While atheist-theologian would seem to be a career oxymoron, it is a profession encountered on a surprisingly regular basis amongst the outspoken critics of Christianity. It seems our atheist friends find it necessary to dabble in the “dark art” of theology in order to prove that God doesn’t exist. They believe that by practicing divine psychoanalysis they can help us understand the deranged mind of our unstable Christian God. Sadly, they end up on their own therapeutic couch working through divine anger management issues and then self-medicating with primal scream therapy. Thinking they have entered the mind of God they end up contemplating their own navels.
As a physician and biology teacher, I am struck by how this is played out in the science classroom. The authors of many of the textbooks on evolutionary theory feel the need to include arguments against God. The very people that vehemently oppose teaching the “veiled religion” of Intelligent Design in schools seem to think it is OK to bring God back into the classroom for a good flogging. If you think you need to address the issue of God in your science textbook, and expect students to read them, then it would seem to me that God should be allowed to be a part of the classroom discussion.
If materialistic evolution is a fact then why not allow Intelligent Design into the classroom so it can be crushed once for all. If atheists are so confident in the plausibility of their theory, why do they need to get a court order to keep God out of the classroom? What are they so afraid of? Surely science is capable of speaking for itself? If you believe that life is all chemicals and energy then stop wasting your time engaging in a Christian witch-hunt and start dancing to the music of your own selfish genes.
I respect the right of anyone to deny the existence of God but let your science stand on its own two legs and quit trying to prop it up with amateur theology. If you want to establish materialistic evolution as truth then let it wrestle with God in your curriculum. It is intellectual cowardice to act like an MMA fighter that taunts, but then refuses to rumble in a classroom cage match. What is perhaps even more startling is that 90+% of Americans believe in a god, a poll number any political candidate would drool over, and yet we allow the clear minority to dictate the terms of educational engagement for our children.
The good news is there are many thoughtful scientists and science teachers on both sides of this issue that welcome the discussion. Sadly, they remain silent because they fear they will be ex-communicated from the church of Science for challenging evolutionary holy dogma. It appears that the persecution of Galileo, held by atheists as prima facie evidence for religious intolerance, has become their own template for squelching dissension. They have exchanged holy vestments for lab coats but sadly continue to keep meaningful dialogue under house arrest.
