Even if God's existence could be proven, Niezsche writes in The Antichrist, we would still refuse to accept him. When I read atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, I don't get the impression that they are motivagted by mere unbelief. I don't believe in unicorns, but I don't go around writing books full of rejection and bile about unicorns. When I read The God Delusion and God Is Not Great, I see that their authors do not so much disbelieve in God as they hate Him.
Consequently, the arguments spelled out in these atheist books are out of sync with the actual vehemence of their authors.
Enter the French atheist Michel Onfray, whose Atheist Manifesto is a bestseller in Europe. Onfray comes out of a different tradition than Dawkins and Hitchens, one that he describes as stretching from the Baron d'Holbach to Nietzsche. This is Continental atheism, and it makes its case against God in an entirely different way than do the Anglo-Saxon atheists we encounter in the United States. Onfray, like Nietzsche, regards Anglo-Saxon atheists like Dawkins as representing a low, brutish type, widely found in England.
These themes will be developed in my forthcoming book What's So Great About Christianity. But here's one key difference between Anglo-Saxon atheism and Continental atheism. While Dawkins and Hitchens insist that we can be moral without God, Onfray with astonishing frankness concedes Nietzsche's point that the death of God also means the death of Western morality and Western values. So if God goes, that means that "equality" and "rights" go too. This is a possibility that Dawkins and Hitchens have not even considered. In many ways I think Onfray's atheism is more honest, more darkly appealing, and more dangerous than the atheism of Dawkins and Hitchens. My review of Onfray's book appears on the religious website Tothesource and you can read it here.
Reader Comments ( Page 5 of 110)
61. God's invisible nature has been made manifest through the things he has created. And that includes the consciuos of every man and woman to deny this is simply to kick against the pricks. The simple truth is that there is a God, A loving God who is in charge of all he made.
Richards M Ssemakula
richards at 11:57AM on Aug 9th 2007
62. Randy, you said exactly what I wanted to say. God is love. If you love then you know God, if you do not love then you do not know God. It really is as simple as that. Love is Christ's command. It is what he demands all those who believe do. A person who doesn't love cannot be considered a Christian and, as my father would say, is a Christian from his teeth out.
Sonia at 11:50AM on Aug 9th 2007
63. To #34 - Randy
If I could find a congregation with a pastor like you, I would consider going back to church.
Bas at 11:49AM on Aug 9th 2007
64. Atheists seem to forget that there have been wars that have nothing to do with religion, such as ethnic cleansing.
I think that atheists hate God because if there is a God, then they have to answer to Him in the end. People don't want to answer to anyone else, so the idea of a God that will judge them for their immorality is frightening.
Finally, there is no basis for moral language without religion. Humanity can only think in terms of death and destruction, not in terms of 'good,' 'rights,' etc.
And Dinesh, you spelled 'motivated' 'motivagted' in the first paragraph. Just thought I'd let you know.
Death of Reason at 11:50AM on Aug 9th 2007
65. Knight_of_BAAWA,
A blind man may not see, but that does not mean there is NO such thing as Vision.
Speak a word. Did it exist when you said it?
Dane Graves at 11:52AM on Aug 9th 2007
66. "I don't get the impression that they are motivagted by mere unbelief. I don't believe in unicorns, but I don't go around writing books full of rejection and bile about unicorns."
If everyone around you was deluded enough to believe in unicorns and based their lives on unicorns, you too would be angry and frustrated with how fucking stupid everyone else is. And I think you would write a book about how moronic it is to believe in unicorns...
k8michael55 at 11:54AM on Aug 9th 2007
67. Ok people,
Let me put it straight. Some or a lot of you athiests think God is some spoilsport in heaven who wants you to have no fun so you just pretend, convince yourself He doesnt exist. Newsflash, God aint a bore and He can meet your needs in legit ways. I mean who says a marriage where male and female have a mutual understanding and respect for one another cant be fun, lots of fun, and did I mention fun? And who says that being Christian has to be enourmously hard? You people should just try it. I mean, whats really wrong with it?
Michelle at 11:56AM on Aug 9th 2007
68. Death of Reason,
How can one hate that which does not exist? And I think that the only reason you believe in god is because you're a terrified little child who sees the boogeyman around every corner.
Do you like my psychoanalysis? Probably not. So why did you likewise use such crap psychoanalysis for atheists?
And no, morality has nothing to do with religion or god. It has everything to do with rights.
Knight_of_BAAWA at 11:56AM on Aug 9th 2007
69. Dane,
Your false analogy re: blind is quite laughable. And yes, when I speak, the words exist. Surely you don't think that there's no method of transmission for sound, do you? If so, I suggest you pick up a physics book.
Knight_of_BAAWA at 11:57AM on Aug 9th 2007
70. Michelle,
No atheists think that god is a spoilsport. And I used to be a christian, but then I grew up and stopped believing in fairy tales.
Knight_of_BAAWA at 11:58AM on Aug 9th 2007
71. Richards,
The simple fact is that there is no god, and that saying everything was created is not only a blatant assertion but begs the question.
Knight_of_BAAWA at 11:59AM on Aug 9th 2007
72. Midwiz: If Atheists "…don't want to be forced to believe in God…", neither do Christians want to be forced to NOT believe in God, hence the first amendment to our constitution. Whenever a religion (ANY religion) attempts to FORCE anyone to believe (or disbelieve) something, right at that point trouble starts. Belief is fundamentally a matter of an individual's own internal workings, and religion (AND GOVERNMENT) should stay out of that arena.
Donald Power at 12:25PM on Aug 9th 2007
73. Well Knight_of_BAAWA,
Yeah I have doubted myself. Questions galore. But I got some answers and God still seems to make sense to me. What really keeps you from believing now? Just cause He's invisible and that?
Michelle at 12:08PM on Aug 9th 2007
74. What keeps me from believing in god is exactly what keeps me from believing that square circles and married bachelors exist, Michelle
Knight_of_BAAWA at 12:13PM on Aug 9th 2007
75. I admit that there is frustration and even some anger among nonbelievers. Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are brilliant men, who are fed up...it also doesn't hurt financially that this mean streak differentiates them from the majority of those with similar views.
The Unicorn analogy is actually useful, how would Mr. D'Souza feel if the president of the US, stated publically, to great applause that it would be a good idea to mandate that every school day start with a teacher led ritual affirming the existence of unicorns and followed by the pledge of allegiance to "one nation under unicorns". Wait, that would be crazy wouldn't it?
What if all our currency had the word unicorn on it, and, anyone who had a unicorn based organization would be granted tax exempt status. All public officials would be required to swear "so help my unicorn" To you that would seem insane wouldn't it Mr. D'Souza, even if 90% of the public believed that Unicorns really exist?
Perhaps it would be a good idea for Mr. D'Souza's tax dollars to fund Unicorn based schools and treatment centers.
Of course I could go on and on, but certainly someone who is actually being daily subjected to this kind of abuse....and villified for objecting, is entitled to a small amount of outrage.
mark at 12:18PM on Aug 9th 2007