I have not blogged in a very long time. This is dumb. I like blogging, writing, ranting, reflecting, etc. So I've decided it is time to return to such things in my life. Beginning with this post y'all can expect at least one post every two weeks and hopefully a post once a week. I've changed the backdrop of the blog, updated the picture and now I'm writing the first installment of Gonzo's return to his rants and reflections. I've decided that to begin my return to blog space I will begin with more of a rant.
A few weeks ago Mary Beth and I had the incredible opportunity of spending two weeks in Peru. We got to spend time with my family as well as experience the amazing sites of Cuzco and Machupicchu. While the trip was awesome not really the point of my blog but feel free to check out pictures on Kodak Gallery:
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The real point of this blog is the book I began reading on the way to Peru. I started reading a book called THE GOD DELUSION by Richard Dawkins. While it could be frowned upon to comment on a book until one is done reading the whole thing I can't help but do so at this point. I may write more once I am finished with it but for now here are some of my thoughts.
First of all I think trying to argue with an Atheist is almost pointless. What we need to do at this point as Christians is begin praying for God to work some miracles in the lives of the people in this movement. The reason it is pointless is because many of them are angry and have such a completely different worldview. I think intelligent conversations and dialogue can be had with some of them but many of them are very stubborn and not open to dialogue on the issue (just watch EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED for an example of this). To begin with the thing I notice about Dawkins is he is angry. The guy has some serious wounds. The way he goes after and attacks Christianity in a very bitter and nasty way instantly begins to discredit the guy. The one thing the guy has going for him is that as Revelation states that it is better to be hot or cold than lukewarm lest God spew you out of his mouth, this guys is anything but lukewarm. He is down right cold. And that at least makes him ripe for conversion :).
The second big thing I note is that we as Christians need to be reading this and reading any sort of books that refute it. We need to not only be reading books that refute this but any sort of books dealing with apologetics, Philosophy, History etc. The common man, heck the common Christian is grossly uneducated and that is why millions of people are falling pray to the absolute nonsense written by Dawkins and the other militant New Atheists out there. People are buying into what Dawkins is saying because we live in a world where people have not been taught to REALLY and TRULY think. Therefore we have a lot of really intelligent stupid people out there. Dawkins is a classic intellectual idiot. He knows some stuff about science, is well read, and therefore thinks he can understand the universe, how it works, and comes to the absurd conclusion that God does not exist. The entire premise of a book written by Frank Sheed called THEOLOGY AND SANITY is that to live an existence where we view the world as if God did not exist is to live with a skewed perception of reality. What do we call people who do not live reality? Insane! We as Christians cannot afford to be insane. We cannot afford to be uneducated. The world is going to throw everything it can at us and the only way to fight against it is to train ourselves intellectually. So many people are unaware of the incredible intellectual treasures the Church has. Start reading!
This next critique I have ties into the point above. Just as the average Christian is grossly uneducated so is Dawkins. The man is a Scientist with no formal training in Philosophy and he goes after St. Thomas Aquinas. Really? I mean really? If you haven't studied Philosophy you have absolutely no place critiquing Aquinas. Aquinas is a respected Philosopher even in secular circles people! His chapter refuting the five proofs is laughable. If you know Aquinas, Theology, and Philosophy please read that chapter and you will have yourself a good laugh (or a good cry at the fact that there are actually people out there who are buying into his garbage). He also makes a statistical claim that most intelligent people and Scientists are Atheist. Well Dawkins that is a very faulty argument when most of those people have not read both sides of the issues and have not truly been informed on what good Philosophy and Theology are. Also some of the smartest scientific people I know are also some of the most faithful Catholics I know. What do you say to that? Really all Dawkins is arguing on is semantics and not logical, clear, and philosophical reasoning.
Evil is real. God is real. And when we fail to recognize God's existence Evil begins to subtly win but hey if you don't believe in God how can you believe in evil? It is truly sad to me that people are buying into the things Dawkins, Hitches and others are writing. Faith is a gift and some may not have been given it but have those people really sought after it? Have those people who have bought into Dawkins and others really, I mean really read some of the great treasures of Philosophy and Theology and then actually reflected on them? I doubt it. Maybe Dawkins had and grossly misunderstood those works but his average readers have not. And this is why he and others are so dangerous. They are really and truly poisoning our society and sugar coating it as they are simply revealing to people the truth they deserve. It is time to tell our story as it is meant to be told. It is time to be true witnesses and martyrs for our faith. It is time to be radical examples of love. It is time to educate ourselves in truth and then go out and proclaim that truth in love. We live in a world full of insane people who think they are perfectly sane and that my friends is the answer to why we live in the political and economic climate that we live in. Until we recognize that God is For real we will continue to live in a delusion and none of our problems will ever be fixed. This is the real delusion! May God have mercy on Richard Dawkins and all those who choose to believe his writings.
