Ridicule as the weapon of choice

Scot McKnight shares a post by a friend of his who was distressed by how well atheists do in debates.

A key paragraph:

Bill Maher, Christopher Hitchens, Penn Jillette, Richard Dawkins, etc, specialize—not in philosophical thought—but in ridicule. And that means the new atheists excel on the only evangelistically-effective playing field that matters—that of human emotion and desire. Most Christian apologists conversely seem content to surrender that ground in their preference for mere rationality. This is a tragic mistake and it’s the primary reason Christian belief is diminishing, marginalized and an easy target for nighttime comedians.

The post reminded me of something Allan Bevere posted earlier in the week that quoted Thomas Jefferson saying the only proper response to the doctrine of the Trinity is ridicule.

I am reminded of the drunk rowdies who used to show up where John Wesley preached.

And I am reminded of the mocking Jesus endured at the hands of the Roman soldiers.

Ridicule is the primary tool of those who want to assail belief. It appears it always has been. The only response I know of is that offered by our Lord on the Sermon on the Mount: poverty of spirit, meekness, humility, peaceableness, love. If we live as Christ calls us to live, we can survive people being snarky.

Faint praise for religion

The Wall Street Journal has a article by an atheist who praises the form of religion but takes away its power.

His praise is for all the exterior things that religion does.

Everyone stands to learn something from the ways in which religion delivers sermons, promotes morality, engenders a spirit of community, inspires travel, trains minds and encourages gratitude at the beauty of life. In a world beset by fundamentalists of both the believing and the secular variety, it must be possible to balance a rejection of religious faith with a selective reverence for religious rituals and concepts.

Religion serves two central needs that secular society has not been able to meet with any particular skill: first, the need to live together in harmonious communities, despite our deeply-rooted selfish and violent impulses; second, the need to cope with the pain that arises from professional failure, troubled relationships, the death of loved ones and our own decay and demise.

In substance, his praise is not all that different from the criticism of atheists who attack religion. It confuses in the same way the outer shell of faith for the inner heart of it.

Lord help us if our faith does nothing more than promote morality, encourage travel, and make us grateful for beauty.