I have once again become the object of atheist ridicule and mockery launched by the usual braying hyenas of bloggerville. Apparently I have “dodged a question” and now been most gloriously slain. I shall melodramatically fall upon my sword and cough up some glamorous death throes. You have won Sir Knight of the Nihilists, you have captured the flag, you now own the whole mountain. I am slain, slain I tell ya….
In all seriousness however, I really had no idea I was even in a debate. People do not seem to understand that I am a complete unapologetic, not one who engages in the fine art of apologetics.
Like, I don’t care. Now, I am supposed to care I suppose, being an evangelical and all, and God is certainly working on me, but in all honesty, I just don’t care. You don’t believe in God?? Good, have a lovely life. How is this even my problem??
I have however, been playing this atheist game long enough to have scratched my head in puzzlement and asked myself the most impolite questions like, what odd display of male peacockery is this? This strange feathery display of victory and dominance before an audience of cackling fans sure resembles something akin to…… performance art?
Precisely, atheism is really just all about performance art. Showmanship. Social Dominance. Rebellion among one’s friends for the sake of public praise and personal glorification. Look at me, look at how……. defiantly stoopid I can be.
I am notorious for drawing this weirdness out in people, and usually blissfully unaware of it. Like the other day this guy just vomited all over my shoes, declared he’d rather read the koran, worship satan, and sacrifice chickens, then have anything to do with Christians. I was like, Dude?! Dude, I simply asked you if you needed more tarter sauce. True story. What did I do, walk by and breathe Jesus on you?
I hope so! Ha! I rather like that idea. You sensed His breath in my very body, didn’t you? Well it’s true, in Him I have my breath and being. So do you, but whatever.
So people who try to kick at me are generally not very happy themselves. It turns out that the stories we tell ourselves are really, really important. What and Who we follow actually begins to shape us. What we believe about ourselves and about God begins to lead us. So I believe in the goodness of God and that love conquered all and that miracles happen everyday. If that offends you well, suck it up buttercup.
Just for fun I thought I’d leave a link to this article I snagged from over at Wilson’s site. I really liked the article itself, “Christopher Hitchens and his Christian friends.”
Yep. Atheism as nothing more than performance art……
Photo by Berendey_Ivanov / Andrey_Kobysnyn on Pexels.com
Your post reminded me of a previous post about how and why atheists ask questions.
If interested
‘
https://rudymartinka.com/2015/02/17/king-solomon-on-hasty-words-fools/
Regards and good will blogging
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Thank you for the link! I had a chuckle reading that.
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Must be nice being pestered by atheists, not! I use to walk in atheist circles just to be questioned so it’d work out my knowledge of scripture, etc. It was fun for a time but then I realized atheists have a god, his name is ‘nothing’ and they’ll proclaim this ‘nothing’ on high.
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Wow, perfect timing for me. I was in the middle of a “Do-we-really-have-to-talk-about-this-now?” debate at 5:30 this morning (Don’t ask.) and wish I could have just said “Good for you, don’t believe, have a nice life,” except that I just love this person so much! It does help to know that saving him is not my job, and God knows how to reach him, whereas I don’t.
I don’t know if you’ve seen my piece “Mud Wrestling,” but it’s a similar perspective…
https://wordpress.com/post/seekingdivineperspective.com/114
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Thank you for the link. I haven’t read that particular post, but I will. 🙂
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I’ve just written about this exact same thing! Mud wrestling with atheists and just read your comment!
https://changeofheartjournal.wordpress.com/2019/06/01/24-on-wrestling-with-atheists/
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Yeah! I saw the post. It is funny how difficult it is to accept the fact we really can’t understand Romans 8:28. When we don’t even know what God intends for us, how could we understand His will?🤔🙄😏🤨
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I really like Romans 8:28. That is the perfect verse for this issue! Sometimes I have said that verse to myself over and over again, not really believing it with my heart, but it has gone and proven itself to be true. I don’t know how God is going to work something for good, but He often does and He does in a way that is simple enough for me to understand.
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@IB
Romans 8:28 is one of those verses which makes our hope real and substantial. We hope for what we know will be, not might be.
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Yes that’s beautiful! The potter and His clay!
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This was classic IB, well done!
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Whoa, don’t get me started! I really empathize, walked at least 1000 miles in those shoes. Even allow them to push my buttons (always ready to give an account of the hope within to whomever asks). Seriously, when can we stop?
I responded to a simple question (albeit cleverly veiled in praise) that resulted in the LONGEST thread of replies my blog has received for a single Article (“An Atheist Answers” @ https://wp.me/p4H39f-1s6). In the end, ALL my answers were flatly rejected due to lack of EVIDENCE! I even sunk to their level of cynicism and dared to question what evidence they had to prove them more than a cyber bot. No reply to that one.
Good to know the breath of Christ continues to exhale!
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LOL! I’m so sorry MJ. You really are a great resource for people who actually do WANT to try to find some answers to their theological questions. Of course if you don’t really want an answer or an explanation than nothing will suffice!
I like how Jesus asks in John 5, “do you want to be healed?” One of the hardest things for me has been learning to accept that some don’t or aren’t ready.
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David Pawson said that in many black box recordings used as evidence in plane crash inquries, they often have to mute out the pilot’s profanity as often they use their last breath to curse God.
It reminds me of Job’s wife telling him to curse God and die.
One of my friend’s who publishes a great website called Ichthys, he argues that people actually choose hell and even in hell they will curse God’s name. I find that such a heartbreaking and chilling thought.
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fight on fair lady!!!!
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Actually, I’m not atheist. Just not Christian anymore
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Quack quack
If it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it’s a duck
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Hi wally. Have a great day
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Way to go spineless. You don’t even have the guts to either defend or actually articulate what you believe. IB was right, you just come around looking for pathetic fodder for your pathetic cackling hyena den of a blog. Run off and get stroked by the other morons, now.
Have a nice day!
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The fruit of the spirit is Love joy peace, patience kindness goodness Faith, gentleness and self control.
Wally… Fail
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Yeah ok lol. I’m in perfect control. So how about you articulate your position?
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Right. You won’t then. No sweat.
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Why would you want to bait Christians then? If you’re no longer a Christian why would you care anything about Christians or Christianity? You no longer like something so you smash it so no one else can have it?
Sounds like the behaviour of an infant not a grown up..
Learning enough scripture to insult Christians on your way out? I doubt God finds that cute.
Yes it is true that as Christians we hold each other to a higher standard and we expect more of each other but I guess by your reasoning that because you are leaving Christianity then no-one can expect nothing of you at all. No manners, courtesy, compassion, patience, nothing..
You don’t need to stray too far away from unbelief until you are actually an agent for satan.
You are now in territory that is enemy territory to believers, You are in the devil’s camp now and I guess mockery, jeering and general nastiness is pretty much the devil’s calibre. It’s all he’s got. What is worrying is that it is all you’ve got now seeing as you have backheeled God’s love. Worst possible time to do it as well..seeing as we’re now heading swiftly into the birth pangs before tribulation. I would turn back to the love of God and salvation of Christ is I were you. When judgement comes, believers will always have solace. Unbelievers will have nothing not even a mess of pottage.
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Sorry. You really have no idea what you’re saying. I was once like you and from reading your blog I would have agreed with much that you believe… a long time ago. My advice to you on blogs as a new Christian is to not meddle with someone else’s disagreement or argument when not being directly addressed. And not to insult someone’s person who you have no idea who they are or what they know. It makes you look like someone spoiling for a fight, and that’s not christlike either. I decline your invitation for a back and forth. Have a great day.
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I thought this a free platform, town square type of deal not a private conversation. Ah well, to each his own!
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It is a “town square type of deal” and not a private conversation. But meet Mike, aka Grabaspine, anyway. I believe he actually once accused me of meddling in my own conversation. 🙂
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Saw that. Sheesh. Be glad for the link, though. God works His plan even through the scoffers. It’s good when they participate so happily.
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Nice work. God bless you.
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I can relate with this article in many ways because I have als had multiple interactions with them on my blog. You are right that many atheists are unhappy in themselves. So they set out to discredit the things that matter to us. They call us unwise, but we know who the foolish ones are – those that say there is no God.
Should we stop talking to atheists altogether? I will say no, because we don’t want to miss the opportunity of sharing the gospel of Christ with them. While we may exercise caution in engaging them on their own sites, we should be glad when they visit ours. Let’s share with them what we believe to be and trust that the Spirit of God will work on their (closed) minds.
Above all, I pray the wisdom of Christ and His love rule our head and heart as we interact with them.
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That’s a beautiful reply and full of God’s love. I try to show God’s love in my interactions, many times it is tested to the limit.
I remember that I was loved even in my worst sin, I try to tell them that.
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Showing God’s love in our communication is a good. When we remain calm even when atheists deliberately try to provoke us, they see the difference between us and them. It is not easy but we can try.
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Excellent! I experience it a lot on Twitter. The hoards, I call them. 99% anonymous. Vile and vulgar.
Twitter has handed a megaphone to a bunch of froth-mouthed rage-atheists and let them spend all day screaming every demon-thought that’s ever popped in their heads. No filter. Profanity laced comments. Trolls of the worst disorder. Yikes!
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Indeed hoards on the boards!
The huge difference is that they have a scorched earth policy whereby they will gladly flame everything is sight on site just to win. “Winning” is all they care about. They are the epitome of pyrrhic victors. Feelings and decency be damned! Even logic be damned at times. Codes of conduct are non-existent. They prove themselves to be anarco-nihilists of the worst order. Worthy at times of satan himself.
Whenever I get angry or say something regrettable, I feel remorse and then repent and apologise and try to do better next time. This is what we should do as Christians. Atheists claim that none of us need God to act moral or civilly to one another. Their actions, however, say otherwise.
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It’s their excuse for when they can’t make a reasonable argument. “You’re dodging the question!” It’s not really the question is dodged, it’s that the question is answered but not in the way they like. Or it’s not a good question to begin with.
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Pingback: 24) On wrestling with atheists – Change Of Heart
I loved this article so much that I have linked to it on my blog. I was writing a response here that was so lengthy that I decided to write a response article instead! Hope you like it!
https://changeofheartjournal.wordpress.com/2019/06/01/24-on-wrestling-with-atheists/
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I also want to add that my theory is that atheists have a god of their own, they worship themselves and the noisiest amongst them. In the valley of the blind, the blind men worship Hitchens, Dawkins et al. The noisiest and most prominent of the atheist poster boys.
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Who was the “smartest” atheist? I will propose Stephen Hawking, simply because he had a “theory of everything,” if intelligence is incompatible with modesty. But wait, in reading about his “theory of everything”, the following phrases kept cropping up: is predicted; new way of thinking about; prediction was in contrast with all the experimental observations; this issue was solved….by the introduction of something called “supersymmetry”. And so forth. My point is simple: Atheistic scientists practice FAITH to at least as great a degree as Bible-believers. They just don’t call it faith, because they keep changing theories and explanations. They denigrate faith in what doesn’t change. Tachyons, anyone?
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So a Tachyon is a hypothetical then? I think they don’t mind hypotheticals as long as they are the ones who are calling them,
It all boils down to the need and desire to control.
You have to humble the desire to control when worshipping a Creator who is greater than His Creation.
Atheists distinctly lack humility as they perceive it as weakness. They seemingly despise weakness and vulnerability whereas Jesus loved people more when they were weak. They are the opposite of Christ so isn’t it fair to say they are of the anti-christ?
If you think that too harsh, have you read Dawkins Twitter feed lately? It has a distinctly eugenicist feel to it of late. He declared that children with Downs syndrome have no right to live. Now where have I heard that before..
He also said that we should “get over” our taboo against cannibalism. He is spearheading a race to the bottom. When people talk like this, I no longer say moral relativism, I just call a spade a spade and call it satanic.
You will know them by their fruits..
“And Rakitin does dislike God. Ough! doesn’t he dislike Him! That’s the sore point with all of them. But they conceal it. They tell lies. They pretend. ‘Will you preach this in your reviews?’ I asked him. ‘Oh, well, if I did it openly, they won’t let it through,’ he said. He laughed. ‘But what will become of men then?’ I asked him, ‘without God and immortal life? All things are lawful then, they can do what they like?’ ‘Didn’t you know?’ he said laughing, ‘a clever man can do what he likes,’ he said. ‘A clever man knows his way about, but you’ve put your foot in it, committing a murder, and now you are rotting in prison.’ He says that to my face! A regular pig! I used to kick such people out, but now I listen to them” written by Dostoevsky
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I hasten to add that not all atheists are this far gone. It has to be said however that if you stay too long in enemy territory without the protection of God, how long until you are actually working for the enemy?
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“I just don’t care.”
Yeah, me neither.
Except, from Pence to al Baghdadi, there are plenty of folks who do care whether I conform to the particulars of their scriptural sensibilities.
I try to just steer clear of them, but they have made it clear that they may be willing to send their boys to my house, if push comes to shove.
Mind if I back them off as indicated?
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Amen! I hope someday I have enough of the breath of Jesus in me that someone will throw up on my shoes when I hand them the tarter sauce. Seriously, before I became a Christian – when I thought I was an atheist – it was all about me trying to impress others by being a free thinker. Performance art. Exactly.
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There is a lot of that atheist performance online…
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Yep. True story, Slim.
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Thanks for sharing it
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Atheists run a wide spectrum. It is as unfair to caricature them as it it to broad-brush all Christians.
There are affable atheists who count believers among their friends and then there are deadly serious little Lenins who want to destroy every last vestige of Christian culture and faith. On the other side there are fire-and-brimstone militant fundamentalists who believe it is their mission to confront and provoke as well as milquetoast well-wishing believers who are afraid of offending anyone; and everything in between as well.
I think we all need to discern the nuances and degrees of commitment (or lack of it). Basic friendliness
and a sense of humor are essential. Art and music are great unifiers. Anyway, I enjoyed this post, IB.
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I think atheism is an expression of pain only God can heal.
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Amen, Anna. That’s a really wise way of looking at it.
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good grief – you held back/deleted all my comments.
That’s a bi much even for you, isn’t it?
What is you beef this time?
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No beef, you just didn’t have anything to contribute to the conversation. “Christians are all stinky head poo poo butts.” is really redundant and doesn’t interest me
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“what odd display of male peacockery is this? ” love that! 😂
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Skewered dead center with wit and elan! Brava!
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That was honestly so rude, this a blog, how could expect people to come here and not comment?
That’s what blogging is about, I’m sorry other atheists were mean to you, but that doesn’t give you the right to be mean to everyone else.
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