I’ve been told not to go there. Don’t engage with atheists on Twitter because they’ll slam you with eager anticipation! Well, I certainly wasn’t looking for a fight, but I have posted things that question the atheistic worldview. I try to respectfully engage people on an intelligent discussion of the big picture issues of human existence, but quickly figured out that some of these atheists are simply online bullies. I guess if you tweet the word “atheism” anywhere on Twitter, it must be flagged because before I knew it, I was smack dab in the middle of a very angry tweet mob. I was called a hate monger, ignorant, one who believes in Santa Claus, a piece of __it, among other profanities I won’t allude to in this blog. I had to block most of them simply because of their anger and profanity. I was greatly disappointed…until yesterday. There was a ray of hope with one fellow who started out jeering me, but when I remarked that all the atheists I had come across on Twitter so far mocked, teased or taunted me, he backed down. We had a decent interaction that was respectful. He didn’t “convert” me, nor I him, and we parted ways peacefully.
Before our tweets were finished, I asked him if he was open to the idea of God. He said yes, but he wanted to be convinced. I asked, “What would convince you?” He replied, “If God answered prayer.” I knew instantly that I was going to have to answer this one carefully. So, I replied, “It depends on how you view prayer. I see it as talking to God, and not as “getting” something from him. Prayer gives me peace.” He replied that Buddhists feel the same thing about prayer. True. There is nothing wrong with that, as many belief systems have some truth to them, and prayer certainly can give a person peace no matter what they believe.
This is one of those “universal truths,” or what is called the “Tao.” The Tao is the natural sense of right and wrong that exists in every healthy human being. Don’t harm others, be kind, do good things, create beauty, etc. The Tao can be compared to the original “Logos” concept developed by Heraclitus, (c. 500 BC). C.S. Lewis pointed out in his book The Abolition of Man, that the Tao foreshadowed the incarnation of Christ. In Jesus, the Tao is manifest. He embodied all these universal truths, and expanded on them.
In the book of John 1.1, this disciple describes Jesus as the “Logos” or “Word,” and goes on to say the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus was the Logos. He was a real historical figure, not some myth, so we should pay attention to what he taught while on earth. Again, C.S. Lewis points out that Jesus was either a lunatic, liar or lord. It is our choice as to which one is true. (I think you know what I believe.)
This is why I put myself out there to engage a culture that in many ways denies these truths, claiming all truth is relative. That could not be further from the truth, for if that was true, then isn’t that making a “truth claim” about truth? That is self-refuting. Besides, if truth is relative, or as atheists propose, evolved out of social structures, then the Tao would not still be in existence today. It would have changed based on whoever or whatever was in charge to set the moral standards of human interaction. The Tao, in its original form, is still true, and Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that Tao.
Once again, great post! When I was reading about all the angry atheists that you were tweeting with the thought that came to my mind was “wow, all those atheists certainly have a lot of emotion behind their ‘beliefs'”, perhaps it’s worth asking them what is that drives all their anger, or hostility towards Christianity? Don’t remember who taught me that tactic (maybe Stand To Reason) but it seems when a person is so driven with emotion about a subject there is some other reason behind their fear/anger/anxiety!
Loved the lesson the Tao too.
Hi DeeDee! Thanks for your comments. Regarding the anger issue, at least one atheist told me that his anger stemmed from the fear of Christians making governmental policy decisions. I suppose he thinks people’s personal beliefs should stay out of politics. But here is the problem with that — everyone believes something! To think a person can make any decision completely void of a worldview, opinion or bias, is naive at best. We are not robots, for heaven’s sake, programmed to make perfectly neutral decisions. So, everyone believes something, even the atheist.
That is hysterical (the guys response about Christians and policy making)! If you were to break the argument down to it’s logical conclusions you would then have to ask what is so bad about not killing babies, or taking care of the widows and orphans? I think peoples preconceived ideas about who and what Christians can be quite off base. But like you mentioned you never know what their history is.
Yeah, I can only try and discuss openly and respectfully with those who are willing to look honestly at both sides of the issue. Too many, however, allow their biases against anything supernatural to cloud over their reasoning.