Hustling to get things done today, I was already in a touchy mood when an atheist reader checked in with his two cents’ worth. You can read his comments under my Feb. 19 post, “Atheists Got No Songs” (http://leeduigon.com/2016/02/19/atheists-got-no-songs/ ). It was a humorous little ditty, but this reader took a mild exception to it.
I must admit my first impulse was to Spam him out of the blog and hear no more from him, reveling, for once, in the reality that “you can’t beat the house.” I was angry, you see, when he referred to the gospel of Jesus Christ as “a nice little story.”
That was a temptation; but after I cooled off a little, I decided not to Spam him or delete his comments, but to answer again–not that I have any expectation he would listen. For the most part, the atheists I have dealt with–not all of them, but most of them–have a tremendous sense of entitlement which convinces them that they have a right, if you’re a Christian, to come into your cyber living room and pee on the furniture. This guy didn’t quite do that.
I doubt my evangelical gifts are up to the challenge of ministering to this atheist. I dunno–maybe if he listens to enough hymns, or reads enough of the Bible, something might click. I think it’s up to the Holy Ghost to do the clicking.
Did I handle this right? That’s another thing I don’t know. I didn’t Spam the guy when I first had the chance. That doesn’t mean I deserve congratulations. If anything positive develops out of this–to God be the glory.
You’re not alone, Lee. I was upset with this guy too. In fact, I wanted to interject myself but thought better of it. As you know, I can get pretty intense when it comes to Our Lord. And I wanted also to defend you, but since it’s your blog, I thought I’d better let you handle it yourself. I had the same reaction when he called Our Lord’s gospel a ‘nice little story’. You handled it better than I would have. I chuckled when you told him to go away, but at the same time thought that was a little unlike you Meanwhile, you’re also right that conversion is through the gift of The Holy Spirit. We can pray for the poor lost soul.
Of course it’s this persons blog, however if you two are going to comment and mildly mock another persons belief, why should you feel like the victim?
Just because it was done on your blog doesn’t grant you anymore right to offend than I do. If I have ‘theists are stupid’ signs dotted around my home (which I would never do), would I start to complain if theists started to approach my house in an offended manner? Of course not, I had it coming. I found it rather offensive how you claimed in the earlier comment on your blog that ‘this is obviously a Christian blog. You are obviously going to annoy people by saying things like that.’… As if you feel it is fine to mock atheism but question me doing the same to you. Do you feel like you have superiority for one reason or another? The hypocrisy is downright infuriating.
I’m not commenting to spam, and I appreciate you for not spamming my comments. But if you truly have confidence in your argument, you would be able to refute my comments instead of having to consider deleting them.
Sorry, this blog is not a college campus and we have no PC speech code here. If you are offended by Christian blogs, why the dickens do you read them? If hymns and Christmas carols offend you, as they offend many atheists, would you suggest I not post them?
I wasn’t aware that I was making any argument, just reacting to some character waltzing in here and belittling the Gospel–which to me, and most of my readers, is a holy thing.
Are your atheist beliefs sacred to you? How does that work?
Anyhow, it’s my blog and I’ll post what I please. Your crowd has not yet become so powerful that they can put a stop to that.
You misunderstand. You’re not being mocked, but rather, I have concern for your eternal soul. You will notice that my last statement called for prayer for your lost soul. That was a serious statement, and one I’ve made to my own sister, who, unfortunately, is an atheist. She, too, is rather defensive But I pray for her anyway, and I’ll pray for you, too. It’s no accident that you stumbled upon a Christian blog.
Linda, you have more patience than I do. Mine is just about used up.
It’s easy to get drawn in, Lee. My sister is often quite hostile, which is why I rarely converse with her any longer. But I do pray for her. Might I suggest the same here?
Sorry, Lee.
Well, he was entirely too nasty, so I finally had to Spam him. Let’s wipe the dust off our feet and move on.
Let me share some wonderful news. My second-oldest grandchild – my grandson Richard, was married yesterday 🙂
Congratulations from Patty and me!
Thank you both so much! They’re a wonderful couple. Richard is an engineer and Kristen is a nurse working in oncology. They volunteer at a horse rescue ranch near their home. And they love The Lord!
Maybe we could have a hymn to uplift us at this moment? I, for one, could use one 🙂
Oops, didn’t see this till after 11–but you’ve first dibs on a hymn tomorrow morning. Any favorites?
It’s been a long day 🙂
I have so many favorites, Lee. Maybe one of Esther Mui’s would be nice.
Thank you. Have a blessed night.
He must have made a wrong turn on the internet.
Well, I only found my way here because your post showed up under an atheism tag. You might not want it, but I’ll throw in my genuine two cents anyway.
Atheists are people, and we are all different. When you post things like “It takes real nerve to be that foolish and still think you’re smart”– who is that for, exactly? Is it meant to rally the troops around hating a common enemy? Is it meant to show atheists the love of Christ? I don’t remember ever doing this as a Christian, so I don’t know where it comes from. It certainly doesn’t feel like concern for my soul. Is it making your soul feel better?
I am surrounded by Christians in my everyday life. I try my best to find some common ground. But you know, sometimes it’s incredibly difficult to exist among loved ones who believe their point of view is the point of view of god himself. All any of us can do is get up each day and try to do better.
I have had many dealings with many atheists, and I only cite patterns that I have observed. Like all generalities, there are exceptions. But they are empirical observations, and are for the most part true.
1) Atheists think they are by far the most intelligent people in the world.
2) They expect you to recognize that as a fact, and they get bent out of shape if you don’t.
3) Believing that they are vastly more intelligent than you are, you really can’t reason with them. To them, it’s like arguing with a dog.
4) Most atheists believe they are entitled to mock Christians’ most sacred beliefs. They are always surprised when this makes Christians angry. They think we should be grateful to them for telling us what chumps we are.
5) Atheists enjoy meddling in the affairs of a community, always striving to ban the activities of Christians. Atheists, after some years of threatening lawsuits, succeeded in doing away with my home town’s century-old Christmas parade; but the annual Hindu festival down the road doesn’t bother them a bit.
6) For all their constant aggression and offensiveness, atheists are surprisingly thin-skinned. They can’t take even the smallest dose of their own medicine.
7) They insist they understand Christianity much better than do the Christians whom they have gone so far out of their way to provoke.
I write a blog about atheism. Not as a way to challenge Christians, but to connect with other ex-Christians who are dealing with the same things I am. I happen to enjoy the conversation. Are some atheists arrogant jerks? Sure. And they are usually the ones talking the loudest.
But until recently, you wouldn’t find me online talking about it at all. I still do not speak openly about it among most of my family. Because for every atheist you describe, there are a thousand others who never say a word. You will never have a conversation with the majority of atheists or know how they feel. For the ones who care, like me, it is because they are afraid to speak out; but most are silent simply because they don’t care about religion as a topic. And they are as indifferent to me as they are to you.
You are making sweeping generalizations about a group of people who you do not know at all. And for what spiritual gain, I wonder? I can feel your anger toward atheists. It may be better for your soul not to invite the trolls with negative accusations that serve no other purpose.
I repeat: those generalizations are based on my experience. I am willing to recognize exceptions. Maybe you are one. You have been civil. That’s worth something.The other guy became abusive to other readers, so I deleted his posts and spammed him.