Opinion

Being good without God -- and does it really matter?

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Being good without God has become the mantra for many atheists, and they undoubtedly have a point. Atheists, agnostics and people who worship many gods or no god in particular, are in fact capable of goodness, capable of acts of kindness, mercy and even self-sacrifice. (Of course, the opposite is also true, evidenced by the table set up by an atheist group at the University of Texas at San Antonio offering pornography in exchange for "holy text.")

This Friday, the Sacramento (California) Area Coalition of Reason will take down 10 billboards that have asked the question "Are you good without God?" and answered it with "Millions are" that have been displayed in and around Sacramento since early February. (They may receive special dispensation to leave two of the billboards up for an additional week, to make up for two billboards that were vandalized over the weekend. Apparently, several acts of vandalism occurred during the month-long display, the latest two leaving little time for repair or replacement before the scheduled end date.)

Not believing in God doesn't make you a bad person. Believe it or not, even those of us who do believe in God -- heart, body, mind and spirit -- are still bad. (The aforementioned vandalism just one disturbing example of that sad truth.)

Jesus once responded to a question prefaced by the salutation "Good teacher." with "Why do you call me good? No one is good -- except God alone." (Mark 10:18).

Being good isn't the point. It can't be, because it is beyond any of us, and if atheism becomes faith based only on the goodness of the followers of Christ, then there's little hope of changing their minds.

The older I get, the more I learn, the more evidence of God -- and his goodness -- I see. I understand this isn't the case for the atheist. Perhaps the older he gets, the more he learns, the spartan evidence of God that may have once been glimpsed out of the corner of his eye is now utterly eclipsed.

It really isn't role reversal so much as it is opposite sides of the same coin.

On one side, belief. Belief that no matter how broken man is, no matter how broken man becomes, individually or collectively, God is -- and is able and willing to redeem.

On the other side, belief. Belief that no matter how broken man is, no matter how broken man becomes, individually or collectively, it is within the power of each man to repair the brokenness, if indeed, man is broken. Because without the benchmark of "no one is good -- except God alone" how can brokenness be measured or even defined?

The debate is picking up steam. Noted author and self-avowed atheist Christopher Hitchens, in his provocative book "God is not Great" makes the claim that religion perpetuates war, exploitation and oppression -- none of which can be called "good."

To his credit, Hitchens acknowledged, during a recent interview with Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell, that he is in the number Pascal identified in his Penseés, "so made that they cannot believe." And so to him, much of faith's language is nothing but "white noise."

Nevertheless, even though he admits that he has no intrinsic ability to understand the language of faith, he feels free to denigrate it, referring to faith in one instance during the interview with the statement, "Anyone who can look me in the eye and say they prefer the story of Moses or Jesus or Mohammed to the life of Socrates is ... intellectually defective."

The interview, published in the January 2010 issue of Portland Monthly, came to my attention through a link provided by noted Christian author Randy Alcorn. It drew Alcorn's attention because in the course of the interview, Hitchens called Sewell out on her definition of Christianity, in fact he questioned the authenticity of her faith at its base.

To wit:

Sewell:

"The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I'm a liberal Christian, and I don't take the stories from the Scripture literally. I don't believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and(y) distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens:

"I would say that if you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you're really not in any meaningful sense a Christian."

Hitchens' response was spot on.

And the challenge to believers is plain. If we are going to have any kind of a meaningful, purposeful dialogue with anyone -- a fellow believer, an agnostic, a prodigal or an out-and-out atheist -- we need to have a coherent, reasonable response ready when the questions come. Too often, our responses feed the myth that a life of faith and the life of an intellectual are mutually exclusive. A friend and brother in Christ recently stated, "I believe every word of the Bible is true. I haven't read it, but I believe it." Surprisingly, many would applaud such a bold affirmation of the veracity of Scripture, unfortunately, feeding the myth that in order to have faith, you must part with your intellect.

For far too long, believers have treated Christianity as the default faith in the United States and so, even in the pulpit (as demonstrated by Sewell), we have settled for pat answers such as "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." These cutesy answers easily fit on bumper stickers or key chain fobs, but do little to impact the culture.

It's time for us to get busy. The debate is heating up. And do not be deceived, there is a lot more at stake than our intellectual reputations. Because if we believe that God is -- and that he is good and that we are broken -- and that he is both willing and able to redeem, then that message must be clearly, concisely, consistently lived out, not only in our lives but in our words.

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." 1 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV)

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  • AMEN, Dawn. The crunch of events taking place indicate that Redemption is very very close. I hope that many take your words to heart. I am greedy, as I desire many many more Christian sisters and brothers, in our/His family.

    Keep the Watch. Arley

    -- Posted by Navyblue on Wed, Mar 3, 2010, at 3:43 PM
  • I have always loved a quote attributed to Ben Stein, "Faith is not believing that God can. It's knowing that God will." I believe it succinctly makes a similar point. Great articles, Dawn.

    -- Posted by bison83 on Wed, Mar 3, 2010, at 7:23 PM
  • I have a question......If there were'nt any athiests and non christians around, who would the self righteous condesending "good" christians feel superior to???

    You are right Ms Cribs, you do need to find a better way of dealing with this debate....a good place to start would be by listening with an open mind and heart to what other people who beleive differently than you are actually saying. You may have quoted what the athiests were saying, but you didnt HEAR them!

    Peace and Love

    Karen

    -- Posted by kaygee on Thu, Mar 4, 2010, at 1:55 PM
  • Don't stories such as of a Virgin Birth, a God the Father (who by the scripture on the Trinity, is also the Son and the Holy Ghost) sending his only "begotten" son to pay for original sin all begin to sound like mythology?

    What too about man having offended God, doesn't this sound like a irrational personification of God?

    I still find it difficult to not bow my head when I say Jesus Christ. The image of a life dedicated to peace and justice remains a powerful personal force for what we could be, but what if it is just a great story? There were others before him with similar messages, such as Zoroaster. Perhaps Jesus and others such as Zoroaster are all part of our evolving nature, one that is less self-centered and more Christian in the best sense of the term. Respect rather than adoration for a Possible Jesus may lead others to question the "God" in their religious beliefs, soon then we would have to talk with one another without reference to the Great Spirits. After all they seem to add bitterness to dialogue not temperance.

    -- Posted by LiteracyMan on Thu, Mar 4, 2010, at 2:04 PM
  • I've studied mythology, and Bible; not even the same. Very few mythologies end happily.

    The neat thing about Faith in God possibly being wrong, and there is nothing beyond death, indicates to me that no one will know who is right, and who is wrong. On the other side of the coin, however, is our Faith says there is an eternity awaiting, and only the Faithful will enjoy blessing, and the nay-sayers (through 'choice') will not enjoy their eternity.

    I enjoy living as Faithfully as I am able, and if we are right, we have no worry about our eternity, unlike those who 'chose' wrong.

    Guess we will know, down the road a tad. Older folk have a shorter Tad, than younger folk, but we all find the answer, after it is too late to correct the error. Hmmm.

    In Messiah, I stay. Arley

    -- Posted by Navyblue on Thu, Mar 4, 2010, at 4:08 PM
  • C.S. Lewis said it best in his famous quote about there being no neutral ground. A true athiest would not take the time to even wonder about goodness and god.

    Those billboards tell the story. Whats right and where does the notion come from? The power of the almighty can't be denied.

    Solid gold from Dawn..

    -- Posted by boonesc on Mon, Mar 8, 2010, at 3:37 PM
  • Sorry, Kaygee. I'm afraid it's hard to take you seriously when you constantly treat people who disagree with YOUR viewpoints as "bullies" while you play the part of the downtrodden victim. I fear that having a meaningful debate with you would result in you falling down, crying and agonizing as if I shot you in the leg. Perhaps it is you who is not hearing others over the sound of your crocodile tears.

    -- Posted by bjo on Thu, Mar 11, 2010, at 4:53 PM
  • bjo....huh?????? All I have ever asked for is for civility and common curtsy. I apologize if that is too much for you!

    By all means , if showing me respect is too hard for you than do not take me serously.

    If you want to have a meaningful exchange of ideas and opinions than I am more than willing to listen to your point of view.

    If you want to be an anonymous bully...then dont waste my time.

    Peace

    Karen

    -- Posted by kaygee on Thu, Mar 11, 2010, at 8:44 PM
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