Confession of an atheist

Whitney

‘No one could deny that Christianity has been responsible for a profound intellectual, moral and artistic quickening’....err....actually I could...

Christianity helped bring about the Dark Ages. In the 4th to 6th centuries the Christian authorities sanctioned the deliberate destruction of the temples and libraries, the burning of all non-Christian texts, the closing of the Academy in Athens, the outlawing under the penalty of death of the worship of any god other than the Christian one, the banning of the works of Plato, Pythagoras, Aristotle and all other ‘pagan’ thinkers, and the proscription of any theological, philosophical or scientific debate or the questioning of Christianity in any way. Thousands of works of philosophy, science, drama and religion were lost to the world forever, and all of this helped set Europe back 1000 years. Lets also not forget all of the crusades, pogroms, witch hunts and inquisitions of the Middle Ages, and the millions who were murdered for not believing in the Christian god, or holding ‘heretical’ views about that god...indeed people were still being executed for heresy in Europe as late as 1826.

Personally, I always think we aetheists should remember that much blood was spilt in order for us to have the freedom not to believe. For most of its history, Christianity has suppressed, tortured and murdered anyone who dared not to believe in their god...

Charlie

Whitney, while what you say may be true, there was this little matter of the invasion of Rome by the Goths, who out-fought the Romans but had nowhere near the administrative ability to run a large Empire in an orderly basis. Society crumbled and technology was lost because of the invaders.

Lynn Vehorn

Dear Mr. Anderson,
If you truly want to know, ask of God a question, such as "If You are real, I will give my life to you." and see what happens. But only say it if you mean it. An example to read, is C.S. Lewis in "Surprised by Joy" when he describes his own conversion. For each person, coming to living faith is a unique miracle. For some, the desperation of life propels one forward because there truly is no other way to go without descending into despair. And who wants despair? And then the way forward is so full of wonder, that who would want to go back?
Your article is beautifully written, and well thought out. May your search lead you to the One who loves you and created you.
Sincerely, Lynn Vehorn

cletus

bravo, mr. anderson! you are a friend of the truth. my prayers go up for you.

Wayne Larson

Thankful for truly generous and liberal people such as the writer of this article who happens to be an atheist. Real liberals are rarity anymore especially among atheists. It is a breath of fresh air!
It is amazing how fundamentalism has taken a hold of many self-proclaimed leaders of the so-called atheist movement. Many are sounding more and more absurb and crazy like the leaders of the atheistic North Korea who threaten to drop a nuclear bomb over a damn Christmas tree.

Thank God for people who keep open minds!

Ken Bishop

Greatest story ever told? So: the Almighty deliberately creates us unable to be good; he then punishes us for the faults he chose to give us; he then grows weary of this and decides instead to get someone entirely innocent of anything horribly tortured to death; this somehow exculpates anyone who believes, even though the story is revealed only in a self-contradictory book. Anyone unable to believe the whacky hypothesis, complete with fairy stories about virgin birth and the like, will be punished for all eternity. Christianity is, without doubt the most repulsive idea ever invented by the human mind.

Charles Peters

I can't decide if this is supercilious or bombastic. For which what do think would I need therefore to have thought then?

Brian Read

It is important to recognise that it requires faith to be an athiest. An athiest's faith is placed in human reason which is commonly believed to have come about by a random process of evolution. There is no reason to believe that such reason is able to identify the truth. I believe, that based on the balance of evidence, there is far mor reason to believe what the Bible tells us.

JH

San Luigi dei *Francesi*