Dear Atheists: Merry Christmas !

If people were bored enough and looked through this blog, they would find a host of posts about problems with atheism, skepticism, and non-belief. Those who disagree have not been shy with their responses. Nothing new there, anyone can find this all over the internet.

I propose to call a Christmas truce, at least a temporary one for the holiday. In doing so, I got to thinking about some of the atheists I’ve known and encountered, both here and in person. It strikes me that there are a fair number who have significant negative emotion about religion in general, and against Christianity in particular. Rather than a calm, cold-blooded non-belief, many atheists and skeptics have a strong emotional anti-belief. This is not true of everyone, of course, for I have encountered calm intellectual atheists. But there are enough atheists with chips on their shoulders to make a pattern.

It also strikes me that people often become emotionally negative for some mistreatment that they have encountered. Possibly something happened to make you atheist…someone hurt you, or treated you unfairly, or you were wronged in some way. If it was a Christian, then on behalf of Christianity I sincerely apologize. It seems our ranks all too often contain those who are not sensitive enough about how we treat others. This is a shame, for our Lord taught us differently, and we should not wrong anyone, but it seems we too often do.  I reach out and offer those who have been wronged by Christianity a sincere apology, and ask your forgiveness.

It also strikes me that this time of year is especially difficult for many people. This is the time of year we remember painful memories. We recall those people who we have lost, or are forced to interact with people we wish would get lost, or have other generally painful experiences with family and friends. Again, this does not apply to everyone, but often this is the case.

So in the spirit of the season, I not only offer a Christmas truce, but propose a task of common understanding. I know from my interactions with non-believers that there is a general lack of knowledge about what is in the Bible. I think we would all admit that the Bible has had a large impact on history and culture, and an educated person should at least know what it says. I also do not claim to be any sort of a scholar, and readily admit there are some skeptics and critics that I should read. I hope to dig into them to see if I can learn something. It seems to me that it would do both you and I some good to read a bit of the others’ material so we can know a bit more about what is being said.

Merry Christmas.