Superstitious Atheists, Superficial Believers July 24, 2009
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Church Leadership, Evangelism, Religion in the U.S., Spiritual Trends.Tags: church, Religious Trends
6 comments
I read with some amusement the article in USA Today about “de-baptism” yesterday, and it raised for me the same question such stories always do: “What are atheists so afraid of?” In the past year, disgruntled and former believers have gathered in Ohio, Texas, Florida, and Georgia have gathered before a “priest” to have their baptism removed with a blow-dryer labeled “reason” (or some other cute gimmick). On the surface, this seems merely silly and immature (or fun-loving if you swing that way…), but at a deeper level some questions emerge:
- why is it necessary to participate in a symbolic ritual to prove you don’t believe in symbolic rituals?
- if baptism is irrelevant and meaningless, why take any steps to “remove” it? (it’s like saying we need to kill Santa Claus to prove he doesn’t exist…)
- what is the benefit of “debaptism” to the quality of life of the “debaptized”? (Yes, I realize many critics could ask the same question of the baptized and not receive a satisfactory answer…)
- why the defensiveness, sarcasm, and invective? Generally, people confident of their beliefs and mature in their behavior don’t feel the need to bully those with whom they disagree. If atheism is truly superior to the childish and irrational beliefs of the religious, shouldn’t unbelievers seek to take the high road? Many atheists, indignant with the “in-your-face” behavior of immature Christians respond in kind, feeling superior by calling Christians “doo doo heads” and “nut jobs.” Ultimately, immaturity is what both sides have in common, and it isn’t very pretty.
