Recently I had coffee with another pastor. He shared how he had lost a few people because they were in a crisis of faith. I have experienced the same loss recently. People who were dedicated and devoted people of faith disappeared from our community because they had lost their faith. I said to my pastor friend, “It’s mostly our fault you know!” He agreed.
Abraham Heschel once said that the first commandment… to not have any other gods before me… is the first one because idolatry is the root of all the others. Calvin said our minds are factories working around the clock in the production of idols, and labyrinths of idolatrous thinking. The church is constantly setting up idols for people to believe in. Then when these idols, these small gods, don’t deliver, and the people for good reason lose their faith in them, we blame the people for it. Some of the people I talk to who have lost their faith are still caught in the same trap. Once they were on the shiny side of the idol, believing in hope that it was true. Now they are simply on the smudgy side of the idol rejecting it as false. Been there. I have been a devout idolator as well as a backslidden one.
Now, when someone says they’re losing their faith or have lost it, I say, “Fine! Been there. Am there. Will be again. Let’s walk this together.” Mother Teresa, frequently enjoying communion with Jesus before she went to Calcutta, receiving her call and going there full of faith to fulfill her vocation, suddenly lost touch with Jesus and never heard from him again. We throw around “Dark Night of the Soul” when we’ve had a bad week. Try never sensing the Lord’s presence ever again!
I validate those who never sense God’s presence. I see honor in rejecting gods. It takes nerve to topple idols and walk away from falsehood. It is fearless to detach oneself from people who cherish counterfeit and peddle snake oil. And I think it sometimes takes courage to be an atheist. I embrace atheists, for in many ways I am one myself.
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You know, once in a while I come across what other people are saying about nakedpastor. It is a hilarious experience for me when I’m blog-browsing and come across one of my cartoons or something else in another blog. Sometimes it just blows my mind. Here are a couple for instances:Shards of Consciousness, in which he says:
He has built a community from disparate individuals who treat each other with respect and kindness, even when they disagree.
In actual fact, I don’t feel as though I’ve built anything at all, except maybe a blog. Those attracted to it are diverse, and we’ve found a strange kind of unity here.
Another one is Persecuted Church, in which he says:
I enjoy his cartoons especially. They often straight for the jugular, making a significant point about the Christian life while making you laugh at the same time; which is what good humour should do.
In actual fact, I’m just thinking and drawing out loud, not attempting to slit any jugulars or make a significant point. But I’m glad they do accomplish these for some!
Then, finally, there’s this one which completely humbled me, from A Load of Bright, in which he says:
Naked Pastor is, at the time of writing, the only theistic blog I link to. In my blogroll policy I state that I will link to a theistic blog only “if I think that a positive, open minded approach to atheism is encouraged there.†Naked Pastor amply meets that requirement. Although, for obvious reasons, I disagree with the majority of what is said, I find the writing and artwork to be witty and clever, and the acceptance of criticism refreshingly forthcoming.
In actual fact, I’m humbled and thrilled to be able to participate in the quality level of dialogue that has been happening between me, my readers, and the excellent atheist bloggers. It is a pleasure as well as an incredible learning experience.
I’ve been blogging now for just over a year. I started as davidhayward.ca, then switched to churchpundit.com, then finally to nakedpastor. Nakedpastor is by far the better name, although my website, because of the “naked” part, is banned in some countries, in all schools and most businesses. Oh well. There’s a cost to everything! Thanks everyone, and stay tuned for more!
The fine art photograph is the creation of my friend Mark Hemmings. It reminds me of a dream.
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I must thank the people over at Russell’s Teapot for the heads up on this YouTube video. Frankly, I’m astounded at O’Reilly’s strategy. This is, in my opinion, is how NOT to debate this whole atheist/theist issue. O’Reilly fails miserably I think. Why? For these reasons:
Personal testimony proves nothing;
- The argument that Christianity is a moral fiber doesn’t prove it is true. Military rule can provide law and order too;
- Deflecting the argument with silly humor helps nothing;
- Poking fun at other gods or religions doesn’t prove they don’t exist or are wrong;
- To assert that atheists have committed atrocities too is only an attempt to share blame. It proves nothing except that all humanity is susceptible to evil practices;
- Opting for Christianity just in case it is the right religion is simply spiritual gambling;
I could go on, but why don’t you just watch the video. I might add that I was impressed with Dawkins’ demeanor. Take a look:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w8OhiLU7cU]
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This post is basically a collection of quotes I’ve extracted from this article on “Einstein and Faith” in Time magazine. I find them profound and important in today’s debate between atheists and theists. For one of the most brilliant scientific minds (his actual brain is preserved!), he still, as we shall see, had some kind of belief in “God”, and even considered himself “religious” to some degree. Shouldn’t this give us all pause, both atheists and theists alike? Take a fascinating read:
The religious inclination lies in the dim consciousness that dwells in humans that all nature, including the humans in it, is in no way an accidental game, but a work of lawfulness that there is a fundamental cause of all existence.
When Einstein was asked if he was religious, he calmly answered,
Yes, you can call it that… Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. That that extent I am, in fact, religious.
When asked if he believed in God, he replied:
I’m not an atheist. I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the language in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but does not know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws.
He goes on…
To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is something that our minds cannot grasp, whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly: this is religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I am a devoutly religious man.
Anyway, I appreciate Einstein’s approach that should be, I think, a lesson to all of us. I think the word is humility… humility towards all that we don’t and can’t know. I am impressed with rationality, but only to a point. There is something beyond what we know, and I think Einstein did his best to articulate that in a humble manner. I respect that.
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I would like to take this post to honor some sites devoted to atheism that I think are respectful and worth looking at. As you can see from my post on An Anti-Response to An Atheist, with 116 comments so far (not even a prize was offered!!), it is entirely possible to have a congenial discussion between people who radically disagree on an issue. I commend all those who took part in the discussion, and some of the atheist writers and I have agreed that we should continue talking. In fact, as one atheist commented:
“This is the first online conversation I’ve observed where both sides actually engaged with each other. It’s also been refreshingly troll-free. That says a lot about the quality of the online community you attract to your blog, David.“
Another wrote to me personally to say,
“I agree that the debate was very interesting and held in a tone of unusual sportsmanship, considering the differing views on display. Both sides are to be commended. I can’t help feeling that if all Christians were like you and your readers, there would be no problem.”
This is a testiment not only to the sincerity of the atheists who did comment on my post, but also to my regular readers, many of whom are members of my church. All are quality people. The fact is that I agree with much of what atheists are saying, such as we are not aware of any scientific proof of the existence of God; that religion has a bad track-record; that religious people often resort to infantile and circular arguments to support their positions; that the brain is an incredibly complex organ which borrows, creates, and stores our beliefs; etc., etc., etc. So I sincerely look forward to some good discussions.
Here are some links to check out:
That’s it for now. I’ve invited these atheist bloggers to link to me. So far a load of bright has agreed. Daylight is thinking about it. We’ll see what happens with the others.
I took this photograph last Sunday. Lisa and I went to the shore and just walked, threw stones, and talked for the afternoon. This small fishing vessel gently dancing in the brilliant sunlight sparkling on the salty sea spoke beauty and peace to me.
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David Hayward is a pastor artistically stripping to the essential.
