J. Matt Barber
Atheist humbugs
By J. Matt Barber
It's Christmas Eve day. As you stand before the bubbled display case, you gaze, mouth watering, upon the vibrant collection of baked delicacies. You covet the sugar-varnished delights. You admire the skill and creativity behind each work of culinary art, carefully prepared to please both eye and palate.
"What a gifted baker," you say under your breath.
"There is no baker," declares the young man in line behind you. "That carrot cake is simply the undirected, material manifestation of random events occurring over time. Mere chance."
That's atheism. Everything from nothing. Zero times zero equals the whole shebang.
To deny reality of the Creator — to disbelieve — requires willful suspension of disbelief in the face of proof beyond reasonable doubt. To be a "free thinker" demands captivity, without due process, of both thought and reason.
Things baked have a baker.
Things made have a Maker.
Romans 1:20 observes: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."
Yet most atheists squander their lives — both temporal and eternal — faithfully excusing the Divine nature behind that which has been made (including themselves). They deny seeing what is both clearly seen and understood.
Thus, they miss the boat — they fail to realize the whole purpose for which they were both created and called. It's not just "The emperor wears no clothes"; it's "There is no emperor."
And then they croak.
Their next words, I suspect, include something along the lines of "oops" — or, perhaps, some other, more colorful variant.
Still, I don't have a problem with run of the mill atheists. Scripture admonishes: "The fool has said in his heart 'there is no God.'" As a wise and learned philosopher once said: "I pity the fool."
God-deniers merit both pity and prayer. I hope beyond hope that they all come to knowledge and acceptance of Christ Jesus — the very image of God.
Still, every year, especially around Christmas time, religious zealots — men of the cloth within the cult of atheism — come out of the woodwork to remind us that they are driven not as much by disbelief in God, as they are by childish hostility toward Him.
Our lost-souled friends over at the attention-starved "American Atheists," for instance, recently commissioned a huge sign in New York's Time Square to mock both Christians and Christianity. Below an image of Santa Claus, the advert portrays the crucified Jesus: "Keep the Merry! Dump the Myth!" it quips.
And just in time for Christmas.
"Most Christians are really atheists who feel trapped in their family's religion," divined an evidently omnipotent David Silverman, the impertinent sect's high priest.
Meanwhile, in Missoula, Mont., Liberty Counsel has offered pro-bono legal advice to Missoula County Public Schools after atheist parents threatened to sue the school district for allowing students to sing sacred Christmas carols.
In keeping with secular-"progressives'" propagandist anti-bullying meme, the parents, who declined to be identified, reportedly told the school district that singing Christmas carols referencing Christ or the first Christmas is "bullying." So, to stop it, they're trying to bully everyone else into silence.
Makes sense.
"Comparing singing Christmas carols to bullying is disingenuous, devious and dumb," said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. "I hope that the school district does not bow to the manipulation and fear tactics. Every court challenge to the use of sacred music or Christmas carols in the public school has been unsuccessful," he noted.
"The only time atheists are successful is when school districts cave. That is why Liberty Counsel is pro-active in supporting these schools and protecting Christmas and students' First Amendment rights," Staver said.
To be sure, many secular-"progressives," particularly members of groups like American Atheists, the ACLU, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the poor dupes they lead astray, couldn't give two flips about the First Amendment and bullying.
They're about the business of religious cleansing. That is to say, theirs is a mission to rid the world of religious expression — Christian religious expression more precisely — in any public forum. Period.
They seek to both revise history and re-create an America in their own secular-humanist self-image. If left unchecked, they'll do just that. It's tyranny of the rather obnoxious, self-deluded minority; but its tyranny just the same.
Still, what's delightful to me is that, over the past 2,000 years, every effort to persecute and silence the Christian church has served only to help spread the good news of the Gospel.
Funny thing, truth. It's like a buoy pulled beneath the lake's surface and fixed tight with rope. With time, and against the tide of Christ's love, that rope — the lie of atheism — eventually rots. It snaps under its own weakness, hurling the buoy from cold darkness to warm sunlight.
Jesus offers the world the exclusive path to eternal life and salvation. He is that warm light. He gives us all an unambiguous choice: "I am the way and the truth and the life," He promises. "No one comes to the Father except through me."
Not through the Buddha. Not through Muhammad. Not through Ganesh. Not through L. Ron Hubbard. And most certainly, not through atheism.
Salvation comes through Christ alone.
Not to be outdone, however, the god of atheism also offers the world a choice. He never says it outright, but it's what he offers nonetheless. He is the end, the lie and the death. No one comes to the Father through him.
As the world celebrates the birth of our Savior, the incarnation of God in man, Christ Jesus, I pray that you will consider your choices wisely.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23)
Atheism offers death alone.
The gift of life is free.
That's what Christmas is about. That's why Christ was born.
© J. Matt Barber
December 24, 2012
It's Christmas Eve day. As you stand before the bubbled display case, you gaze, mouth watering, upon the vibrant collection of baked delicacies. You covet the sugar-varnished delights. You admire the skill and creativity behind each work of culinary art, carefully prepared to please both eye and palate.
"What a gifted baker," you say under your breath.
"There is no baker," declares the young man in line behind you. "That carrot cake is simply the undirected, material manifestation of random events occurring over time. Mere chance."
That's atheism. Everything from nothing. Zero times zero equals the whole shebang.
To deny reality of the Creator — to disbelieve — requires willful suspension of disbelief in the face of proof beyond reasonable doubt. To be a "free thinker" demands captivity, without due process, of both thought and reason.
Things baked have a baker.
Things made have a Maker.
Romans 1:20 observes: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."
Yet most atheists squander their lives — both temporal and eternal — faithfully excusing the Divine nature behind that which has been made (including themselves). They deny seeing what is both clearly seen and understood.
Thus, they miss the boat — they fail to realize the whole purpose for which they were both created and called. It's not just "The emperor wears no clothes"; it's "There is no emperor."
And then they croak.
Their next words, I suspect, include something along the lines of "oops" — or, perhaps, some other, more colorful variant.
Still, I don't have a problem with run of the mill atheists. Scripture admonishes: "The fool has said in his heart 'there is no God.'" As a wise and learned philosopher once said: "I pity the fool."
God-deniers merit both pity and prayer. I hope beyond hope that they all come to knowledge and acceptance of Christ Jesus — the very image of God.
Still, every year, especially around Christmas time, religious zealots — men of the cloth within the cult of atheism — come out of the woodwork to remind us that they are driven not as much by disbelief in God, as they are by childish hostility toward Him.
Our lost-souled friends over at the attention-starved "American Atheists," for instance, recently commissioned a huge sign in New York's Time Square to mock both Christians and Christianity. Below an image of Santa Claus, the advert portrays the crucified Jesus: "Keep the Merry! Dump the Myth!" it quips.
And just in time for Christmas.
"Most Christians are really atheists who feel trapped in their family's religion," divined an evidently omnipotent David Silverman, the impertinent sect's high priest.
Meanwhile, in Missoula, Mont., Liberty Counsel has offered pro-bono legal advice to Missoula County Public Schools after atheist parents threatened to sue the school district for allowing students to sing sacred Christmas carols.
In keeping with secular-"progressives'" propagandist anti-bullying meme, the parents, who declined to be identified, reportedly told the school district that singing Christmas carols referencing Christ or the first Christmas is "bullying." So, to stop it, they're trying to bully everyone else into silence.
Makes sense.
"Comparing singing Christmas carols to bullying is disingenuous, devious and dumb," said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. "I hope that the school district does not bow to the manipulation and fear tactics. Every court challenge to the use of sacred music or Christmas carols in the public school has been unsuccessful," he noted.
"The only time atheists are successful is when school districts cave. That is why Liberty Counsel is pro-active in supporting these schools and protecting Christmas and students' First Amendment rights," Staver said.
To be sure, many secular-"progressives," particularly members of groups like American Atheists, the ACLU, the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the poor dupes they lead astray, couldn't give two flips about the First Amendment and bullying.
They're about the business of religious cleansing. That is to say, theirs is a mission to rid the world of religious expression — Christian religious expression more precisely — in any public forum. Period.
They seek to both revise history and re-create an America in their own secular-humanist self-image. If left unchecked, they'll do just that. It's tyranny of the rather obnoxious, self-deluded minority; but its tyranny just the same.
Still, what's delightful to me is that, over the past 2,000 years, every effort to persecute and silence the Christian church has served only to help spread the good news of the Gospel.
Funny thing, truth. It's like a buoy pulled beneath the lake's surface and fixed tight with rope. With time, and against the tide of Christ's love, that rope — the lie of atheism — eventually rots. It snaps under its own weakness, hurling the buoy from cold darkness to warm sunlight.
Jesus offers the world the exclusive path to eternal life and salvation. He is that warm light. He gives us all an unambiguous choice: "I am the way and the truth and the life," He promises. "No one comes to the Father except through me."
Not through the Buddha. Not through Muhammad. Not through Ganesh. Not through L. Ron Hubbard. And most certainly, not through atheism.
Salvation comes through Christ alone.
Not to be outdone, however, the god of atheism also offers the world a choice. He never says it outright, but it's what he offers nonetheless. He is the end, the lie and the death. No one comes to the Father through him.
As the world celebrates the birth of our Savior, the incarnation of God in man, Christ Jesus, I pray that you will consider your choices wisely.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23)
Atheism offers death alone.
The gift of life is free.
That's what Christmas is about. That's why Christ was born.
© J. Matt Barber
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
