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If Theism is Irrational, So Is Atheism


The odor of a growing hostility toward the Faith has become particularly putrid over the past year. A (very new) concept of freedom has caught on in our nation which accepts no limit other than each person’s impulse and desire. What’s more, those who hold this idea of freedom also argue that the fulfillment of personal impulse is a civil right framed by the nation’s Constitution. It is no wonder that Christianity falls under attack for holding a very different view of the world: namely, that in the tempering of impulse and the cultivation of virtue, a man finds fulfillment. The debate over the meaning of “freedom” has, in turn, fanned the flame of another fire: the belief that any form of faith is backward or irrational. Both sides find it easier to demonize the other, rather than spending the energy that true dialogue demands. The “religion is silly” bandwagon – so vocal in mainstream media reports and online comment boxes – presents itself as the path of the educated and “enlightened” in the culture. All the while, people of faith cry foul, claiming the vicious and insincere “they” continue to erode the foundations of society and to impoverish human beings by advocating ideas not worthy of their dignity or nature. This article aims at a rather modest goal. It does not claim to offer a rational defense of the Christian faith, nor to defend the Christian concept of freedom, nor to prove the existence of God. It seeks only to level the playing field by showing that both theism and atheism come from an identical source. And, by doing so, it hopes to reveal a basis for real dialogue between them.

The odor of a growing hostility toward the Faith has become particularly putrid over the past year. A (very new) concept of freedom has caught on in our nation which accepts no limit other than each person’s impulse and desire. What’s more, those who hold this idea of freedom also argue that the fulfillment of personal impulse is a civil right framed by the nation’s Constitution. It is no wonder that Christianity falls under attack for holding a very different view of the world: namely, that in the tempering of impulse and the cultivation of virtue, a man finds fulfillment.

The debate over the meaning of “freedom” has, in turn, fanned the flame of another fire: the belief that any form of faith is backward or irrational. Both sides find it easier to demonize the other, rather than spending the energy that true dialogue demands. The “religion is silly” bandwagon – so vocal in mainstream media reports and online comment boxes – presents itself as the path of the educated and “enlightened” in the culture. All the while, people of faith cry foul, claiming the vicious and insincere “they” continue to erode the foundations of society and to impoverish human beings by advocating ideas not worthy of their dignity or nature.

This article aims at a rather modest goal. It does not claim to offer a rational defense of the Christian faith, nor to defend the Christian concept of freedom, nor to prove the existence of God. It seeks only to level the playing field by showing that both theism and atheism come from an identical source. And, by doing so, it hopes to reveal a basis for real dialogue between them.

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