It’s about time! You really weren’t fooling anybody hiding in that closet.
Yesterday, the political podcast “FiveThirtyEight”, posted an article entitled “Way More Americans Might Be Atheist Than We Thought.” The article suggests that the number of atheists is probably around 26% of the American population. This number is way higher than the generally accepted 3% to 10% of people who publically claim they do not believe in God. Personally, I think the number is way higher than this – – I would guess it may even be around 50%.
Apparently, according to the article, for many atheists, the stakes are high when it comes to opening up about their unbelief. It states that “A 2016 PRRI survey found that more than one-third of atheists reported hiding their religious identity or beliefs from friends and family members out of concerns that they would disapprove.” So PRRI designed a new way to collect data which revealed these new surprising results.
I am not surprised at all. Atheists have always been hiding – – they are expert posers. Romans 1:18-21 would even say the majority of mankind are God deniers who “suppress truth.” Atheism by definition is a person who “disbelieves in the existence of God or gods.” Scripture says, that this disbelief is a matter of the heart: “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.” (Psalm 14:1)
It is easy to hide what is in your heart, and atheists do it in a number of ways. The three main types of atheists who are posing as believers are as follows:
(1) Practical Atheists: These are people who “honor God with their lips” but “their hearts are far from me.” (Matthew 15:8) Who cares what you say if you never do what you say? Many people even come to church, sing songs, read the Bible, but don’t really live like God exists. I have sat across couples in pre-marital counseling who agree with me, looking right in my face, that staying sexually pure before marriage is God’s ultimate desire and will. But then they leave my office and something happens: An atheistic cloud descends upon their heart, mind and hormones. Often I find out later that they slept together regularly. They didn’t mean a word that they said when they were in my office. They tell me they agree with God, but for all practical purposes, they don’t live like it. Jesus himself wonders in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?” I will bet, the people who fall in this category of Americans are way more than 3%-10%?
(2) Crisis Christians: These are people who run to God in the storm; but when the sun is shining, they run to the party and into the arms of all their strange lovers. In Proverbs 1:21-28 God describes the person who ignores his wisdom, advice and rebuke (Prov. 1:22-23) before disaster comes. And when it finally arrives God will not only ignore their cry (Prov. 1:28), but he will laugh at their calamity (Prov. 1:26). In recent history, after the 911 attacks, churches across America saw an immediate boom in attendance numbers – – but according to most research, attendance fell back to normal levels in fewer than 3 months. One writer commented on this saying “People see church more as an aspirin than a long-term commitment – – they run to it to alleviate immediate pain instead of worshipping a God that they believe actually exists.”
(3) The “Chreasters”: You know what a “Chreaster is”? The person who goes to church at Christmas time and Easter. This person is motivated to attend church more out of a fear of mom and grandma than actually being compelled by a belief in God. I use to be a Chreaster. I loved going to midnight mass, wearing a tie, crying at the song ‘Silent Night”, but I didn’t really care that God cried at my sin.
These three groups combined compose a large percentage of the general population – – it is way more than 26%! Saying you believe in God means nothing if you don’t live like it. Why else would Jesus say in Matthew 7:23, “I never knew you.” This is God confirming their hidden atheism.
I want to say one more thing about the atheist: Most of them don’t even believe what they say they believe. It reminds me of what Michael Scott said on the “Office” if he actually was a homosexual, “Look, if I was gay, I would be the most flamboyant gay you have ever seen. I would be leading the parade covered in feathers, and just… I would be waving that rainbow flag.” In other words, if you really believe something, you should really live it.
Most outright atheists are just as guilty of hypocrisy as practical atheists are because they certainly don’t live what they believe,
If you are an atheist, you logically should affirm evolutionary randomness – – there is no designer, just dumb luck, and a big bang. You should be the biggest proponent of survival of the fittest, you should not care if people are racists, bigots, deviants, or creeps. Why do you care if strong males take advantage of weak females? You should laugh at the homosexual’s illogical urges because they can’t procreate on their own. You have absolutely no moral grounds to be outraged at date-rape, murder and genocide. All you should care about is pleasing yourself. The only good for a materialist (atheist) is pragmatic good, “Does it work for me? And if it does it is good.” The moment you make a moral judgment of something being good or bad in its actions and motives you are denying your own belief.
When you talk about love, compassion, pity, mercy, justice, fairness and right and wrong you are stealing categories from the Christian worldview. Lions never question if eating a baby elephant is cruel. The baby is vulnerable, and it tastes good, kill it! Atheism teaches humans are no different. If you are consistent to your worldview, then the priest who molests the child to meet his selfish needs is behaving just how you should expect him to – – a mere human animal has no moral reason, to be honest and true. Your outrage is stolen from Christian virtue that comes from the existence of the Christian God – – an atheist can’t claim them.
The moment you cry “hypocrite” to the Christian who isn’t acting Christian you are appealing to a standard you don’t even believe exists.
In conclusion, atheism may be growing, but it is a false atheism. It is not atheism at all. It has no real teeth, and in the end, the voice of the atheist will be silenced. It won’t matter how vociferously it voiced it’s folly while alive, no one will be there to listen when the body becomes dust and ashes.
Who even listens to the voice of dirt anymore? No wonder you are hiding in a closet, you make no rational sense.
