Growing Out of Atheism, Dr. Mike Adams


Hey, man! It was great to spend time with you in Houston last weekend. It was a real honor to be the keynote speaker at the annual fund-raiser for Texas Right to Life. They are a real class act and I thought they put together one spectacular event. It was really something else to be able to speak in front of my parents, my First Grade teacher, and my oldest friend in the universe (I mean oldest friendship as I don’t mean to imply you’re old which would mean I’m old, too).

I must tell you, though, that our conversation after the banquet was the highlight of the whole trip. During the conversation I was most struck by three of your statements; namely, that you were learning to let go of your anger, that you were reading the Book of Luke, and that you’re now taking a Bible study class at the church your dad attended before his unexpected death. In other words, you’re doing what I did just a few years ago: You’re growing up and out of atheism and embarking on an important intellectual journey.

You gave some indication Friday night that you have some remorse about how your past anger has hurt other people and interfered with your relationships. You seemed most concerned about how your unresolved religious issues may have caused you to lash out at others – mostly with the women you’ve dated and even in your relationship with your current girlfriend. I have a few insights that I hope will help you feel a little better about this and will help you focus on doing the NRT. By that, I mean forgetting about the past and simply doing the Next Right Thing.

Any outbursts of anger you may have displayed during your prolonged battle with God probably pale in comparison with the ones I displayed during my days as a hardened and outspoken atheist. It didn’t help that during that time I badly abused alcohol and used drugs that were intended to fill a gap in my life caused by my rejection of God.

Regardless, I am still having to apologize to people I hurt during that period of my life. But I don’t dwell on it because I understand the origins of that anger. It’s all about separation from God. And once we have the courage to step away from atheism - or the intellectually weaker position of agnosticism - the anger just disappears. (Note that the agnostic is literally confessing, as I did for nine years, to be an “ignoramus” regarding the existence of God).

I think anger is one of the reasons people get trapped in atheism or agnosticism. The anger becomes so intense that they lose the ability to discuss religion with more intellectually centered believers. They often become so embittered that they won’t even read anything that challenges their views on theological matters.

I am now encountering that problem with an atheist professor at UNC-Wilmington. He has a pile of books on his desk by Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris, and other atheists who think like he thinks. He won’t attend lectures or read books I recommend that provide a different perspective. I have to approach the topic carefully in order to avoid stirring his fiery temper. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the most outspoken atheist I know has less control over his emotions than anyone I know.

But I think most former atheists and former agnostics also find that there is another emotion, which sort of disappears once a solid, intellectually based belief in God takes hold in their lives. That emotion is fear.

The man who used to be my most outspoken atheist colleague (he is now retired) provides a good example of what I’m talking about. His decision to adopt atheism had nothing to do with honest intellectual reflection. He simply had a horrible relationship with his father and he took it out on God. The consequence of this was a level of emotional insecurity that made him simply impossibly to deal with. He was constantly plagued by indecisiveness and anxiety.

Whenever I would get frustrated with him I would remember my days as an atheist and a bit of sympathy would set in. My life without God was an anxiety driven life. My life with God is a purpose driven life. It isn’t just a cliché.

Continued...

I thought at first that this was Mike Adams the "Health Ranger", but it isn't.

Why is this in the creationism/evolution forum and not the Bible forum?

Hi Russ T

Yes this does rather seem to be in the wrong place, what has this to do with Evolution/Creation.

This fallacy of the angry atheist is a very old one. The evidence simply does not support it. I’m not saying there aren’t angry atheists, I’m sure they are but, logically, if they are angry at god they are not an atheist are they? I could hardly be angry at santa claus because I don’t believe in him. I might be angry at people who try to push the idea of him on me, the over the top Christmas commercialism that is all too common these days but not at santa claus himself. Non existence is the perfect out clause.

Likewise with god, if he really did all the things the bible claims for him angry would be the only rational position IMHO but I don’t believe he exists and the stories in the bible that paint him in such a horrible light are just that, stories. I may not like the writings of many authors but I don’t get angry at the characters in the books they write. I don’t hate the Joker for example despite the rotten things he does because he’s a fictional character. Anger could reasonable be directed against the authors of some books for the way the portray women or blacks or so many other things they write that diminish us but not at the fictional characters they portray in their writings.

OK so we’ve dealt with the fallacy that an atheist could be angry with god while still being an atheist. Now let’s look at the ‘filling the void’ fallacy. This one is simpler and again I’m not saying that there aren’t some self proclaimed atheists who drink to fill the void left by god but I’ve never met or heard of one. As for the idea that atheists abuse their girlfriends again the evidence simply does not support that. The federal prison statistics, discussed here earlier, clearly show that by any reasonable measure atheist are more moral and far less likely to commit crimes than christians. Those statistics are repeated in other countries in their general prison population statistics. Atheists are far less likely to physically abuse people, to steal, to defraud etc. Given the divorce statistics for Atheists are also lower than for christians the idea that they are bad at relationships is also unsupported by the evidence. Again I’m not saying that there aren’t some atheists who rape, murder, abuse their girlfriends, drink and take drugs, I’m sure there are but then christians do all of those things too and the statistics suggest that it is a higher percentage of christians who do so than atheists. Does that not suggest that atheism is the ideal you christians should strive for, if good morals are your aim at least?

It’s an old story, you give god the credit for all the good things and blame the people involved personally for the bad. A higher percentage of christians commit crimes than atheists but when a christian commits a crime you blame them while with atheists you blame their rejection of god and you give god the credit for christians who are good people. An obvious question must be to whom do you give the credit when the vast majority of atheists, a higher percentage than christians, are good people who do not abuse drugs or their girl friends or perpetrate other unsocial acts?

This article is a very old story, it’s been false since it was first penned and it doesn’t matter how may articulate people pen an newer version of it under how many names it’s still rubbish.

Are you actually gullible enough to fall for this sort of propaganda Russ T?

In Reason

Russell

If you view the God of the Bible as angry, good, you're halfway there. Now, read the rest of the Book.

This is the continuing saga that I find with atheists. They pretend to know a lot and then speak as if they know all.

You completely missed the fact that being angry at someone can be a subconscious act. The fact that you missed this point is strong evidence that you are subject to the same.

I'm not saying this to be mean. I'm just doing the same thing that you seem to enjoy doing: Being a mirror.


I guess I'll just leave you with this.

When you are asked to put some kind of a tattoo on your hand that enables you to conduct commerce, remember this conversation.


"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
(Revelation 13:16-17)