atheists

[People hard to love]

Okay, now this is not supposed to be like politically or...religiously incorrect or whatever. Let me remind you that it says "people hard to love" not "people I hate with a burning, fiery passion." Some of my best friends in life have been atheists, and honestly, I thought it was better to be friends with atheists than the Christians that I knew in high school.

But anyway. I digress. The thing about atheists is that, a good portion of them are pretty confrontational. Yeah, people claim to be PC and they claim to respect other people's religions, but man, when it comes to atheists vs. Christians, it's like rawr, cat fight. And you know, a lot of the times, it is the Christian's fault, because he/she probably said something about condemning them to hell and whatnot. But you know, there are a lot of atheist-caused confrontations too - if you look at huge random Facebook groups, there's always that thread that says, "Give me one good reason to prove that God exists." It's like, okay. If you're looking to find the existence of God in a Facebook group discussion, I am sorry. Because most of the time, these discussions just turn into intelligence-superiority battles or "Don't question it. Just believe in Him" "but that's called blind faith!" scruples. And you're not gonna get an answer. You're more or less just going to get frustrated or get on some crazy ego trip.

And you know, I like the atheists vs. Christian stereotypes - you know, where atheists are more scientifically inclined and more knowledgeable and more rational and more intellectual? And like Christians are too emotional, too dependent on the unseen, the unmeasurable, the unbelievable? Because I think it keeps us in check. Both of us. 

If, as staunch atheists, you only hung out with other staunch atheists, I honestly don't see how you could enjoy life at all. Everything is so calculated or (paradoxically) so random. You think love is just a chemical reaction in the brain, and you think finding your spouse for life is up to chance and good luck. 

If, as staunch Christians, you only hung out with other staunch Christians, I also don't see how you could fully enjoy life or even attest to your own faith. Everything is so mystical or (paradoxically) so inevitable and meaningless (on this earth, i.e.). You think the loved ones in your life right now are only of this world - we're all going to be up in heaven anyway - and that suffering you're imposing upon yourself right now is for some greater good you don't fully understand.

Because I'm a Christian myself, I'm going to place more of the responsibility to bridge this gap on Christians. The more we attribute our beliefs to "just knowing" and less to really studying the Word and even attempting to find out about the historical/scientific backgrounds of the Bible, the less credible we'll seem to atheists. It's a given fact. Also, it's almost like saying that the stories in the Bible are truly only "stories."

In my experience with atheists, they just want to know the intellectual aspects of Christianity first. That's their main interest, the primary itch they must scratch first before they can move on to listening to the spiritual/emotional aspect. The reason we have to reach out to them first instead of vice-versa is because they just don't know this second aspect at all. We, as Christians, have the ability to know both, but very often we choose not to. It's like this: a professor can choose to study/learn and also teach because he/she is at a certain level of knowledge, but a student can only study/learn. We're the profess-ors, in this instance, just in case you didn't know. We need to want to profess our faith.

And you know what? Beyond the intellectual aspects and whatnot, the core of dispelling our message - God's message - is love. We lack that SO much when we encounter hard-hearted atheists who call us crazy, stupid, blind, etc. Seriously, I watched this vid on this other blog of this hardcore atheist recounting an experience he had with a Christian who handed him a book of Psalms, I think. He called him a very "sane" and "kind" man who genuinely just wanted to speak to him - and I think his hard heart may have been opened by at least a centimeter. We ourselves can get so hard-hearted and confrontational, calling them sinners and the poor, poor lost black sheep. But love: that's the kind of approach we need. 

Verse:

"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?" (Matthew 5:46-47)