Thursday, October 22, 2009

"God is Back"

That's the title of a new book by atheist author Adrian Wooldridge. In his wide ranging reseach Wooldridge found that secular Europe is fast becoming isolated in a world-wide surge of Christianity.

"I must say I have more respect, I felt more warmth for religion after doing research for the book, partly because of the people I came across, such as the Pentecostal pastor in Philadelphia who has done the most amazing work dealing with crack cocaine. It did strike me that religious people have done amazing work to help the poor. But where are the atheists doing exactly same thing?"

Atheist author Adrian Wooldridge - “God is Back”

7 comments:

World of Facts said...

Mr. Wooldrige had to do some reasearch for his book to realize that some believers are doing good things? On which planet was he living beforehand!?

Where are the atheists doing good things? Who cares! There are many secular movements that do good things, and that is what matters.

People do good not because they believe in God, or not, they do it because it's GOOD.

Finally, the fact that a Pentecostal pastor in Philadelphia does something good is wonderful, but his belief in God does not become more rational because of his actions...

Conclusion, another useless post!! :)

J Curtis said...

Hugo, who founded the first charitable organizations? Where did atheists learn this practice from?

Mak, Dinesh D'Souza brings up alot of similar points in What's So Great About Christianity?. Ever read it?

feeno said...

I think Atheists have penis envy. Oh wait I'm sorry, I meant morals envy. We believers are proud of you Atheists and your good works. Thank You, keep it up.

Peace, feeno

Thesauros said...

What's So Great About Christianity?."

Ya. I highlighted or underlined about 80% of it.
=============
Mr. Wooldrige had to do some reasearch for his book to realize that some believers are doing good things?

No, the point of the book is the resurgence of Christianity around the world. During the process of writing the book, he was surprised that getting to know Christians actually made him hate them less and admire them more.

Just like you growing to admire me since getting to know me :-)

World of Facts said...

@JD
Again... Who cares?

My point remains, people do good things because it's good, not because they believe in a god...

@feeno
lol

@Makarios
There are two different things.
1) Christianity is on the rise as you pointed out.
2) Wooldridge discovered that Christians can do good things and he now has more respect for them, because of that and other reasons. That's what I commented on, only.

Since I started to spend more time on studying religion and the various claim for the existence of gods, my perception of believers did change also.

One thing I realized for example is that some believers truly consider their beliefs to be based on facts and a rational deduction process. Many intelligent Catholic have my respect for such thought process as they usually have a good understanding of the real world and add the god concept as an extra feature allowing explaining the unexplainable or the unknown.

I thought you were one of these people Rod when I started reading your Makarios blog. Remember I told you I would reply to your proof that God exists? You had pointed me to your blog post on that.

Well, I never did so after all, because I realized that you are not part of these intelligent believers... as you don't have a good understanding of the real world we live in and are not willing to engage in discussions.

So yes, perception does change when we get to know people/believers better. I agree with Wooldridge on that. There are groups that I have more respect for than before, but there are also individuals who fall really low on that same scale.

J Curtis said...

My point remains, people do good things because it's good, not because they believe in a god...

"The world before Christianity was like the Russian tundra-quite cold and inhospitible. One scholar, Dr Martineau, exhaustively searched through historical documents and concluded that antiquity has left no trace of any organized charitable effort. Disinterested benevolence was unknown. When Christ and the Bible became known, charity and benevolence flourished.
Will Durant writes about ancient Rome, which was the zenith of civilizations of antiquity: "Charity found little scope in this frugal life. Hospitality survived as a mutual convenience at a time when inns were poor and far between; but the sympathetic Polybius reports that 'in Rome no one ever gives away anything to anyone if he can help it'-doubtless an exaggeration."

D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe: What if Jesus had Never Been Born? pg 29

Thesauros said...

Atheists and Buddhists share the same philosophy, "The tears of another man are just water."