With my author Twitter account, I follow actor Adam Baldwin, and he was having a conversation with a fellow, Paul Doreika, about atheism and its political agenda. Mr. Baldwin indicated that he thought that some atheists are both evangelical (zealously intending to spread their belief – or lack thereof, as the case may be) and hateful, and Mr. Doreika tweeted a response, which I found to capture perfectly the very position of religious folk everywhere.
That response was, “Why do so MANY people think atheists are hateful? We just want to help people to shake free of the cage that is religion.”
In fairness, it’s not accurate to call atheists hateful (at least in general). Most atheists I’ve spoken to prefer to be left alone. But there are a few, yes, who have an “evangelical” perspective, trying to spread the “good news” of nothingness to those who have religious faith and fervor. Yet even these are not necessarily “hateful,” but think that their efforts are in good faith, trying to “rescue” the religious from their outdated and restrictive frivolities.
Yet these few, these “evangelical atheists,” as Mr. Baldwin puts it, are in a prime position to sympathize perfectly with the evangelical Christian mindset (and by “evangelical” here, I do not necessarily mean that branch of Christian Protestantism that refers to themselves thus, but I mean any Christian who seeks to spread Christian faith among those who do not believe). After all, more than any other religious or philosophical group, I have heard Christians called “hateful.” We are “hateful” because we disagree with or disapprove of certain actions–actions which we call “sin.”
Once again, I must be fair. There are hateful Christians out there. I won’t point any fingers or name any names, but I have heard plenty of “sermons” that were little more than soapbox diatribes against a certain group of people, decrying them for their actions and declaring them damned. Do not misread me: sin is sin, and there is nothing about sin which is worthwhile, beneficial, or good. But we do not have the power nor the authority to condemn others to Hell, and we are in no position to claim otherwise (Matthew 7:1-5; John 8:2-11; Romans 2:1-11; 14:10; Hebrews 10:30; James 4:11-12). At most, we can recognize sin in a fellow Christian and compel that Christian to separate from the church until s/he repents (Matthew 18:15-18; 1 Corinthians 5:9-13). And God has given us the ability to recognize sin in others (Luke 6:43-45), so that we may warn them.
And that warning is what gets us into trouble.
Some people, like the aforementioned hateful Christians, take that warning too far; they believe, for whatever reason, that frightening the sinner with threats of Hell and damnation and fire and brimstone will send them scurrying back to the Father. But this is folly. Scripture itself shows us the failure of this path. The Mosaic Covenant, the pact between God and the people of Israel through Moses, indicated that the people could be saved from destruction if only they obeyed God’s commandments. Yet time and again, throughout the whole history of the Israelites, mankind failed that test. Fear is an insufficient motivator. Instead, God used the system established by this covenant to create a new Covenant, through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ; this new Covenant is a covenant of love. Love is the best motivator of righteousness.
But I digress. I have leaped to the solution before fully addressing the problem.
Because a Christian opposes certain actions, and prefers not to be made party to those actions (through legislation or social pressure), he is declared hateful. His only goal is live a holy life by God’s will and help, and in so doing, to lead others to Christ, but even in calm discourse, he is declared hateful, a bigot, destructive, unkind, cruel, vindictive, and worse. We should not be frustrated or defeated by this, but we should rejoice in it and pray for God’s will to be done through it (Luke 21:12-19; John 15:18-25). All the same, it is not easy to live under such accusations and assumptions of hatred.
But we are not alone! Our own fellows, our philosophical opposition, is treated similarly. Christians are not perfect, after all, and when we are told that we are ridiculous, outdated, foolish, and useless, we may occasionally lash out. And followers of other religions are not exempt from this reaction, either. As a result, “evangelical atheists” feel as though they are being accused of hatred, when in fact, most of them are not hateful. Like many Christians, they suffer from the assumption of hatred.
Necessary Digression: It should be noted, with extreme care, that the presence of persecution for your beliefs does not vindicate you, nor does it indicate your beliefs to be true. Heretics throughout history have been persecuted (and prosecuted) for their beliefs, but that does not make them correct. (Such a presumption would lead to a confusing state in which all heretics, even those who vehemently disagreed with each other, as well as Christians, are all correct. This starts a dangerous path to intellectual relativism, which cannot stand.) The test of truth rests in the hand of God, the Living Judge of all (or, should the atheists prove correct, that test would lie in the nothingness that follows death, in which we would all languor unconsciously).
That “persecution,” however, does give us insight into the minds of our fellows. They believe, as we do, that others suffer an imprisonment at the hands of their own selves (John 8:34); they believe there is only one path to freedom from that slavery, that imprisonment (John 8:31-36; Acts 13:38-39; Romans 8:1-8; Galatians 4:4-7). Yet there are two differences between Christians and evangelical atheists: First, while they may feel an urge to rescue their fellow man, enlightened as they believe they have been in escaping from Plato’s cave, we have an obligation to live our lives in accordance with God’s will (Galatians 5; 1 Peter 2:16) in hope “that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption” (Romans 6:1-8:25). Second, “evangelical atheists” are among those false prophets, who would lead the brethren astray (2 Peter 2:18-19). They promise freedom, but their path leads only to slavery.
This is a hard thing to discuss, with anyone, let alone those who fervently believe in complete opposition to you. Often, a Christian and an atheist will speak past each other, each declaring things they believe to be true, never to be heard by their counterpart. In many ways, Christians and atheists lack common ground on which to converse in this manner: for example, atheists declare Christian belief unfounded and without evidence, because they do not accept the evidence which a Christian posits; meanwhile, Christians point out personal perceptions and life-changing experiences that inspire justified and evidenced faith, because they do not comprehend the atheist’s use of the common maxim, “The plural of ‘anecdote’ is not ‘data.'”
In an effort to be understood, we have an obligation to do two things. First, as always, we must pray. Pray for the softening of others’ hearts. Pray that the Word of God be spoken through you, so that others may hear. And pray for their souls, that they might be saved. Second, we must live the differences between the Spirit and the flesh. Recall Galatians 5 and “walk in the Spirit.” Recall Romans 8:26-39, and trust that the Lord will bring you help, since we cannot do it alone. More powerful than any argument, any discussion, any conversation, are these two things: prayer and righteousness. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and all in His own good time; and as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. So if you find yourself in a debate, do not descend into vehemence, verbal abuse, and explosions of anger, but pray and live.
Stop assumptions of hatred. Just because a person disagrees with you does not mean that they hate you; in the case that they do hate you, recall Matthew 5:43-48, and love them back. And when someone assumes that you hate them, do not try to prove them wrong, for they will not be convinced by the arguments of someone who “hates” them. At best, you will get them to demand that you leave them alone. Instead, pray for them – and live in accordance with the will of God.