My Dogma Ran Over My Karma

"People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them." – Dave Barry

"Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions." – Prov. 18:2 (NIV)

I’ve been a Christian for 41 years now. One of the things believers like me get used to after a while is being discounted by otherwise well-meaning folks (“Oh, he’s one of them… well, I suppose he’s entitled to his beliefs…”). You may be liked and accepted, perhaps even admired. But regardless of what you say, think or do, you’ll be taken for a simpleton and behind genuinely sincere smiles 90% of everything you say will be quietly discarded. Even so, I’ve had the pleasure of knowing people who didn’t share my faith but took a genuine interest in it and valued open-minded dialog. Like me, they knew they had much to learn and saw the value in walking beside those with differing views in a common journey for understanding. My library is filled with the works of Atheist scholars who’ve been hugely influential in the formation of my own beliefs—not for the sparring practice they offered, but by expanding my knowledge in ways believing writers had not, and rightfully challenging aspects of my worldview that were less well-grounded than I’d imagined. I owe these people a debt I’ll never be able to repay.

Then there were the rest… Atheists of a very different sort.

In the wake of 9/11 an understandable but regrettable anti-Islam backlash gave birth to a movement that has come to be known as New Atheism. In content it offers nothing of consequence beyond traditional Atheist thought—what sets it apart is its attitude and methods. For the most part traditional Atheists hold their views for rational and experiential reasons. To them, knowledge seeking is something to be practiced rather than merely preached. They tend to assume the same of those they disagree with, and as such are given to dialogue with people of faith. New Atheists like Richard Dawkins (2008), Sam Harris (2005; 2008), Christopher Hitchens (2009) and other like-minded ideologues will have none of this. According to them all religions are morally bankrupt delusions regarding which dialogue of any kind is a waste of time. They’ll discuss religion with believers but only to spar with, or correct them (or as a friend once said on Facebook, to “shame them into changing their irrational ways”). Under no circumstances will they consider the possibility that anything of value might be learned from anyone outside of their own circle. I’ve invested countless hours discussing religious topics with these folks hoping to share with them what my faith means to me and perhaps get beyond this iron curtain that separates us. But despite my best efforts, every one of these conversations followed the same basic script…

Religion is “mythology,” I was told—an irrational belief in imaginary gods that were inevitably compared to some suitably over-the-top straw man (common choices include “flying elephants,” the Greek Pantheon, and the “Flying Spaghetti Monster,” the latter of which was invented by a New Atheist specifically to fill this need). Atheism on the other hand, is grounded in science. When asked for this alleged “science” none was ever produced, nor was I ever asked for what evidence led me to by beliefs. I would provide it anyway whether they liked it or not (usually as personal reflections, formally arguments, citations to peer-reviewed science and other scholarship, and the most thoughtful religious works I know of), only to have all of it studiously ignored. This cycle would repeat for a while… I’d offer more arguments and evidence and make further requests for the same, receiving nothing but increasingly monotonous repetitions of the “no evidence” mantra in return. At no point was there any indication that my offerings had even been read, much less considered (a few even admitted they had no intention of doing so). The more I provided the more dismissive the responses were. Sooner or later my patience would wear thin…

“What’s the damn problem? I would ask. “Why aren’t you addressing my arguments or evidence?” I’d point out that my sources had been made available to them (in most cases with links to the abstracts and/or full-text content, and at times even the raw data). If their views are as rational and scientific as they claim, why would they refuse to allow reason or science in a dialogue about worldviews? (Trusting soul that I am, I was still assuming these actually were meaningful dialogues. I was about to discover otherwise...)

The response was always the same… (Rolled eyes… patronizing sigh…). “I have considered your evidence, and it doesn’t prove anything! Religions is irrational foolishness!” (Apparently “considering” doesn’t involve actually reading the source material much less directly addressing any of its content, or for that matter even learning anything about the subjects involved…). If I took issue with being patronized I was accused of being too sensitive. (As though you can call someone’s worldview irrational foolishness without calling them irrational fools…)

“Why are you being so defensive…?” they would ask. “Are you threatened by the advance of science?” (What science? What scientists? Do these people have names? Is any of this published somewhere? Where the hell is this alleged “science” of yours, and why isn’t it on the table yet? Due diligence must be a sign of intellectual weakness as well…)