"Why Atheism DEFINITELY Exists"

The following letter was a response to an article entitled "Why Atheism Does Not Exist" by Adam Smith on his blog "Lost and Found." My hope is not to belittle Christians who believe that "Atheism does not exist," but to speak the truth in love in arguing that Atheism certainly does exist and that accepting someone else's beliefs--even if you disagree with them--is the beginning of real loving witness.

Hi, Adam,

I appreciate your genuine desire to share your faith. But I have a response particular to “Why Athiesm Does Not Exist.” I have intentionally posted it here, because it doesn’t really relate to previous comments. I am a Christian as well and I admire your honest expression of your beliefs. I can see that you are speaking truth on some level–but when we apply our personal perspectives to everyone else, it isn’t ultimately effective.

From your perspective, Atheism doesn’t exist because everyone worships something or someone. While it is true that everyone is a worshiper of something, that does not necessarily mean that Atheism does not exist. Atheism is the belief system founded on the idea that deities do not exist. This is in fact a religion–there are people who ascribe to it. And, although Atheists may still effectively “worship” certain things in their lives as we all do, they are still Atheists because one’s religion decides only what one believes, not necessarily what one does. What one does is a related but different matter. Please don’t confuse the two, because telling someone their religion doesn’t exist tends to ostracize them and propagate stereotypes about Christians being dogmatic–I know this is not your intent, but it can be a byproduct.

Furthermore, in order to truly reach people for Christ, we must first seek to understand them before they can understand us. We understand Christ from our perspective, but, in order to share our personal understanding, we must be able to relate our understanding to the situations, perspectives and worldviews of others. If you want to reach Atheists for Christ, you shouldn’t go about it by telling them that the foundation of their lives “doesn’t exist” because that’s simply demeaning, even if it’s not meant to be. Imagine if someone came up to you and said “Jesus doesn’t exist” and then proceeded to use passages from Nietzsche to explain to you why this was so. You would probably be very upset, as would I. But you see, this is exactly what you are doing when you write an article titled “Why Atheism Does Not Exist,” assuming an objective perspective, and then use the Bible to explain why, I promise you that 99% of Atheists will automatically tune you out. Food for thought.

Peace in Christ,

Conner McCarthy