God Talk

OK, so I'm not really a part of the Methoblogosphere like my brother. People don't have long theological discussion on my comment page. I'm usually the one who uses my blog for more personal reasons, to rant about stupidity, to recommend music or movies that come along that I actually enjoy, stuff like that.

However, with the start of a new school year and an article in the new Newsweek about modern atheism, I'm in kind of a theological mood.

So, the question, which is in no way a new one: How do we prove God? Or, perhaps a better question, do you we really need to?

First, it's important to know that I think the atheist quoted in the article aren't very current in their understanding of mainstream theology. Their opponents are the Christians that everybody knows about, the Christians in the media and high-profile positions. Which are, of course, the ultra-conservatives. (I'm sorry I can't give a link like other people, i'm not as blog savvy) In one quote, they say, "It seems you can tell a Christian that pudding turns people invisible, they will need the same evidence that everyone else does. But tell them that the book on their nightstand was written by an all-knowing deity that will send them to an eternal pit of fire if they don't believe every word of it, they accept that without trial."

ok, good start, guys. But, I don't believe the Bible was WRITTEN by God, but inspired. And, of course, I don't believe that I'm going to burn in the pit of fire if I don't accept every word the Bible says. (how did he get all those animals on one boat?) The atheists here are rejecting a very particular kind of belief in God, and I've got to say that I tend to agree with most of those sentiments.

The next point is eons old, how can anyone believe in a god who sends tsunamis and hurricanes and allows roofs to collapse on people while they worship? The answer is simple, I don't believe in that god. I believe in God, who comes to us in the midst of the hardest moments in our lives, to put a God arm around us and cry. God gives us the courage and strength to move on, to live on, to get back up, to rebuild.

Atheists are wrong. I will defend my rights to believe how I choose, as I defend theirs, but the one thing that I am 100% sure of is that there is a God. There is something beyond our understanding that is the ultimate source of benevolence and love and life and beauty.

Atheists are people who look at children as biological combinations of chromozones, sunsets as rays of light reflecting off our atmosphere and music as patterns of pitches, volumes and tempos.
When I look into the face of a child, I know that there is something more than science. When I look at the sun setting over the Lake of the Ozarks, I know there is some entity out there that I will never fully comprehend, some energy completely apart from everything we know that still yearns to have contact with us. And, especially, I need simply to listen to a Bach violin concerto, a John Coltrane sax solo, or Stevie Ray Vaughen play lenny with tears in his eyes to know that God is.

The authors discussed in the article hold fast to the claim that atheism is the smarter choice, that any rational mind can look at the world and know we are on our own.

Fine. I'll give you smarter. I'll give you the brain. Knowing that God is real is about heart. It's not about smarter, it's about truer, about deeper.

Atheists of the world, I respect your views and stand up for your rights to have them and speak them. But, I believe that you are wrong. Look your child in the eye, visit Banff National Park in Canada, listen to the guitar solo on Comfortably Numb, then try and tell me there's nothing more to this life than what we know.

B