And Christianity.
1. That atheists may be more tolerant toward abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage, sexual promiscuity, euthanasia, and the use of drugs than Christians does not necessarily mean they are more tolerant. In general atheists are usually intolerant of school prayer, the teaching of Intelligent Design, the courthouse display of the Ten Commandments, “under God” in the pledge of allegiance, and “In God We Trust” on coins. Ironically, in a country which allows freedom of religion, including atheism, there are atheists who wish to rid the U.S. of religion all together. Somehow that does not seem like tolerance.
2. Christianity has indeed been criticized for intolerance, for believing it is the only true religion. But the fact is that all religions believe they are the only true religion. And likewise atheists believe their beliefs are the one true belief.
3. Some people say all religions are true. It doesn’t matter what you believe. But the truth is that all religions contradict each other in some ways. A friend of mine told me it doesn’t matter if you’re a Buddhist. Buddhists could go to heaven, too. However, Buddhists don’t believe in an afterlife or God. Christianity believes in a triune God and that Jesus was the son of God. This makes it different from every other religion, including Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism, all of which believe, to some extent, that the Bible is the Word of God. Hinduism sees Jesus as a God-man (like Buddha), but also has several other gods as avatars of Krishna. And whereas Christianity sees good works as a natural outgrowth of one’s salvation through grace and belief in Jesus Christ, the other religions say one has to do good works to achieve salvation (and even then you might not be “good enough”). Even within religions there are clashes: Catholics vs. Protestants (and the different Catholic Orthodoxies as well as the many Protestant denominations); Sunnis vs. Shiites (often at war with each other); and even Theravada Buddhists and Mahayana Buddhists are virtually the opposite of each other. So tolerance of all religions because they are equal is virtual nonsense. Maybe they are all equally false, in which case atheism may be true. But what if one of the religions is indeed the “true” religion, the path to “salvation” and eternal life—a claim that atheism can’t make?
4. Christianity is seen as intolerant because some Christians are anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-evolution. Sometimes Christians are seen to be acting as “holier than thou” judgmental people. In my life, I have been active in a variety of Christian denominations, both mainstream and “evangelical” and now go about twice a month also to Catholic Mass. My experience is that these are caring, considerate, intelligent people, often with good senses of humor. Many are involved in various types of volunteer work, and they give money not only to their churches but to other charitable causes. When they get together in Sunday school or small discussion groups, they rarely talk about homosexuality, abortion, or evolution. Rather the discussion is often how we fall short of the Bible and Jesus’ standards, how, instead of pushing our message into society, we fail to share it; we fail to witness to what it has meant in our lives. And the Bible, of course, has little to say on those hot political topics except Jesus’ “Judge not, lest you be judged.”
5. Tolerance is a good thing if it means accepting people’s cultural and lifestyle differences. However, it also tends to mean accepting too easily what the Bible refers to as “sin.” In fact, it has become politically incorrect these days to speak of sin. Dr. Karl Menninger in his book Whatever Became of Sin? (1988) says that, in effect, the Seven Deadly Sins have become the seven deadly virtues (yes, deadly).
6. For example, Pride is supposed to be the worst of the sins, but now we worry that children will lack self-esteem. We tell them they can be anything they want to be. We give participation trophies in sports so no child will seem inferior. We take pride in being “Number One,” we take pride in our accomplishments, we’re told to be proud of ourselves, we have bumper stickers noting our honor students. July 4 even is a special day for taking pride in our country. Are any of these things bad? We think not. Pride, the worst of the deadly sins, has become a national virtue.
7. What about Gluttony? We are a nation of many obese people. We can super size our fast food. Restaurants serve large portions. We drink a lot of alcohol. We even have a national holiday, Thanksgiving, devoted to over eating. And New Year’s Eve is set aside for excessive drinking.
8. Sloth? TV and i-phones have made us into a nation of couch potatoes. Kids play video games instead of outdoor play. Even Labor Day, ironically, is set aside as a day to do no work. And many people are just apathetic toward politics—except those who are angry.
9. Wrath is also one of the deadly sins. “Righteous” indignation fills the internet and media. Any mistake or ill-advised off-the-cuff remark gets responses of hate and even death threats from people who are complete strangers (and anonymous) to the offender. Shootings abound in the news because of anger over some of the slightest offenses or racism or political viewpoints. Violence and revenge permeates all the media. Memorial Day in a way celebrates the anger we felt toward other countries in the past.
10. Lust is everywhere—on TV, in movies, in magazines, on the internet. Pornography is easily obtained. Movies glamorize and promote sexual promiscuity. It used to be the “fast girl” who had sex who was ostracized. Now it is the girl who is a virgin who is looked on as odd. Is it any wonder, Muslims see us as decadent? Valentine’s Day, however, at least promotes love rather than sex (except in some of the Valentine’s Day cards you can buy).
11. Envy, a deadly sin and against the 10th commandment (covetousness), is promoted by virtually every TV ad. People try to “keep up with the Joneses” in their possessions. People who can afford it try to send their kids to the best schools, and we often feel slighted if someone seems to be doing better than we are. Well, at least Halloween can give us a chance to dress up as someone other than ourselves.
12. Envy leads naturally to Greed (or Avarice), another deadly sin. Everyone wants more, even rich people. Our two car garages have no room for our three cars because of all the stuff stored in them, stuff whose only purpose is to fill our garages until we have a garage sale so we can go to other garage or yard sales and buy more stuff. Exorbitant salaries are given to athletes, movie stars, pop singers, and CEO’s. Politicians have to be wealthy in order to run, and their election usually makes them richer. We shop, we buy, we get into debt. Even Christmas has lost its original meaning for many people and is merely an excuse for greed.
13. No, I am not saying we should do away with our national holidays. I enjoy them myself, and I have exaggerated their “sinful” nature. I’m emphasizing how much what Christianity calls Original Sin is a part of our daily lives. (Someone has said that Original Sin is the easiest Christian doctrine to prove).
The societal attitude of political correctness and tolerance paradoxically allows sexual promiscuity but not sexual harassment; it allows alcohol abuse but not drug abuse; it allows racist practices but not racist words. And part of Original Sin is human nature’s tendency to be intolerant of others, so no matter how much tolerance is preached, people will be tolerant toward some things and people and intolerant toward others. Atheists are no exception.
14. As a Christian I don’t feel I can impose my religious beliefs on a secular
society. In the past, theocracies have fallen prey to the “power corrupts” adage. I may believe Christians should not have abortions, but I can’t say (except as a citizen) that the country should make abortions illegal. I can understand the need for abortion and gay marriage in a secular society. In a Christian society I’d hope there would not be the promiscuity leading to abortions and that gay people would remain celibate (though I know there are gay Christians who do not feel that way, nor did Jesus say anything about that). But until Jesus comes again, the Christian church will always be, in a sense, underground, thank God
15. If atheists are truly to be tolerant, they must be tolerant of religious beliefs.
Live and let live.
(from Mike H.) Hmm. Atheists living out the 'Live and Let Live' idea. Well. Hmm. Maybe (?).
I've been proselytized by atheists. And, boy do they have faith.