Are All Atheists "Fools"?

My atheist friends often have Psalm 14:1 lobbed at them as if the verse ends the conversation like a holy grenade! It says, "The fool has said in his heart there is no God".

But the verse does not mean all atheists are fools. It means anyone who "says in his heart" there is no God is a fool. In other words, anyone who denies God for merely emotional reasons is foolish. An issue this profound is not to be determined by one's psychological state or emotional disposition.

The person who has genuine intellectual questions or objections concerning God's existence is not the biblical definition of a fool. God will honor and answer in the humble quest for truth. The honest inquirer is in a better position before God than the emotionally closed-minded.

Since I'm talking about the Hebraic-Christian Scriptures, they repeatedly say we must humble ourselves before God. Think about it. If God exists, humility is certainly in order in seeking Him. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you". "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God", etc.

This shouldn't be hard for the atheist intellectually. Most of my atheist friends agree that humility is in order in the quest for any truth. Don't you agree?

(On the other hand, I can see how horrible I would feel (at least at first) if, say, Islam was proven to me to be true. I would be forced intellectually and emotionally to acknowledge Allah and Muhammad. I would have to begrudgingly and reluctantly bow before them. That would suck! I would acknowledge Allah's existence, but probably continually resist any relationship or love for him until he smote me!

But I must say that my emotional resistance to Islam is mostly for intellectual reasons! Thankfully, I am confident there is nothing forthcoming in Islam that will serve as an adequate defeater of Christ's claims.)

BTW, I am aware of Christ's injunction against calling anyone a fool, yet he himself did. Keep in mind that Christ is forbidding unwarranted name-calling (literally "empty head") from people who are themselves often foolish!

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Permalink Reply by CJoe on March 30, 2011 at 3:53pm

But what if childbirth for human females is only worse than for other animals because our craniums have grown large to accommodate our massive brains (in proportion to our body size) as our species has grown more intelligent? Our heads are too big for our hips, and it's actually our brain-size that complicates childbirth. Our primitive ancestors had smaller heads (much like other primates today).

This is evidence of evolution. If our bodies were the result of intelligent design, you have to question the intelligence and forethought of the designer. I realize that "sin" is the reason for the world's imperfections, but I find that absurdly implausible. And insanely cruel. Eve disobeyed once and then God blew up the size of our brains so our heads couldn't fit through the narrow passage in our hips? Nice, God. Really nice.

Permalink Reply by Arcus on March 31, 2011 at 2:04pm

To be perfectly honest, I became an atheist when I started reading Snotte Sturlason's king sagas concurrent with having Christianity in school and not being able to tell the difference (around age 11-12)...

My knowledge of the Bible is shameful low for an atheist ;) 

Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on March 29, 2011 at 4:54pm

Geh... according to the bible we are. Funny thing is... it's often the OTHER side of the god equation that tend to be fools, gullible, child-like, apocalypse-orgasmic, self- and group- hypnotists, control freaks, etc. Who's the fool? I think they are.

Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on March 29, 2011 at 5:05pm

Or rather, I meant the "bible banging nut-cases" who accept on blind faith are fools.

Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on March 29, 2011 at 5:07pm
PS... I respect you that you were brave enough to enter an atheist-majority social networking site and talk about "the great unspeakables" with atheists without being a bible-banger. Thanks for the sanity! ^_^
Permalink Reply by Kirk Holden on March 29, 2011 at 5:41pm

If I have an IQ of 87, anything I might say could be randomly and unintentionally correct. I might guess the speed of light in a vacuum or the acceleration of gravity but I would still have an IQ of 87.

 

I could then proceed to foolishly say other random things and be wrong. And my IQ would remain 87.

 

As a cognitive atheist - that is a well-read and educated atheist - I can avoid being called a fool. I am not randomly guessing the the universe is 13.72B years old. But I may find myself in agreement with *some* of the fools statements but not others. Wise women and foolish men can agree on many things.

 

If I turn it around... "Everyone who says in his heart there is no god is a fool." I would be saying something entirely different. That is not what the verse says in an English translation. Which is the version the people that pester me are speaking generally.

Permalink Reply by Will Sloan on March 29, 2011 at 10:52pm
Just a reminder everyone! April 1st is Nat'l Atheist Day... you know, cuz we're fools. Hur hur...
Permalink Reply by Suzanne Olson-Hyde on March 30, 2011 at 4:16am

I didn't know there was such a thing - found this on the internet - 

 

http://www.christianlibrary.org/authors/Grady_Scott/atheistday.htm

 

Have to be in the mood to sent him an email - if more atheists can send this lovely person an email - all the better - just for fun.

Permalink Reply by Will Sloan on March 30, 2011 at 4:24pm
Yeah, we should send him an email requesting that "indisputable proof" he allegedly has access to. If it were so damn indisputable then why would people like us even exist? We'd have no reason to ever challenge it.
Permalink Reply by Violet Chartreuse on March 30, 2011 at 4:03pm

 

I had a friend tell me this a few years ago.  Ha!  I think we should embrace it collectively and turn it back on them! 

Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on March 30, 2011 at 4:14pm
Absolutely, let's all be as foolish as we can for one day to help the poor theists feel better about their foolishness the other 364.  LOL
Permalink Reply by Will Sloan on March 30, 2011 at 4:59pm
Haha! A guy I know posted the Atheist Day gag as his Facebook status update. He know's I'm an atheist so I thought I'd antagonize him a bit by "liking" it and making a light-hearted comment about how funny it was. Kill em with kindness. Works incredibly well. LOL!

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