Atheists resign yourselves: God exists (and is fighting with us?)

02/28/2012

An atheism campaign

Fabrizio Mastrofini Rome

In contrast to those (Pope in the lead) who see in secularism and indifference the challenge of all challenges, the magazine Credere Oggi (of the Franciscan convent in Padua) devotes its latest issue to analyzing Atheism and faith in God. The “new atheism” we are witnessing has many facets. Firstly, there is no God, and indeed creating images of him is only a childish fantasy that needs to be overcome. Here the atheist gets along with the believer because the Bible commands us not to create images of God. In Italy the phenomenon of atheism has an Anglo-Saxon influence pointed out in several articles which list various names and currents as examples. We have the freethinkers that use the new cognitivism of neurosciences to dissolve the metaphysical concept of soul. Then there are the anti-clerical followers of Christopher Hitchens, religion pollutes every human experience under the weight of an even more useless and unnecessary hierarchy. Lastly, the “neognostic”, which is allegedly very dangerous because capable of dissolving the uniqueness and authenticity of the revelation brought by Christ into an indifferent market of religious offerings.

The atheism of today, the authors of various articles point out in unison, demonstrates to be a phenomenon that is more aggressive than in the past because it uses the results of cognitive science to demonstrate the futility of faith. God becomes just another thought among others. So what must one do? As the theologian Bruno Secondin says in the magazine's closing article, we should be wary of “shortcuts” and clarify the differences between a church (understood as a place of worship) where you live an experience and meet people in the name of Jesus and a McDonald's where you nibble here and there in response to a primitive instinct.

The analysis is suggestive and interesting. Especially for the scenery of the positions that are shown. What is missing then? Ask at least one question: is it possible for atheism or criticism of religion which then leads to atheism, is all on one side? Maybe there is some responsibility also with believers and the Church, when they both seem too caught up in economic interests, politics and power, which should have nothing to do with religion? How to speak without recognizing the reasons of others? There are no answers to these questions, at least in this issue. There is rather tetragonal criticism and perhaps this is one of the most significant relationships between the Church and the modern world today.

"New atheism and faith in God", Credere Oggi magazine, number 187 (1/2012); pp. 120, Euro 8,50 http://www.credereoggi.it/

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