, we say no to the other. If we say yes to the Truth, we say no to the lie. Common sense dictates that those who say no to the Truth must be saying yes to something else, the untruth. So, what in the world are they saying yes to?
Ahhh . . . the greatest question of all time– what is Truth? Well, whatever it is, we can say that Truth needs no Champion! It has no need to defend itself. It just is. The wind can blow this way and that, but it just stands there . . . immutable. Those that feel they must justify their version of the truth are de facto saying they are not quite sure. They want validation.
For example, a well-known comedian loves to integrate his hatred for religion in his routine to laughter and applause, but all he is doing is seeking validation of his beliefs and is nothing more than a stringed puppet operated by his audience. He has no clue.
You have to ask yourself the question–just what do you really believe? If you have chosen something other than Truth, if you are unsure, then let me crystal clear–your belief is nothing more than a figment of your imagination. It is totally fabricated. You made it up or someone else made it up and put in your head. It doesn’t exist other than in your mind. You may laugh at the Fairy Tales, the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, but you just placed yourself in similar company.
It might be time for some serious introspection. You cannot not believe in something. If the earth you walk on and air you breathe is not enough evidence to start you with the idea of God, then what does trigger your beliefs? If you think when you die you just sail off into the sunset, then you better be sure of what is on the other side.
I know in what I have believed. I have no need to convince anyone. Truth needs no Champion! Can you say the same thing?
The Lost Coin by Samuel Hayes Sherwood is now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all other outlets. Learn what Truth is and see how the mystery of Christ in us is unraveled.
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