The atheist is crippled by an intellectual insecurity. He must strive continually to convince others - and even himself - that God does not exist. But he is always haunted by the fear that he has not really banished the presence or power of the Divine Other. This canker of insecurity, which gnaws at his heart unceasingly, manifests itself in the incessant need to propagandize against belief in God.
For example Richard Dawkins, an atheist who authored "The God Delusion," devotes much if not most of his time attempting to convince others that belief in God is even dangerous (see here). This charge is most ironic since, as Fr. Vincent Miceli, S.J., reminds us, "When man becomes his own absolute center, then God becomes his hell, because God sets limits to man's greatness. But once having attained autoerotic sovereignty, a monstrous metamorphosis takes place in atheist man. He begins to feed on his fellow men, for they now are his hell, threatening to rob him of his freedom. When God is rejected because he is seen as man's hell, then man, whom God loves, suffers the same fate and for the same reason. There is a frightening resemblance between the atheist humanist as a cell of society and a malignantly cancerous cell in the human body. Both cells have thrown off any service of subordination to the health of the communities in which they thrive. They act and grow according to their own uncontrolled ravenous appetites feeding parasitically on the whole organism. As runaway cells they invade and destroy every healthy cell in the body until they extinguish life and speed to completion the total disintegration of the unity of the body. Atheistic humanism is a psychic cancer. It shares two major characteristics with physical cancer. Both these human cancers arise from the arbitrary rebellion of a subordinate cell against the established social harmony of the whole. Secondly, both these cancerous rebellions are metastatic and messianic in their aggression to the death against organism and community." (The Gods of Atheism, pp. 463-464).
Gilbert Keith Chesterton reminded us that when man denies God he does not believe in nothing. Rather he will believe in anything. Moreover, he will not do nothing but as a fanatic he will do anything:
"There are men who will ruin themselves and ruin their civilization if they may ruin also this old fantastic tale. This is the last and most astounding fact about this faith; that its enemies will use any weapon against it, the sword that cuts their own fingers, and the firebrands that burn their own homes...He [the atheist fanatic who is crippled by his own insecurity] sacrifices the very existence of humanity to the non-existence of God. He offers his victims not to the altar, but merely to assert the idleness of the altar and the emptiness of the throne. He is ready to ruin even that primary ethic by which all things live, for his strange and eternal vengeance upon some one who never lived at all." (Orthodoxy, pp. 238-239).
Atheistic fanatics have a long history of unmatched violence. Today, fanatical rhetoric from atheist fanatics has resulted in actual violence against the Church as well as calls for such violence. See here.
God is not the delusion. The myth of the atheistic humanist who truly values reason is the real delusion.
10 comments:
Amazing how ideology and fanaticism can blind one to historical facts. Dawkins ignores or tries to dismiss the unparalleled crimes committed by Atheistic Humanism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Book_of_Communism
Read the death-toll under atheistic regimes. Dawkins silence in the face of such genocide is perverse.
So well said Paul, again you state very concisely the truth.
The same evil behind the hatred of atheism for all that is Holy is the same evil behind militant homosexuals who in thier own misery seek to destroy the sanctity of matrimony, the same evil that seek women "priests" seek to destroy the holy priesthood, it goes on and on...
The same evil who is Legion who prowls about the world seeking to destroy all he can as the time is short!
You have to pity Dawkins. He's written countless articles and even an entire book trying to disprove that which he claims not to believe in the first place. His website is largely dedicated to such articles.
Constantly trying to disprove the God he says doesn't exist. How miserable he must really be deep down.
Militant atheists are fond of reminding us that there have been people who committed acts of violence "in the name of religion." And of course this is true. But the Church always condemned such abuses in her teaching. But far more violence has been committed under the banner of atheism. As historian Paul Johnson put it, "Certainly, mankind without Christianity conjures up a dismal prospect. The record of mankind with Christianity is daunting enough....The dynamism it has unleashed has brought masacre and torture, intolerance and destructive pride on a huge scale, for there is a cruel and pitiless nature in man which is sometimes impervious to Christian restraints and encouragements. But without these restraints, bereft of these encouragements, how much more horrific the history of these last 2,000 years must have been!....In the last generation, with public Christianity in headlong retreat, we have caught our first, distant view of a de-Christianized world, and it is not encouraging." (A History of Christianity, p. 517).
Yes, there have been men who were "impervious to Christian restraints." But the Church may not be held responsible for this. Christianity is not the failure here. Rather those who failed to live up to the demands of the Gospel are to blame. But to the extent that such men committed acts of violence "in the name of religion," may we not justly conclude that such men were really atheists?
Atheism can be either speculative or practical. The practical atheist is one whose words and actions suggest that he does not really believe in God or following His holy will.
But nothing can match the barbaric record of violence under atheistic humanism. Which is what Mr. Johnson means when he writes, "In the last generation, with public Christianity in headlong retreat, we have caught our first, distant view of a de-Christianized world, and it is not encouraging.."
Hate-filled homosexual activists in Massachusetts are attempting to silence parents who oppose their sick agenda. Go here for details:
http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/10b/day_of_silence/emails.html
Sanctus Belle is right.."The same evil behind the hatred of atheism for all that is Holy is the same evil behind militant homosexuals who in their own misery seek to destroy the sanctity of matrimony.."
This hate movement wants to impose its perversity on all of us and our innocent children. And when they don't get their way they explode in rage, hatred and violence.
Wow, a religionist who claims to know with absolute certainty the mind of the atheist. How original ...
Following the argument of the first paragraph to its logical conclusion (and I must cite the first paragraph, since it's the only original thought in the entire post), the a-dragonist, that souless, pitiable, pathetic being who cannot seem to muster belief in dragons - also must suffer from intellectual insecurity, having to constantly convince himself, and others, that dragons really, truly, honestly don't exist. Furthermore, the fairy denier, the unicorn rationalist, and the leprechaun skeptic all, too, must wallow in miserable torment. Poor, sad, miserable creatures, one and all.
Tell ya what: You stop trying to understand the mind of the atheist, and I'll stop posting sarcastic comments to your inanity. Deal?
Ron writes, "Following the argument of the first paragraph to its logical conclusion...the a-dragonist, that souless, pitiable, pathetic being who cannot seem to muster belief in dragons - also must suffer from intellectual insecurity, having to constantly convince himself, and others, that dragons really, truly, honestly don't exist. Furthermore, the fairy denier, the unicorn rationalist, and the leprechaun skeptic all, too, must wallow in miserable torment. Poor, sad, miserable creatures, one and all."
But this only proves my point. The "a-dragonist," the "fairy denier," the "unicorn rationalist" and the "leprechaun skeptic" do not devote much and even most of their waking hours denying the dragon, the fairy, the unicorn and the leprechaun and attempting to convince others to do the same.
But the atheist is never fully convinced that he has banished God. And this fact will always weigh very heavily upon him. Which is why Ron posted his comment here. My post was so "inane," so lacking in substance, that he felt compelled to come here and refute it.
But why? Surely that which is inane refutes itself. Thank you Ron for illustrating my point so beautifully.
But I wouldn't waste too much time here. There's precious little time left to try to convince yourself that God does not really exist.
Go fuck yourself. Does that come off intellectually insecure?
I don't ordinarily post hateful comments like the one from anonymous. But this comment only serves to highlight my point. The question is its own answer.
Hmm, you seem to have struck a nerve pretty hard with anon, who is so insecure he can't even show his name and picture. He's upset and angry because you described his problem perfectly.
Truly, you should thank him just for being one shining example here!
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