Perhaps the best evidence that Atheism is an intellectually vacant position is the Atheists need to create straw men to rationalize their stance. The crux of the issue in this pathetic cartoon is the concept of âsinâ. The word sin has its roots in archery. Archers would shoot at a target with concentric rings from a great distance. The outer ring of the target was worth no points (but you still see that the arrow hit the target). In tournaments a judge would be placed down range, partly to prevent cheating, to observe the arrows strike the target and call out the result. If the arrow completely missed the target the judge would call out âsinâ â youâve completely missed the target.
Because the real distinction between the Atheist and the Christian in this cartoon is their belief, or disbelief, in objective truth and objective reality â The âtargetâ one must completely miss to âsinâ. An atheist believes that morality is a construct and, by implication, reality is ultimately subjective â there is no target. This sets up two diametrically opposed ways of looking at the world:
The Christian, by believing in objective truth, implicitly believes that there are objective moral standards. It also follows from these premises, that there must be something just, moral and rational manifest in the Universe (aka God). The inductive proof of purpose: If purpose exists then there is a source from which purpose is derived (an author), otherwise all purpose (all meaning) is illusory and all logic fallacy. A Christian believes, given a truth out there, that, to be in harmony with the universe, he must be in conformity to this truth. A Christian acknowledges his own limits and lack of understanding and contemplates âmysteriesâ: While there is an objective truth, it is beyond his understanding. A Christian must rely on narrative to help him make sense of the vastness of reality. He knows his narrative isnât âthe truthâ, he is a truth seeker attempting to move closer to something greater than himself. To the degree that his narrative is in error, the Christian will err â sometimes to the point of âsinâ. It is, however, a Christianâs belief in, and love of, objective truth, reality and morality that drives his quest and calls him to repentance. Believing in a just, moral God, that loves and calls to its creation (and, yes, that can all be derived logically, much as the Stoics did), his desire to know and conform to Godâs will absolves him of his sins - he is a participant as the universe mold him to itâs ends â dancing with God.
An atheist believes that he is the author of his own reality. His narrative, to him, is the truth (to the degree he believes there is truth)â he is, in essence, his own God. He rejects an objective God because his narrative cannot contain, let alone explain, the vastness of reality with all itâs seemingly contradictory and cruel manifestations. He must retain an unsupported belief in purpose to retain some semblance of sanity but he believes, absurdly, that purpose can be self-created (again, implicitly making himself the author of reality, aka, God). The cognitive dissonance of this world view allows him to assimilate Christian principles of objective reality, morality and truth (the foundations of western âScienceâ â which we used to call âphilosophyâ: love of Truth) without attributing them to their source. Ultimately, the Atheist seeks to make the universe conform to his own will and rebels against his own conformity. A Christian would quickly recognize this worldview as Satanic and it would not take a lot of inquiry to see how often atheism is the gateway drug to Satanism.
