I read an article this morning in the Lawton Constitution that was titled with the same title as this blog post. I read it with intrigue. From the start, I am a Christian. I have been a devoted Christian from the age of 14, and was raised in a religious family. In other words I have been in and around church my whole life. To top it off, I am a full time pastor. My belief in God is very high. But if you are not a Christian please humor me and read on...
With that said, my heart was breaking as a I read the article. I have many friends that are not Christians and a few who are atheist. The article addressed the issues an atheist faces during the overtly Christian celebration of the holidays. It explained that there are support groups that help atheists deal with holiday depression, how to avoid awkward conversations with family, and how to survive the holidays in general. CS Lewis talked of the dangers at every turn an atheist must face to protect their belief system. He would know. He called himself one of the most reluctant converts to Christianity in all of England. He was an atheist for many years.
Christmas must be an especially hard time for atheists.
I hope that families, churches, and Christians can be sensitive to the needs of those who claim there is no God. I hope that they can feel welcome in the communities they belong. I believe that any community should be a place where they can search and question all their life beliefs about family, culture, work, religion, art, and music. The church community should be open to those atheists who are looking for meaning, purpose, and hope. I say that because I notice the language of atheists, especially in the article I read.
Some of the atheists in the article celebrated the holidays by decorating tree, which I admit traces back to both pagan and Christian belief systems. They celebrate the winter solstice, another pagan belief. The argument was that Christians had stolen the celebration from pagan religions. The solutions was that pagan religions where polytheistic and thus more appropriate for atheism than Christianity and Judaism, which are monotheistic. Yet simple logic has to recognize that all are practices of people who are believing in a higher power or being. Pure atheism cannot accept any of these beliefs or practices. They are not atheists, they are confused people who are still seeking for answers. Whether they recognize it or not.
One quote from a middle age atheist was, "Food we like. Presents we like. Seeing family we like." But when it came to prayer or the family attending a worship service, he did not participate. Yet another quote by the same guy explained, "Sacred trees are an ancient custom. It's pretty, it smells nice, and it's pagan." His reasoning doesn't line up. He loves community and family. He loves celebrating. But to find reasons to do so, he accepts it by covering Christianity with paganism and calls it good. This man is not an atheist. He is an agnostic. He himself used the word sacred in a spiritual way. Think about it.
Another middle aged man expressed that he took the good and left the bad of the holiday. The good was family and friends. The bad was anything that had to do with church. Why? Because his ex-wife used the atheist argument against him in their divorce litigation because she was a devout Christian. As I read I could understand his pain. For this man to come to God he will have to go through the family issues and pain that clouds his judgement. A real pain that he lives with daily. He's not a true atheist. He is a man who is hurting and using atheism to mask his pain. I know this is true because when the family leaves after dinner to attend a mass he stays behind. In other words his only community leaves him behind in his deepest pain. Or to put it another way, this man believes that the church is a place that cannot heal him. So I asked myself if my church, no better, if I would be the kind of person that would work through his pain and help him heal. Heal his view of life, family, relationships, and hopefully of God.
The last example that caught my attention was a retired man who came out and said he told his 92 year old mom to put her own Christmas lights up because, "she believes all this crap." This man was willing to ruin the few remaining Christmases his mother, a devout Christian, had left. A 92 year old women cannot put her lights up herself. And Christmas lights don't equate to Christian faith. This man must have hurts that go deep, deep down. Words like crap and actions that demonstrate disdain to help others enjoy the holidays are tale-tale signs of that truth.
What harm besets an atheist who attends a church service or hands Christmas lights? If there is no God then the church service poses no harm. It is another meeting during a week of meetings. Maybe, just maybe their is something else keeping this man from attending a church or enjoying the holidays. What that is I will not try to guess.
The take away from my musing today may just be for me, but they ran so deep I had to write something to help work through my feelings. What are my feelings? Heartbreak. Heartbreak that people desire community, family, and robust life...but apart from God. Stop and read Psalms 16:2. Heartbreak that some people hide behind a weak form of atheism to mask their pain. A pain that only something or someone greater than them can heal. For me that person is Jesus Christ; the Christ in the word Christ-mas. Now, don't discount me now after reading the whole article. I explained at the beginning I was a Christian. I simply want you, the reader, to think about the whole of the discuss.
- To be sensitive to those who believe differently.
- To be sensitive to those who find the holidays painful due to their life situations or confused beliefs.
- To be a healer of those who hide behind atheism or any system of belief to mask their pain.
- To be the family member that stays behind when all others go to church, to simply be with the one who is left behind at home alone. I think Jesus himself told a parable about leaving the 99 for the 1.
- To be bold about your faith, but without pushing others away. The goal is not conversion, that is between God and a person. The goal is conversation, relationship, and community. The rest will work itself out.
All of this is complicated, messy, and easier said then done. But if Christians will be open and atheist will be open, civilized talk can be fostered. Where the talk goes it up to each situation and individual involved.
Think about it...
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