Andrew Klavan penned a lovely piece on the topic that deserves a full read and a better discussion than the one I have for it today. Here's a tidbit.
These thinkers see the great days of the West ending, while a violent, intolerant form of Islam infests its ruins. They believe that Europe has lost the will to live and that the loss is linked to a loss of faith in Christianity. But while they yearn to see the West revived—and while they may even support Christianity as a social good or a metaphorical vehicle for truth—they cannot themselves believe.He's mentioned this on his excellent podcast many times and I myself have seen it play out in the writings and speeches of several secular conservative pundits. It goes something like this:
- Christianity has all kinds of benefits
- Christianity was foundational to Western civilization
- (stats and quotes are then given - "marriages are 28.3% more successful if you go to church" or some such rubbish)
- I myself don't believe
I just got back from working as the chief cook on a men's retreat for 100+ Catholic dudes. I haven't worked that hard for that long in years. The men attended talks while my team prepped the meals and served them. At the end, they told us that they had been given the tools and motivation and shown the love that will help them be better husbands, fathers and men. It was beautiful beyond words. They always are.
Here's where the pundits are wrong. We didn't gather because our marriages would be 28.3% more successful. Our marriages are 28.3% more successful because we gathered. We gathered for Jesus. Take Jesus out of the equation and we won't ever get together.
What happens if lots of the currently strong marriages fail?
Faith doesn't just improve civilization, it's a necessary component.
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| Catican Bayou Gumbo for 100. |
Of course, it's not that such people *cannot* believe, it's that they *will not* believe.
ReplyDeleteWithout reference to any purported divine revelation, reason alone shows us that atheism is the false view of reality. Therefore, as Paul says: "... so that men are without excuse" in their denials of God.
Then, as we know that God *is*, reason alone shows us -- again, without reference to any purported divine revelation -- that:
* God is one;
* God is personal;
* God is good;
* God is "the ground of all being";
And, shockingly to some --
* God is a multiplicity of persons, even as God is one;
Catican Bayou Gumbo for 100.
ReplyDelete*Drool*
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My husband use to be one of the guys who, while agnostic, was too honest to deny the objective worth of Christianity, at least a lot of it.
I geeked out enough about it that he did his own research into the Church, figured out it was good, and was confirmed. (I didn't even known he'd been baptized Catholic.)
You're right, they've got the cause and effect backwards.
I agree with you both.
ReplyDelete