'Atheism:
The Case Against God'
And Integrity
Jeremiah Hodge
From: "Jeremy O. Wright"
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Subject: PA-via_Positive_Atheism_Index
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 6:26 PM
Positive Atheism:
I am an explicit, agnostic atheist. I have little contempt and much love for Christians. I'd like to say to every Christian in the world that somebody with a bible in his pocket has clouded everything you see.
I would like to suggest a book to your website's audience: Atheism: The Case Against God. The book's author is George H. Smith, who copyrighted his work in 1979. The 326 pages within it are of a philosophical and scholastic nature but make for an entertaining read. No thinking theist will be capable of undertaking this book and then intellectually holding fast to his fondness for God.
The most revealing ideas in this work are found in the analyses of reason vs. faith, ethics, and Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Commitment to Christianity requires no thought, only emotion. If Atheism: The Case Against God fails to imbue its theistic readers with troubling doubt, then rest assured that it is because those readers are not reasonable but emotional; they believe only because they want to believe, not because they have thoughtfully concluded that Christianity is helpful and that God is there. Human beings have a knack for being easily influenced. It follows that most of us are easily influenced because most of us are human. I use my intellect to live my life from day to day. Thus, I find it amazing that people will ignore their knowledge and put stock in such things as God's existence and Jesus' love. When prospective Christians are proselytized, they are told that Christianity's foremost characteristic is love. Wrong. Christianity's most distinctive characteristic is not love -- it is guilt. If you are Christian, read George H. Smith's book and you might see this. Who knows? The day may even come when you reflect upon your Christian days and laugh at your former, foolish ways.
"It
is my firm conviction that man has nothing to gain, emotionally or otherwise,
by adhering to a falsehood, regardless of how comfortable or sacred that
falsehood may appear." "I should
wish to see a world in which education aimed at mental freedom rather than
at imprisoning the minds of the young in a rigid armor of dogma calculated
to protect them through life against the shafts of impartial evidence.
The world needs open hearts and open minds, and it is not through rigid
systems, whether old or new, that these can be derived." |
I enjoyed your site very much Positive Atheism.
Sincerely,
Jeremiah Hodge
Austin, Texas
Material by Cliff Walker (including unsigned editorial commentary) is copyright ©1995-2006 by Cliff Walker. Each submission is copyrighted by its writer, who retains control of the work except that by submitting it to Positive Atheism, permission has been granted to use the material or an edited version: (1) on the Positive Atheism web site; (2) in Positive Atheism Magazine; (3) in subsequent works controlled by Cliff Walker or Positive Atheism Magazine (including published or posted compilations). Excerpts not exceeding 500 words are allowed provided the proper copyright notice is affixed. Other use requires permission; Positive Atheism will work to protect the rights of all who submit their writings to us.