Science, Frauds Trigger Decline In Atheism (Paganism Growing In West)

The Christian Underground --- Science, frauds trigger a decline in atheism By Uwe Siemon-Netto March 4, 2005

GURAT, France -- Godlessness is in trouble, according to a growing consensus among philosophers, intellectuals and scholars. "Atheism as a theoretical position is in decline worldwide," Munich theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg said in an interview.

His Oxford colleague Alister McGrath agrees. Atheism's "future seems increasingly to lie in the private beliefs of individuals rather than in the great public domain it once regarded as its habitat," Mr. McGrath wrote in the U.S. magazine, Christianity Today.

Two developments are plaguing atheism these days. One is that it appears to be losing its scientific underpinnings.

The other is the historical experience of hundreds of millions of people worldwide that atheists are in no position to claim the moral high ground. British philosopher Anthony Flew, once as hard-nosed a humanist as any, has turned his back on atheism, saying it is impossible for evolution to account for the fact that one single cell can carry more data than all the volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Mr. Flew still does not accept the God of the Bible. But he has embraced the concept of intelligent design -- a stunning desertion of a former intellectual ambassador of secular humanism to the belief in some form of intelligence behind the design of the universe.

A few years ago, European scientists snickered when studies in the United States -- for example, at Harvard and Duke universities -- showed a correlation between faith, prayer and recovery from illness. Now 1,200 studies at research centers around the world have come to similar conclusions, according to "Psychologie Heute," a German journal, citing, for example, the marked improvement of multiple sclerosis patients in Germany's Ruhr District because of "spiritual resources." Atheism's other Achilles' heels are the acts on inhumanity and lunacy committed in its name.

"With time, [atheism] turned out to have just as many frauds, psychopaths and careerists as religion does. ... With Stalin and Madalyn Murray O'Hair, atheism seems to have ended up mimicking the vices of the Spanish Inquisition and the worst televangelists, respectively," Mr. McGrath wrote in Christianity Today.

The Rev. Paul M. Zulehner, dean of Vienna University's divinity school and one of the world's most distinguished sociologists of religion, said atheists in Europe have become "an infinitesimally small group."

"There are not enough of them to be used for sociological research," he said. Mr. Zulehner cautioned, however, that the decline of atheism in Europe does not mean that re-Christianization is taking place.

"What we are observing instead is a re-paganization," he said. The Rev. Gerald McDermott, an Episcopal priest and professor of religion and philosophy at Roanoke College in Salem, Va., said a similar phenomenon is taking place in the United States.

"The rise of all sorts of paganism is creating a false spirituality that proves to be a more dangerous rival to the Christian faith than atheism," he said. After all, a Satanist is also "spiritual." Mr. Pannenberg, a Lutheran, praised the Roman Catholic Church for handling this peril more wisely than many of his fellow Protestants.

"The Catholics stick to the central message of Christianity without making any concessions in the ethical realm," he said, referring to issues such as same-sex "marriages" and abortion. In a similar vein, Mr. Zulehner, a Catholic, sees Christianity's greatest opportunity when its message addresses two seemingly irreconcilable quests of contemporary humanity -- the quest for freedom and truth.

"Christianity alone affirms that truth and God's dependability are inseparable properties to which freedom is linked." As for the "peril of spirituality," Mr. Zulehner sounded quite sanguine. He concluded from his research that in the long run, the survival of worldviews should be expected to follow this lineup: "The great world religions are best placed," he said.

As a distant second he sees the diffuse forms of spirituality. Atheism, he said, will come in at the tail end.

http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/print.php?StoryID=20050303-115733-9519r moderator@christian-underground.com http://www.christian-underground.com/archive/read.php?sid=734 Posted to the CU: 2005-03-04 01:18:16 CST

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Yep. .......Psychiatric-atheism, an empty, illogical philosophy, is dying.

.......Freud

but,.....

.......Psychiatric-Paganism,...an, empty, illogical philosophy, is on the rise....

.......Jung

................it's still the empty, illogical philosophy of psychiatric-Priesthood.

.....very,....'Pannenberg'

...very,....'Hugh Ross'

...very,....'Gorman Gray'

All of Romans chapter 10

How true. And if you lurk in or paricipate in an atheist/human secular "free thought" discuss forum you'll soon see that not only are they obsessed with God, but their discussions often center around the paranormal.

I think that it was G. K. Chesterton who said that "when people cease to believe in God, it's not that they believe in nothing, it's that they believe in everything," or words to that effect. The decline in traditional religious belief has led to a massive increase in superstition.

I believe you are correct. Europe is given over to hedonism. Their attitude seems to say that there is no point to any of this life except the pleasure one can get out of it.

They think that the government will always be there to take care of them, no matter how foolish they are.

The State has replaced God. "Our father, who are in (insert Berlin, Stockholm, Rome, etc.).... The population looks to the State to look after them, not the Lord.

More evasive tactics Maestro? Don't you realize yet that your tactics condemn you as being one who is unable to rationally discuss his worldview because he has no clue as to its creation story? Without this most fundamental knowledge, which forms the basis upon which the rest of your worldview rests, you have no way of knowing if whether any of it makes sense. If the genesis is flawed, then the rest of it is as well. The questions I asked you to answer are very logical, in that if nonintelligent, purposeless, meaningless matter is your 'creator', then you should be able to tell us just how this nonliving, nonintelligent matter not only 'begot' life, but endowed it with intellect, reason, logic, etc.

You hope that by posting scripture and such, that you'll divert my attention away from you and your inability to respond to my questions. But no such thing will occur because by your inability to answer my questions, you are effectively saying to me:
"Why bother responding to me (Maestro) when by my actions I, Maestro, prove myself to be a person who shouldn't be taken seriously?"

After all Maestro, if you're lacking the knowledge necessary for you to respond to my questions to you, why on earth should I believe that you possess the knowledge necessary to back up whatever unclear point you are trying to make with regards to the scripture you've been posting?

snip...By trying to read anything into someone's adoption of the common phrase, "oh my god", you're just being silly

While I understand the point you're making, even so, it does seem somewhat nonsensical for an atheist/human secular/Marxist to swear by something which they've also 'sworn' not to believe exists. Either God exists or He does not. If they don't believe in the existence of God, it would make sense for them never to swear by His name. But then, it would also make sense if they did not expend so much emotion on something they profess not to believe in.

I always enjoy your posts because you don't go off on knee-jerk tangents.

With that out of the way, let me ask you this: do you think that adherence to Christian beliefs should be a litmus test for holding public office in the United States?

You alluded to folks running for public office with the intent of Islamicizing America. My argument would be, they wouldn't get very far past local elections unless they were able to convince the rest of the country that we should institue Sharia law here. I don't see that happening.

The point is, religious beliefs of any sort, or lack thereof, shouldn't be any kind of test, unless you're looking for that. Secular adherence to the law means everything.

I believe that Americans have become conditioned to accept the lie that it's possible for someone to believe in "nothing" (secularism). There is no such thing as 'unbelief'. We all believe in something that shapes and molds our lives. As for who has spread this lie, I'll 'ping' you to my essay, "Who Is Queering America And Why?"

You are doing two things wrong here.

First, you are assuming that "God" always refers to the god in which you have belief. You need to understand that your religion isn't the only one out there, and when someone says 'god' they may not be referring to the one that you worship.

Secondly, "Oh my God!" is just an expression of surprise or exasperation. Many atheists who use such phrases do so out of habit, not belief. It's a reflex, not some secret belief that surfaces every now and then.

Also, why are you bringing Marxism into the discussion?

My assumption with regards to God (of the Bible) is based on the fact that the religious leaders quoted in the article were Episcopalians, Catholics, etc. Since there were no references to pantheistic religious leaders or to animist religious leaders, etc., then my assumption was correct and your assumption concerning my assumption is incorrect. As for Marx, he was already a part of the disussion by virtue of Stalin, who was referenced in the article. Therefore, I didn't "bring Marx into the discussion" as you've stated. He was already there.

You know, you ought to read the posted articles and not jump to hasty.....and wrong.....conclusions.

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