Allegedly, The Ragamuffin Gospel author Brennan Manning once said, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
I’m coming up on the third anniversary of launching The God Conclusion Facebook page to call attention to the fact I wrote a book with the same name. My purpose of my book is to reach out to the people who read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and thought it was a great book. I thought The God Delusion was a very well written book, but practically every word in it was wrong. Thus, my primary targets audience for the book are atheists. However, I thought Christians interested in arguing with atheists about the existential questions might also appreciate the last third of the book, which presents scientific evidence explained in a logical manner and could prove useful in a debate.
I’ll never give up on looking for new readers. In fact, I will cheerfully give away a free PDF, Kindle, or audio copy to just about anybody who asks (audiobooks are available in the US and UK only.) One person once asked for a copy that he intended to use to wipe his buttocks after eliminating his bowel waste, and I had to point out that the print books are not given away free and what he wanted to do with my book was an not advisable use of an electronic device. Atheists can be quite childish at times, but the attacks from people who claim to be fellow Christians do occasionally bother me.
I’ve never given much thought to the idea of shutting down the Facebook page even though I’ve written other books (well, at least one other book) since The God Conclusion because the audience for the page has grown to almost 35,000 people, which is remarkable considering the fact Facebook throttled our exposure for about a year. It started as a promotional tool for my book, but the page has evolved (ironic word choice) into a ministry of sorts, and I am pleased by the result. I would not be leading two Bible studies in Pakistan if I hadn’t written the book and created the Facebook page.
If I ever do decide to throw in the towel before I take my final breath, a fellow Christian will almost certainly be the reason. I can take an extraordinary amount of abuse from atheists if necessary because it kind of goes with the territory. I am attacking their worldview with my book, and many feel threatened. I’ve been doing hand-to-hand combat in the trenches on almost a daily basis and I expect to get some hostility…after all, atheists hold to their personal beliefs just as fervently as a Christian might hold on to the Bible. When a Christian gets rude and obnoxious on Facebook, I usually feel blindsided. I get angry. And then I respond.
For example, yesterday I posted the following meme:
An atheist had posted it as a comment on the page to mock Christians, hoping to get a reaction, and it did. I copied it and shared it for all to read, with the comment, “I’ll admit it…sometimes the really infantile attempts to insult my intelligence do grate on my nerves after a while. This is just stupid. EVERYONE believes in magic in some form. Some of us simply refuse to believe there is a Magician.”
Perhaps not the ideal choice of words, but I was trying to make the point that creation of the universe and the creation of life are two miracles that atheists cannot deny occurred, and to believe they both happened without divine intervention is like believing in magic performed without a magician. Magic is an illusion created by a professional, but is never anything more than a fancy parlor trick. Your eyes deceive you into believing a rabbit materializes into a hat out of thin air, but it’s not real. When God created life out of inanimate matter, that’s very real.
A guy who claims to be Christian said, “Dumb as fuq..the Lord says very clearly to stay away from magic.” His message was abundantly clear, but his choice of language quite surprising. I mean, I can say some pretty horrible things from time to time, but that is when I am reacting to something, usually pain stimulus, such as hitting my thumb with a hammer. I didn’t mean to say it, but I did. Regrettable.
However, while this “Christian” may have had a point, his choice of words to communicate his displeasure with my post was not good. Since when do Christians throw F-bombs at other Christians, or non-Christians, for that matter? Aren’t we supposed to lead by example? Soon he announced he was no longer going to follow my page, to which I replied, “…sorry to see you go…I’m willing to offer you a free copy of my book as a parting gift but I suspect you’re one of those Christians who will only read one book, the Bible, and I simply cannot compete with that magnificent work. If you’re interested in the free book you’ll have to say something; otherwise your silence will speak for itself.”
I was trying to be cordial. I had been taken aback by his latent hostility and anger in response to my poor communication, and tried to remain hospitable because, after all, this other person claimed to be a Christian just like me. But this other “Christian” replied, “Wrong…I don’t let silence speak for me..now stfu and be a clown elsewhere.“
Wow! That was really unnecessary and rude. If this had been an atheist, I would have already blocked him from making further comment and deleted his most offensive remarks, not unlike how the disciples were to knock the dust off their sandals when leaving a hostile town. Make it into an unpleasant memory easily and quickly forgotten. Life is too short to be wasted on a futile effort.
On the one hand, I rarely allow an adversary to end an argument on their terms, so I kind of respected this person’s attitude but not the language. Because on the other hand, I know very well what “stfu” represents and that is certainly not something one sincere Christian should ever say to another, even in anger. Advising someone to tone it down or even to be quiet is one thing, and STFU is quite another.
So I decided this person should become an example for others about how NOT to behave.
As far as “be a clown elsewhere” is concerned, this is MY page. How dare this person tell me to leave? He had already promised to leave and not return, but wanted me to leave, too. Help me understand the logic of his demand–my suspicion is that emotion drove him to make an illogical statement, but my book is all about applying logic to evidence. I can’t make his comment make sense, no matter how hard I try. I confess that my language isn’t always about choosing the best or most appropriate words, especially in the heat of the moment, but I sort of take pride in the fact that I can manage to filter out the filth when I am taking the time to put my words into writing. Putting words into writing is a conscious act that requires time and effort. We can often “speak before we think” but it is virtually impossible to write before you think. Therefore, if you can’t think of something kinder, constructive, or more appropriate to say, perhaps it would be best if you remained silent.
The last thing you want to do is to go to a social media page run by an outspoken Christian and publicly insult him, because he’s always going to get the last word–if this other Christian tries to comment at this point, I can easily hide or delete his comment, just as he deleted his “be a clown elsewhere” remark after I promised to make an example of him. Do not poke the bear, especially when he’s already grumpy. I’m relatively sure that I could have chosen better words to communicate my thoughts when I posted the meme, but I’m VERY certain that the language the other person chose was inexcusable, especially since he was wearing his Christianity on his sleeve. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love. By our love.
Not by our vitriol, anger, and hate.
All of that said, we should all be willing to learn from our mistakes. My mistake was to compare a miracle from God to a magic trick. Miracles are not tricks, they are magnificent acts of compassion from our Creator that defy all logic and reason. I chose my words poorly, but I am human and can promise that will not be the last mistake I ever make. When I make a mistake and someone points it out, I will ask forgiveness and admit to my error. This other person’s mistake was to get snotty and overtly hostile because I might have made a simple mistake and used the wrong word. The Pharisees would have been quite proud of his attitude, in my opinion.
To err is human, to forgive divine — Alexander Pope wrote those words over 400 years ago, and they remain true today. I suppose I could mock this other Christian and humiliate him with some brilliant rhetoric that skewers him properly, but that would only make me guilty of being unkind and unloving in my response to him. And then no one might benefit from our example.
It’s time to turn the other cheek. To do what Jesus would do. If this person apologizes, I will welcome him back with open arms. If he doesn’t, I’ll still forgive him. But he won’t be commenting again.
This page is NOT about me. I don’t even think it’s about my book anymore. It’s about serving God, inspiring thought, and making other people laugh. That is my reason for existence.
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