A response to Justin Brooke’s post “Atheist Spends 5 Years Studying World Religions And Becomes a Baptized Christian Evangelist”

This is in response to Justin Brooke’s post titled Atheist Spends 5 Years Studying World Religions And Becomes a Baptized Christian Evangelist

I am in no means a professional writer, or blogger. But I felt Mr. Brooke’s post needed a longer response than the typical comment. There was so much to unpack here, but I only focused on the “Atheist 101” portion. I am atheist and thought this would be an interesting read. However, I felt the need to address some things…

1. “For most of my life I have been an Atheist so I know their worldview well. The problem is most Atheists fall into one of two categories…

• God doesn’t exist but I believe in good vs evil
• Anyone who believes in god is a moron”

Are you serious? Most of us fall under two categories? Really? We all think believers are morons? Seriously?! This is an assumption, pure and simple. Many of us were believers and have family and friends that still are. I was raised Roman-Catholic. My friends and family are all largely Christian. I’m not going around thinking my friends, family, coworkers, etc. are morons, or any variation thereof. Believe in whatever the fuck you want to believe in! I won’t speak for all atheists, but the issue I personally have with organized religion is the physical and emotional pain inflicted on many. The abuse of children, the demoralizing treatment of girls and women, the disgraceful treatment of members of the LGBTQ+ community… the list goes on.

Furthermore, a religious world view is not necessary to know what is good and what is evil. I am atheist and I know murder, assault, and rape are evil (the ten commandments curiously omits rape, but whatever). I also do not believe in an after-life, in “heaven or hell” or anywhere. But I donate money to charities when I can, donate clothes and shoes to my local women’s shelter, give up my seat for children/the elderly on crowded buses and trains, etc. Being a good person for goodness sake is real; and this is something atheists know. We do not need the threat of eternal hellfire to be decent human beings. Seriously, if the threat of eternal hellfire and God’s wrath are essential ingredients for being “good” while on Earth, explain the Catholic sex abuse scandal to me.

2. “I was the first type of Atheist.” Based on years of experience and my interactions with various groups in the atheist community, I do not believe you were ever truly atheist. Maybe agnostic, but not atheist. There’s simply no going back once you’ve crossed that bridge; at least for me and the atheists I’ve met. You said it yourself, “Meanwhile I still felt that some “thing” created the universe and believed in karmic like forces.”

3. “This is most Atheists. They really just have not spent enough time researching both sides. Naturally then, they don’t have a belief in God(s) but walk around acting and talking very Christian like.” Another assumption. As stated above, I was raised Catholic. My de-conversion from christianity took twelve years. What was I doing during those twelve years? Still going to mass every Sunday and midnight mass every Christmas-eve with my family and sometimes alone. But I was also reading. Yes, I read books by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Vincent Bugliosi. But these books just answered some of my questions; they did not lead to my de-conversion. The book that lead me down that part was the NIV Quest Study Bible. I bought it March 2004 and carried it everywhere along with a notepad and highlighter. I wrote a note on the cover page to myself: please, try harder… Please do not assume all atheists walk away from religious belief with little to no thought of what this act truly means.

4. “When probed with the right questions it becomes clear that they live like a Christian, but speak like an Atheist.” What does this even mean? Right now, in this country the Evangelical Christian-thing to do it support a thrice-married, philanderer who brags about sexual assault, puts immigrant children in cages, sides with white nationalists after a counter-protest turns bloody, and calls Black nations “shitholes”. So please, enlighten me. What does it mean to “live like a Christian”?

5. “After hearing all of the Atheist arguments I still felt that they did not prove their side.” In philosophy, the “burden of proof” rests on the person making the positive claim. According to U. Hahn and M. Oaksford (2007), “pointing out that no one has failed to disprove their existence as a reason for believing in ghosts is characterized as an illegitimate attempt to shift that burden onto the other party instead of providing an adequate reason oneself”. Basically, Christians are claiming the positive: the existence of a deity. The burden of proof is theirs.

6. “The best of the best of them have differing views of how the universe came to be. They claim science is the ultimate answer. This is not my opinion, a quick Google search can show you everything science has gotten wrong over time.”. Quick Google searches are not the end-all for valid research. Plus the term “science” is entirely too broad for a “quick google search”. Biology, physics, chemistry, botany, geology, astronomy… the list goes on. The reason science is so important is that it’s testable and based on evidence and research. Just because the scientific method does not seamlessly blend with your religious world view does not mean it should be dismissed. And plus, science gave us many things we use everyday, like cellphones, laptops, and the ability to post opinions on Medium.

7. “Things science was once certain about, but has since changed their answer on. This is because science can only look backwards, not forwards. New data is always coming out and proving old answers wrong.” This sounds like religion to me. It’s regressive and followers tend to cling to antiquated beliefs about the world and how it should operate. Science is always forward thinking and has overwhelmingly contributed to our progress. I don’t understand your statement at all.

I can go on and on with my other thoughts on this post. I didn’t even bring up the Kanye West-angle (you guys love Kanye now; where were you when Jesus Walks came out in 2004?) What exactly was the point of this post? If you’re Christian, be Christian. Why drag atheists, scientists, and other world religions and philosophies through the mud?

Hahn, U., & Oaksford, M. (2007). The Burden of Proof and Its Role in Argumentation. Argumentation. dio: 10.1007/s10503–007–9022–6