Some words just don’t seem to go together.
For example, there’s honest politician. Another phrase that seems somewhat oxymoronic is lucky loser. And then there’s Christian atheist.
Seriously?
How can anyone be an atheist and a Christian? The contradiction of the two terms seems painfully obvious. The short answer is, you can’t.
This isn’t another way of describing Christian apostasy — apostates tend to be activists, relentless and very aggressive with their attacks on Christianity. Many Christian apostates not only reject the tenets of their former faith, they seek to eradicate belief in weak Christians.
Wikipedia defined a Christian atheist as someone who rejects belief in any sort of a supernatural God, but tries to emulate the moral example of Jesus.
I must admit that I’ve never encountered a Christian atheist before — in fact, the only person that might have fit the description of one was Mahatma Gandhi, and he was murdered years before I was born.
Maybe it’s just me, but it doesn’t seem to make any sense to reject that Jesus was the Christ, yet make him your primary role model.
Let’s face facts — Jesus wasn’t real big on having fun, was he?
Think about it…if atheism really is true, and Darwin’s theory about how life randomly descended into modern animals without rhyme or reason, then the only sensible rule for society should truly be survival of the fittest.
Every man for himself and woman for herself, and get all you can while you can. After all, you’re going to die soon enough, and there goes your chance to lie, cheat, steal, commit adultery, or whatever your pleasure. If it feels good do it, right? What’s stopping you?
I know what’s stopping me from behaving like a drunken frat boy on spring break. I know why I don’t sleep with my neighbor’s wife — or my sister, for that matter.
I know it’s wrong. But how do I know?
Objective morality, which can only come from God. When we deny God as the source of objective morality, we may find ourselves getting quite confused about the difference between right or wrong.
For example, one allegedly very intelligent atheist found himself equivocating about whether or not incest might be wrong in every example, That shouldn’t be a difficult question for anyone to answer, to be brutally honest.
Is cannibalism wrong? Is anything wrong? As the internet joke (sort of) goes,
Let’s eat Grandma! Or should I say: Let’s eat, Grandma!
(Christian) Writers truly understand the importance of proper punctuation.
The truthful atheist either says that morality is relative or doesn’t exist. Morality as such varies as each of us defines it, because the atheist has rejected the only possible source of objective morality.
The “honest” atheist cannot say rape, incest, adultery, or even pedophilia is always wrong, because to do so, they must claim the authority of God for themselves. They can only assert that they personally believe such vile behavior would always be wrong without giving a reason why — especially if, as in the case of adultery, the act is no longer illegal.
The obvious benefit of being an atheist that you should be able to do anything you want, whenever you want. Want your neighbor’s wife? If he isn’t home, who’s to say it’s wrong to sleep with her? For that matter, why not have sex with your neighbor’s sheep, too?
So if you’re an atheist who acts like a Christian but rejects the divinity of Christ, in my never-humble-enough opinion, you’re doing it wrong. You should be able to justify doing anything that feels good.
You’re paying the cost of being a Christian without receiving the benefits. No offense, but why go through the motions? So you can feel morally superior to your fellow human being for the duration of your short, miserable life? We’re all going to die. The only question is about the timing.
You can either be a Christian, or an atheist. If you don’t believe in Jesus, why go through the motions? To make the “real” Christian more aware of his or her shortcomings?
Trust me. I don’t need to be reminded how badly I’ve failed with Jesus as my primary role model.
In my opinion, you’re wasting valuable time trying to be both a Christian and an atheist. The payoff isn’t simply worth it. There is no one good but The One God.
If you’re going to be miserable for eternity, you might as well enjoy this life with all the gusto you can muster. I also believe in hell, and from what I’ve heard and read about the place, it isn’t someplace that I intend to visit.
I am a Christian. No additional qualifiers are necessary.
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