Image via Wikipedia
It should come as no surprise, when theists and atheists enter conversation, there is mutual incomprehension. I view the world from a theistic perspective. It would make little sense to call myself a theist if I did not. The first problem I encounter in conversation with atheists is their expectation I will respond to questions the way they want me to. This led me into certain difficulties.
The main difficulty I encountered in my recent conversation, was projection. These atheists appeared to have a particular image of God. This was projected onto me and other Christians, theists and religious people. This atheist God is violent, favours the powerful and deludes people. In short, the opposite of my own experience.
When I pointed this out, I was told to stop messing about. They're atheists remember. They have no image of God by definition. As the conversation progressed it felt as if we swopped places. I was arguing all images of God are false. They were trying to show me my view of God was flawed on the grounds that if all images of God are false, it is impossible to say anything of God. (It didn't stop them!)
I have written at some length about idolatry and projection is an excellent example of its power. Most religious mystics are true atheists. They reject all images of God.
Take for example, the use of the word 'probably'. I pointed out this doesn't sound very atheistic. Apparently, the idea is that in the atheist universe God could in theory be proved. So, it is scientifically accurate to put probably on the front of the sentence, 'God does not exist'. What this shows of course is a massive mistake of logical typing. It assumes that God is something that can be proven through scientific methodology. This places God in a place that makes God an idol.
Now consider the content of their image. What we have is a group of people who cannot imagine a God who loves people. This negative image is the only image they have. Thank goodness they don't believe in it.
Up to a point it is good they claim not to but I think we need to take care here. What they are doing is projecting their false God onto religious people, much as George W Bush projected his demons onto Muslims. This is dangerous because I suspect some atheists believe religious people are evil, because of their perceived god of religious people.
Paradoxically, therefore our problem is not their atheism but their theism. To be a proper atheist, requires the same spiritual preparation as it would to speak of God from a theistic perspective. This is why Christians can find common cause with Buddhists, for example, despite their atheism. Their atheism has more in common with our theism than it has with modern atheism.
I will explore this in more depth later.
Comments