The nerve of some people! Isn't it irritating when people try to force their religion upon you? I too am totally offended at the
presumptuousness.... of many hard-line atheists. 'Believer' is usually a label attached to people of religious faith, but atheism is also a belief system, so the labels fits.
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with one of these hard-line atheists about a controversial topic. What isn't controversial nowadays? The atheist, we'll call her Maria, was very concerned about prayer in school, believing that it is and should be AGAINST THE LAW. She did not want her daughter exposed to prayer or religion of any sort while in school. Maria went to her daughter's school and demanded that all the children STOP praying, like right now! She said her daughter didn't need to be exposed to religion and that she was just the nicest, sweetest girl you'd ever want to meet (not that she was partial or anything) without any help from religious people or a so-called god. When I suggested that perhaps her daughter's excellent character qualities could be due in part to the kind and loving believers her daughter was exposed to in school, she was shocked and offended at the mere suggestion of the idea. Apparently Maria believes she is the only influence her daughter absorbs in life.
The path we are all on is the path to God. Resistance only peaks
curiosity - so if you really want your child to be an atheist - why object to such things as prayer in school? In my mind, you only
make her more curious. Let your children learn from life - don't be an extremist by sheltering your
kids from every outside influence. The more you try, the more curious they become, increasing the likelihood that they may stray. This holds true for Christians, Muslims, Jews and other religious believers as well. If you
force a child into Muslim way of life and they become exposed to other
ways - they may leave their way to explore the other. Only if they
truly understand their religion from a love point of view, and it fits their love point of view, will they go
back to it. Only if they deeply understand and appreciate their own religion, will they be better prepared to love others in the special way that God loves. A shallow understanding of religion is no religion at all, and this is how extremism is born again and again. The religions we all choose to believe in are of our own creation, atheists don't like the god they've created, so they force their mind-god beliefs upon their children and everyone they meet.
Think about a sweet little child, or even an exploring teenager or young adult, who is exposed to an angry atheist, angry because they hate people of religious faith. Why would a God loving, sweet and innocent child want to be like you? You come across as mean and nasty. The Christian faith teaches the well known 'Love is patient' Bible verse to their children. By the same token, they also teach exclusivity - telling others that they must believe as they do, or suffer in hell - which of course I don't agree with. But perhaps, for the benefit of our children, we can at least agree on Love.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly;
it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails...
But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13
I agreed with Maria that she might very well be a great parent, since she insisted; I said morals have nothing to do with one's
religion or lack thereof. Morals are natural (the Bible also says that God has written his laws upon our hearts, maybe that's why I believe this). Our multi-faceted nature
also can make us violate our inborn moralities. This is why in the Bible, the Lord said to Cain after he killed his brother Abel "sin is crouching at your door; it desires
to have you, but you must master it.". Even animals have morals and
will not attack a human being unless they have been attacked in the
past. The people, like Darwin, who wrote about the evolutionary island of Galapagos teach us this.
We must overcome this inclination of superiority and begin to realize we are all in this together. We don't have to agree with, accept or affirm what others believe; we are free, at least here in America, to believe as we choose so long as we do not harm anyone, but it might be nice to allow a little more love from and for others in our hearts. Love rules.
THE LAW is not always acceptable or even right. I prefer to enjoy my Creator endowed rights by choosing to live by the SPIRIT and the HEART.
