Spiritual Faith and Religion

Air America has recently launched a new national radio program for atheists, agnostics and, other non-believers. The title for the show is Freethought Radio and is co-hosted by Dan Barker and his wife, Annie Laurie Gaylor. Barker is a former evangelical minister and Gaylor is co-chair of the atheist organization, Freedom of Religion Foundation. The show's objective is to reach an audience clamoring for freedom from a continuous religious diatribe. We shall see. According to recent polls, over 70% of those polled in America describe themselves as Christian. If those numbers are correct, this show does not have a large population base from which to draw an audience. The show hopes to "enlighten" individuals by proving that the founding fathers did not establish this country as a Christian nation and that "dangerous" theocratic control of our government is now a problem.

Oftentimes, atheists tend to lump spiritual faith and religion into a single category. They also seldom mention the world's other two major monotheistic faiths. Why do they not aggressively condemn Judaism and Islam? If atheists don't believe in God, then they should provide equality in their condemnation of religion and its believers. I've searched the Internet and could not find any atheistic arguments against Buddhism, Hinduism or any other religions. No, atheists primarily reserve their antagonistic energies for Christianity. This begs one to ask the question, why? Of course, each individual atheist would have to answer this question for him or herself.

According to atheists, religion has been a major force in the destruction of people and civilizations through warfare. On the surface, they seem to be correct in this assumption however; was it religion or the tendency of man to claim power over others which led to these cataclysmic conflicts? I argue that the weakness of man's spirituality led to warfare. Three of the world's most vicious leaders led their regimes to slaughter their opposition in the 20th century. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and, Mao-se-tung were all atheists. What role did religion play with these leaders as they led the destruction of their fellow man?

A primary weakness, in my view, with the atheistic argument is their assumption that spirituality or faith are by necessity commingled with religion. Spirituality and faith reside within oneself. Religion is a code of behavior for the individual and a set of standardized ceremonies for the group. Groups of people, whether religious or secular, require an organized set of rules governing behavior. Without this, anarchy ensues and the civilization begins to feed on itself until it is destroyed. Even Plato knew the importance of spirituality in human society. He wrote that a nation cannot be strong unless it believes in God. He felt that a living God could control the individual's desire for greed and self interest. He also felt that if the the individual believed in an afterlife, he would control his behavior in his present life and be better prepared to face his own mortality and the mortality of his loved owns.

The modern trend in secular America is to claim that the founding fathers democratic principles were not based on any type of Christian philosophy and that this nation is not a Christian nation. They are correct in stating that we are not a Christian nation, that is to say, we are not a theocracy. We are however, a nation founded on Christian principles. Our legal system is a modification of English common law which itself, is based on many of the tenets found within the Old and New Testaments. Governments control their behavior through common social principles and in our case, the founders drew from the religious principles that immigrated to our shores from Europe. Of course, we can assume that atheists colonized this land too however, what was their demographic presence within the total population? I will argue that their presence was at best peripheral. Thomas Paine is a modern symbol of anti-religious fervor. His letters attacking the Episcopal faith survive to this day. His overt attacks on religion destroyed his notoriety gained from penning the call for independence, "Common Sense". Why did he die in abject poverty, shunned by his fellow man? Apparently, contrary to what many modern day secularists would have you believe, there were quite a few believers who were uncomfortable with Paine's positions.

Many atheists declare that Benjamin Franklin was a non-believer. This is a falsehood. As with all mankind, Franklin struggled internally with his spirituality. He was a Deist and a non practicing Presbyterian. This passage from his autobiography proves that he believed in God: "I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian; and tho' some of the Dogmas of that Persuasion, such as the Eternal Decrees of God, Election, Reprobation, &c. appear'd to me unintelligible, others doubtful, I early absented myself from the Public Assemblies of the Sect, Sunday being my Studying-Day, I never was without some religious principles; I never doubted, for instance, the Existance of the Deity, that he made the World, and govern'd it by his Providence; that the most acceptable Service of God was the doing Good to man; that our Souls are immortal; and that all Crime will be punished and Virtue rewarded either here or hereafter; these I esteem'd the essentials of every Religion, and being to be found in all the Religions we had in our Country I respected them all, tho' with different degrees of Respect as I found them more or less mix'd with other Articles which without any Tendency to inspire, promote or confirm Morality, serv'd principally to divide us and make us unfriendly to one another." Clearly, Franklin had serious issues with religious organizations but he had no reservations with faith. This quote from his own pen clearly shows the discrepancy within the atheist argument. Religion and belief need not be bonded together. By the way, Franklin was a member of the First and Second Continental Congresses, the committee for the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, as well as, the debate, drafting and, ratification of our Constitution. His belief in Christian principles more than likely had an impact on events in the revolutionary period.

I could bore you with example after example of the commingling of Christian principle, French Enlightenment and, Greek democratic philosophies during the revolutionary period however, it would serve little purpose. All I ask is that you not believe me merely because of a single example. Look at the correspondence from the revolutionary period for yourself and while you are doing it, write down the number of times you find God referenced. Make sure you have a large pad of paper and a new pen at hand for you will need it.

I have no problem with this radio show nor the atheistic desire to have a voice in our society. It is their right as Americans. As a man of faith I do not fear their arguments nor do I judge them. All I ask is that they treat us Christians with the same respect that our Christian principles demand we accord them.

De Oppresso Liber