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The Word's Eye View is a newspaper column written by
Atheist… or Not! The local ABC affiliate aired a story on November 18th concerning an atheist organization that plans to purchase space on outdoor billboards in Colorado Springs and Denver. Allegedly, propaganda will be displayed that is intended to sow seeds of doubt regarding the existence of God. An October 23rd Associated Press report revealed that a similar British group has raised $113,000 to occupy poster space on thirty London buses carrying the slogan: “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” Richard Dawkins, the author of the atheist manifesto The God Delusion, stated that the slogans on London buses will make people think… “and thinking is anathema to religion.” Contrary to Mr. Dawkins’ opinion, I have been doing some cogitating on these issues and offer the following thoughts: Why would thousands of dollars be spent to fight a Being that supposedly doesn’t exist? Wouldn’t humanity be better served by investing those funds in children’s hospitals, orphanages or feeding the poor? Come to think of it, that work has historically been primarily advanced by Christian groups. Is there a fundamental difference in the conscience of the two mindsets? In the final analysis the fruit that is borne by the two opposing philosophies demands inspection. I have no knowledge of any atheistic movement dedicating themselves to alleviating world suffering Authority, not existence, is the heart of the issue. Ironically, even atheists when faced with a perplexity, frequently ask the God of the Bible to damn a person, object or circumstance. Have you ever heard the purveyor of a curse suggest that Buddha, Mohammed, Allah or any other “god” damn something? The obvious intent is to put a stamp of ultimate authority upon the statement. The name of Jesus Christ is often resorted to in an effort to reinforce the words of the gainsayer. It would seem that any non-believer who desires to appear intellectually honest would discover another name by which to curse. To swear effectively, men must make reference to God. Imagine an atheistic evolutionist attempting a blood-curdling oath by swearing in the name of natural selection or by a slimy primeval amoeba. Circumstances often dictate attitudes toward God’s existence. It has been said there are no atheists in foxholes. The most ardent non-believer has been caught shouting, “Oh, my God,” at the moment of impact when glass is breaking, metal is twisting and chrome is bending. In humor the story is told of the agnostic who was fishing on Loch Ness when suddenly the monster rose from the depths with the obvious intent of devouring the infidel. He uttered the familiar phrase “God save me.” A voice descended from the heavens ---“I didn’t think you believed in me.” The terrified skeptic responded, “Ten minutes ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster!” Perhaps the most telling of situations is when one is facing the grim reaper. In “The Worry Clinic” columnist Dr. George Crane tells of the disclosure made by a clerk in the law office of Clarence Darrow, the famed criminal lawyer and self-acclaimed atheist. Said the clerk, “As Darrow lay dying, he hastily summoned three clergymen—a Presbyterian minister, a Catholic priest, and a Jewish rabbi. He said to them, ‘Gentlemen, I have written and spoken many things against God and the churches during my lifetime. Now I wished I hadn’t! Now I realize it is entirely possible that I may have been wrong. So I should like to ask a final favor that each one of you intercede for me with the Almighty.’” When Julian the Apostate, who sought to destroy Christianity, was on the march with his army in the campaign against Persia in the year 363, one of the soldiers of his army said to a Christian who was being abused by the soldiery, “Where is your carpenter now?” “He is making a coffin for your emperor,” was the reply of the Christian. A few months afterward Julian received a mortal wound in battle. Julian, realizing that his death was at hand, dipped his hand in the blood of his wound and threw the blood toward Heaven, exclaiming as he did so, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!” Strange as it may seem to some, when God moved upon men to chronicle the events of Scripture, He never saw the necessity of inspiring them to offer conclusive proof for His existence. If the Bible was merely a product of men, they would have felt compelled to make the argument for the presence of the Almighty.
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