Atheists Celebrate Unbelief in D.C. Today

The “Reason Rally” sponsored by several atheist organizations expects over 10,000 at today’s gathering in Washington, D.C. Speakers include Richard Dawkins, PZ Myers, and a slate of other outspoken atheists. According to Barry Kosmin, co-author of a 2008 survey, atheists constitute 1.6% of America’s population but attract a disproportionate amount of attention because they “make the noise and the news. They are the radicals and the provocateurs.”

One rally attendee says, “We are proud to be the Marines of free thought, proud to be the edge of the sword.” Another says, “The majority of us just want rational public policies based on facts, not someone’s book of cobbled together fantasies. Atheists have to carry our weight on an intellectual and a moral basis.”

The rally will be followed Sunday by the annual atheist conference in Bethesda. Although the conference theme is “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” one speaker—Pastor M—plans to speak in disguise “so he can keep his pulpit even though he’s lost his faith.” We cannot help noting the blatant lack of moral integrity evident in this closet-atheist clergyman who is deliberately deceiving his congregation to keep his job, his position, and their trust.

While the name “Reason Rally” suggests atheism is rational and Christianity is not, the same God who created the universe and its physical laws also gave humans the ability to reason. Reason is the way we make inferences and draw logical conclusions from available information. Biblical faith and reason are not in conflict. Hebrews 11:6 informs us without faith we cannot please God, but Hebrews 11:1 describes such faith as “the substance of things hoped for” and “the evidence of things not seen.” Isaiah 1:18 records God’s call on His people to reason and thereby understand how sinful they were. Jesus Christ for 40 days after His crucifixion showed Himself alive by “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3). Christian faith is not meant to be a blind faith but a reasonable faith by which we see the Word of God is consistent with the scientific evidence in nature, the historical evidence of Christ’s Resurrection, and the inner conviction of our sinfulness and guilt compared to the standards of our holy Creator God. Acts 17:17 records the Apostle Paul reasoning with Jews and Gentiles about faith in Christ. Indeed, all Christians are likewise exhorted (1 Peter 3:15) to be ready with reasonable answers about our hope in Christ.

There will be some Christians in the vicinity of this weekend’s events to do just that. We may pray their witness with the atheists they encounter will effectively plant seeds of God’s truth.