Correcting misapprehensions

Whenever a Christian festival arises, it seems that the Letters sections of newspapers and the blogosphere begin filling with debates over the relative merits of Christianity and Atheism. At Easter, for example, even a bishop or two got drawn into the debate in one of Sydney's newspapers.

As a "dissenting" evangelical, I belong neither to the atheists' camp nor to that of the bishops. I felt a certain privilege, being able to observe without having to participate. Several thoughts came to me as I watched.

One point raised was that Atheism can lead to systematic and systemic violence and abuse. This argument comes up regularly, and is a poorly-considered reaction to Atheist accusations that religion is divisive, and always leads to violence and war.

Of course, the Pol Pot, Stalin and (perhaps) Hitler regimes were atheistic and few would disagree that they were horrifically violent. Proponents of non-Atheist religious positions should realise that this doesn't, however, mean that Atheism always leads to violence. The error is that of confusing causation and association.

On the other hand, when Atheists make similar charges about religion, they should recognise that they are falling into the same illogicality. Violent people use religion or irreligion to legitimate their violence.

It takes only a little acquaintance with history to show that this is a weak argument.

A second area of discussion was over whether Atheists can be truly moral. I am interested to note that see fewer believers charging that Atheists must be immoral than I see Atheists assuming that this charge is a Christian position.

As I read the Bible, it seems to me that it supports the idea that religious people and irreligious people are roughly equally moral. After all, it declares that humans are created in the image of a moral God. By the same token, the Bible is also clear that we human beings are all equally failures when it comes to morality. This doesn't mean that the crimes of some are not more horrifying than the crimes of others. We generally consider murder a more evil crime than stealing a biscuit from the office jar. However, both acts are moral breaches, and the Bible argues that no one can claim anything like moral perfection.

Those Christians who think that Atheists are immoral are probably influenced by such Biblical statements as, The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' The Psalmist's point, however, is that those who think they can get away with injustice and oppression because there is no God to give account to are fools. This is not quite the same thing as claiming that Atheism necessarily leads to immorality.

A further point of debate is about charities and community service. I suspect that Atheists and Christians may tend to focus on different areas in this respect. Certainly, Christians seem to predominate in welfare-related services and I think that many Atheists are drawn to environmental causes, but I don't know if my assessment is supported by any hard evidence.

What is true is that both believers of various kinds and unbelievers do engage in community service. However, there is evidence that, at least in the case of the young, "...those with serious spiritual and religious beliefs were likely to donate more money, participate more in their communities and be more concerned about their society than their non-religious counterparts." (2007 research by academics from Monash University and the Australian Catholic University, reported in The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 Jan 2008.)

What we don't know is whether this tendency persists into adulthood. I don't think the research has been done in Australia.

A final charge laid by the Atheists was that Christians who participate in charitable works do it only to gain points towards entry into heaven, or to compensate for a fear of judgement.

I have no doubt that even some Atheists volunteer so as to gain a heaven they do not believe in. Everyone acts in large part on unconscious feelings and desires. However it is certainly no part of Evangelical Christianity to believe that good works contribute "points" towards gaining heaven or avoiding hell. The Bible -- particularly the New Testament -- clearly and consistently rejects the value of works done to gain God's favour or out of mere fear of punishment.

In fact, the orthodox Evangelical position is that eternal salvation is only available through repentance, giving up efforts at self-justification and trust in Jesus Christ for the gift of salvation. To seek salvation through our deeds is a rejection of God's loving gift, and, in fact, treats God as a whore who dispenses favours to the best payers.

The corollary of this Evangelical belief is that eternal life is already the possession of those who trust in Jesus Christ, and that working for the good of others is an appropriately loving response to the Christ who loved us and gave himself for us.

I don't think many Christians in other traditions would disagree to far with that position.