Hey all, Mike Clawson, the (woefully delinquent) Christian contributor here. (But I have a good excuse, honest. My doctoral program is seriously kicking my ass. 🙂 )
Anyhow, I stumbled upon this satirical blog post by Kim Fabricius over at the Faith and Theology blog, entitled “Twelve point guide for ripostes to militant atheists,” and thought that some of you might find it humorous (or at least provocative) as well. Obviously his purpose is not to raise serious conversation on any of these points, but simply to light-heartedly point out that many Christians (though sadly not all, or even most) are just as aware of the problems with their faith as atheists are (and also that not all Christians agree with the worst versions of their faith). That, to me, even as a Christian myself, is a hopeful thing, inasmuch as I would like all people to be as honest with themselves about both the strengths and weaknesses of their own belief systems.
Anyhow, here is his list. Enjoy! (Though feel free to rip it to shreds if you prefer that approach.)
—Your faith is unreasonable.
—Your reason is unreasonable – and you have such faith in your scepticism.
—So, you’ve had a religious experience?
—What’s that? And what’s it got to do with God?
—The Gospels contain inconsistencies A, B, and C.
—You forgot X, Y, and Z.
—Darwin made the argument from design completely untenable.
—Er, Hume beat him to it.
—Creationists are morons.
—That smart?
—Theodicies are invariably unconvincing.
—Worse than that, they are inherently evil.
—Prayer plainly doesn’t work.
—Thank God!
—Religion is the opium of the people; it’s a crutch.
—Yeah, but science and technology are the crack cocaine; and you don’t limp?
—Who can believe in a God who sends his Son to die to appease his anger?
—Only the seriously disturbed.
—Religion is inherently violent.
—You mean violence is inherently religious.
—Give me one good reason to believe in the existence of God.
—The existence of atheists: the protest kind because they take God seriously, the petulant kind because God doesn’t take them seriously at all. Oh, and more conclusively: cats and baseball.
—You’re a fucking fool!
—Alas, you’re half right.