Random Thoughts on the New Atheists

The New Atheists and the Death of Philosophy (Part 1?)

I was welcomed into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil Mass in 2014. Prior to becoming Catholic, my journey was a complicated mess that can be understood as dodging the most important question of all: what are my duties if there is a God? I dodged that question even when I had my first slow conversion from being an agnostic to coming to believe in God and stumbling through an equivalent of the 'Sinner's Prayer' in the mid-2000s. The way I lived my life didn't change, meaning that I had intellectualized belief but did not change to have my life reflect my beliefs. I spent a lot of time not thinking about God or what my duties were. Not thinking about this issue is very, very common.

After coming into the Church I tried to read Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. I wanted to throw the book across the room several times because of how intellectually lazy the work was. I have a lot of gripes with the book but the majority of them can be summed up under the heading of 'the death of philosophy.' Dawkins and his cohorts in the 4 Donkeys of the Atheist Apocalypse or whatever they get called typically ignore philosophy altogether and instead engage in scientism, which can be defined as the application of the scientific method outside its proper sphere. Bishop Robert Barron has a great video on this subject. 

For centuries the existence of God was debated by the likes of St. Thomas Aquinas and atheists like David Hume and John Stuart Mill. David Humewould have none of the garbage peddled by the new atheists and for good reason. Hume's famous Problem of Induction torpedoes the entire New Atheist project of applying scientific methods outside of science, which is likely why he and other philosophers are ignored by the polemicists like Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens (whose brother Peter I strongly prefer despite his proud Protestantism, Daniel Dennett and the rest. The 4 Donkey Riders use science to promote a matter of opinion as fact, which is fascinating because the question itself defies scientific methods in that it cannot be tested one way or another. Christopher Hitchens famously dodged this by saying untestable questions can be ignored. Cute, but not true in that the question actually is testable via philosophy, not science.

The lack of philosophical training in the American university system today is astounding and troubling. If philosophy does anything at all then it does train people to think critically. Critical thinking is out of fashion in this secular age, as evident through the lack of reflecting on the question of God. I know this from experience because dodging the question is the norm. People treat the question as irrelevant because people assume that, if a God exists then it doesn't matter how you worship Him/Her/It. The assumption seems to be that the God of the Bible is the same as the God of the Quran is the same as the God of the Nature Worshipers and that this God is a God of pure love and not judgment. It's a comforting thought as lies usually are.

Why don't people think critically about God? Why do people assert the scientistic claim instead? Because those means of understanding reality are inherently relativistic in that they do not challenge us to live our lives for a higher good. We CAN live to serve others if we so choose to but it is ultimately our own decision with no repercussions other than losing the esteem of others, which can frankly be bought. Esteem is cheap. Our feelings are cheaper. You can feel pretty good about yourself as long as you have the money to make yourself feel better, or so the logic of the culture goes. If this sounds like idolatry to you that's because it is idolatry. It is the worship of the Self.

Self worship is the national past time of the United States as well as the rest of the secular West. It is both the dark side of individualism and the logical outcome of collectivism, in that both seek exaltation of the self but have chosen different means to achieve that goal. This is largely the result of several centuries of Protestant Revolt-inspired secular philosophy that prizes a near-solipsistic view of freedom of the person above the needs of others. On the one hand, we see others as people we compete with in society; on the other hand we see them as part of a mass collective that promises to lift everyone higher through identification with some Overmind of mass humanity. The New Atheists preach hedonism laced with anger and derision aimed at dissenters because the arguments are shallow and collapse under examination. The best rebuttal I've read of this comes from Peter Hitchens's book The Rage Against God, where Hitchens argues eloquently that the rejection of God is rooted in a deep personal dislike of Him rather than in anything rational. One needs only to see the rage in the eyes of some atheists when they argue against God for evidence.

The Problem With Secular Christmas

The Problem With Secular Christmas

I haven't been Catholic for terribly long. Well before I was received into the Church at the Easter Vigil in 2014 I had grown to hate the way Christmas is celebrated. Even before I came to believe in God I hated Christmas celebrations. Why did I feel this way? For the same reason that I hated every secular expression of Christian heritage in the West: the celebration had become distorted and separated from the traditions, divorced from its values, and turned into something two dimensional.

I understand the symbolism of giving gifts to those we love on Christmas. We are to see each other as Christ, and we mimic the actions of the Three Magi by giving gifts. To be sure, the gifts they gave were expensive as well, with each having deep symbolism to the life and death of Christ. Those gifts represent Christ's kingship and His mission on Earth.

But Christmas has become separated from living and loving in a Christ-like manner. To be sure, we see stories every year of selfless acts of charity that go viral on social media and covered in the nightly news. Those people who do charitable works seem to understand the meaning of Christmas, though charitable acting isn't the only meaning of Christmas. But they understand, better than most of us probably do. It's astounding when these charitable souls are non-believers, putting those of us who celebrate and follow Christ to shame.

To understand what the meaning of Christmas is we need to understand Christmas. Christ loved man so much that he left the glory of the Kingdom to come to Earth in the form of a baby born to homeless parents in squalid conditions. He came in the most vulnerable condition, born in a condition that should have been understood in universal terms as bearing innocents, though in those days, like in ours, the dignity and priceless value of the life of a baby was rejected in many quarters. Christ came to live among regular people, born to a perpetually virgin woman and cared for (a time at any rate) by a devout, elderly laborer. The King came to dwell among us, and he chose those with so little that they had not even a dwelling for Him to be born in.

His mission? To give everything so that we might be free from our own worst desires. Among these desires are selfishness, hedonism, and turning the other cheek from our neighbor and raising our fists to those who offend us. We are ruled by our flesh and by our pride. We see this in secular celebrations of Christmas, with the expert marketers telling us that our worth is measured in the size of the pile of gadgets and plastic under the tree. We believe this to such a degree that some trample their neighbor on the aptly named Black Friday so they can get one of the limited stock of the latest hot toy or gadget, which will honestly be forgotten by the recipient within a relatively short time after receiving it.

I sound cynical. Perhaps I am. For me, the summit of Christmas celebration is the Christmas Mass, either at the Vigil on Christmas Eve (the night that Mary and Joseph desperately searched for lodging), or on the morning that we celebrate His birth. Pope Francis spoke about the true meaning of Christmas at the Christmas Eve Vigil Mass he celebrated in Vatican City last night, saying “In a society so often intoxicated by consumerism and hedonism, wealth and extravagance, appearances and narcissism, this Child calls us to act soberly, in other words, in a way that is simple, balanced, consistent, capable of seeing and doing what is essential,” the Pope said, according to Vatican Radio. This message is often lost on us because our pride is so embroiled in having to provide the proper gifts in kind and amount that we lose sight of the simple fact that Christmas is about Christ and His love for us.

When people complain about a war on Christmas being waged by the secular culture I'm always amused. The War on Christmas was fought and won long ago by the secular culture. One need look no further than the behavior of Christians who lose sight of Christ at the holidays for that. If evidence is what you seek then pay attention to ads on television that use church music....and notice that the only lyrics you hear are the least religious in the song, with no mention of His holy name. Why? Because the war on Christmas was won long ago by the secular culture. Now the reason for the season is to balance checkbooks and ledgers for retailers. One wonders how many of the people who participate in marketing Christmas sales to all of us are Christians, and how many of them have been complicit in the stripping of Christ from Christmas.

This isn't to say that we shouldn't buy gifts from family and friends on Christmas. I challenge everyone, including and especially myself, to remember what Christmas is really about as we move into the New Year. Can you carry that sense of charity forward? If it helps, in the Catholic Church we celebrate Christmas for several weeks after December 25^th, for the birth of our Lord can only adequately be celebrated in a season, not a day. Every Mass attended between now and the end of the Christmas season should remind us to carry that message in our hearts so that we may love our neighbor, especially those most vulnerable, everyday.

The Christian and the World

December 19, 2015

Unless you've been hiding under a rock you've probably noticed all the hullabaloo about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Don't worry – this isn't about the movie or anything. Rather, I'm concerned about a reaction to the media story I saw recently when a Catholic news page on Facebook posted a review for the film. The headline was provocative, claiming that the film was better than any of the previous ones in the series save for the original. Several readers asked an honest question: what does Star Wars have to do with the faith?

The answer is pretty straightforward. We, as Christians must pay attention to the popular whims and fancies gripping the secular world. Popular culture, whether it is music, television, film or the political whims of an increasingly shallow society, is a window into the moral and interior health of the culture. If our culture has a soul, the easiest means we have for understanding the moral condition of society is to see what is popular at the moment. Right now, the popular trends are grim, with superhero films, space fantasy and two-dimensional action films dominating the silver screen. We live in an age characterized by rehashing the successful iconic ideas of a bygone era. We find superficial contentment in re-presenting these old ideas and adding a new layer of polish to them.

I don't mean to sound cynical. There are signs of hope. Perhaps in the new Batman v Superman film we'll see a great presentation of the dichotomy between good and evil on the screen, presented in starkly moral tones. If so it's likely to be superficial simply because few people in the market want entertainment that challenges the way we think. After all, what Hollywood peddles is escapism; moral stories that overtly push a moral challenge are rarely box office successes.

What do we see when we look at the music, movies and other elements of popular culture today? We see a society in a state of rapid change. Our moorings in traditions and even the rule of law are being challenged by demands for greater inclusion that themselves go largely unchallenged due to our fears of being labeled bigots. This is reflected in much of popular culture, with The Force Awakens being lauded for its diverse cast (interestingly, the fans seem not to care and cheer for its good casting choices instead) and passing the Bechdel Test, despite the Bechdel Test being considered a very flawed way to understand women in film.

There is little talk of how values are shown on the big screen or in popular music. Values are something that any person of faith should be concerned with. How we understand what we value and the morality that guides the decisions we make, as portrayed by our culture's artful propagandists, is essential to understanding the state of the world today. Jesus tells us in Matthew 16 that we should be aware of the sign of the times, which requires all of us to understand the world around us. This means, first and foremost, not hiding ourselves away from a society that is in the midst of a secular moment in history. Instead, we have to participate in the culture to the best of our abilities and within the confines of the moral and natural law. I'm not telling you to go see The Force Awakens – I haven't seen it yet – but I am suggesting that there isn't any harm in judiciously participating in the popular culture, with eyes set firmly on the Kingdom.

Blog Relaunch!

After nine months of inactivity and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with this blog I've decided to relaunch it. So, coming soon you'll see:

• Commentary on goings-on in the Catholic Church from the eyes of a recent convert;
• Musings on living a life of faith in a world that mocks belief;
• Rantings about the intersection of faith, politics, culture and the arts;
• General updates on my big writing project: a doctoral dissertation on Catholic Social Teaching

If this sounds interesting, please subscribe and/ or follow me. My hope is to post at least once each week on this blog, as well as the other blog I'm working on. Feel free to comment or add suggestions. The only thing I will not engage in here is debates about Christianity v Protestantism and that kind of thing.

Cheers,

Anthony