Are Christians responsible for a rise in atheism

"Believers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God and of religion" --- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2125

Recently, I had a conversation with a person who considers himself an atheist. He was telling me about a bad experience he'd had with a relative who considers herself a Christian. The encounter left him so shaken that he said to me: "If this is what Christians are like, then I want no part of them." While his may be an unfair generalization, it is undeniably true that the bad behavior of some Christians is damaging to the faith. Christians could learn a lot by listening to what atheists have to say about them.

Many nonbelievers are wrongly judging our God by our actions, words, and deeds – and when they see some Christians behaving very badly in their marriages, in their work places, and in their social environments, they will shy away from checking what our faith is really all about. --Michael Bradley, Bible Knowledge.com

Badly behaving Christians often steal the spotlight from the majority of Christians who are true to the faith and diligently follow Christ's example. Unfortunately, perception is often more important than reality to the extent that the actions of a few can have a direct bearing on how Christians are perceived, positively or negatively; and by association, how God is perceived. It only takes being hurt one time by a badly behaving Christian to turn a person away from religion. No doubt some atheists have been hurt by Christians; and so have some Christians who became atheists because of church hurt.

Christians need to start behaving better.  There’s so much misinformation about Christians from non-believers in the media, entertainment industry, etc, that we’ll never be able to combat it.  But we can STOP feeding their perceptions with some of our ugly behavior.  If we truly want to impact the culture for Christ than we need to start acting like disciples and stop acting like Pharisees.  We need to point people – through our word and deeds – to a risen Savior --Author Bill Renje

On his blog, What do Atheists think of Christians, Renje posed this question to atheists: "If Christians would listen, what would you say to them?" Typical among the responses from atheists were that Christians...

• are hypocritical
• are judgmental
• are narrow-minded
• have been brainwashed into believing something that makes
  them intolerant and hateful
• have not read the Bible
• think that moral behavior is impossible without
  belief in God
• hold modern beliefs which aren’t Christ-like
• tell others how to live their lives
• limit their understanding of the whole
  wide universe to the Bible
• think that atheists are ignorant, angry or abused
• fear atheists

Without admitting that I know any Christians who are like this, it goes without saying that if even one of these characterizations is true of anyone who calls himself a Christian that person is a detriment to the faith and the cause of Christ. Instead of becoming defensive, Renje suggests Christians do some soul searching. Ask yourself, "Am I like this? And if so, "What needs to change in the way I treat people to repair this perception?"

As Christians, we must examine ourselves  daily to make sure our walk fits our talk. We can't go around professing to love Jesus and, at the same time, mistreat other people because they don't believe as we do. That's what hypocrites do. It gives atheists another reason to point the finger at us. I'm not saying that they're right, but it's what people in this society tend to do ---that is, ascribe the behavior of one or a few individuals to an entire group. It cuts both ways. Perhaps, I should add "prejudiced" to the list of complaints against Christians?

Naturally, I'm exaggerating a bit but here's my point --- if you're a Christian who is giving a bad name to the faith, clean up your act or face eternal consequences down the road. Finally, Christian, be true to who you are. You were called to be a follower and an imitator of Christ. Mind how you represent Him. Christ gave us the greatest gift known to man --- love. That's what the world needs to see in us, even if they don't yet believe in Him.

The God particle: in the beginning God...

“If, by faith, we accept that there are immutable natural laws, why not accept the possibility of a Lawgiver?” from, Faith found the God Particle, author Larry Tauton (Christian Post, Jul 16, 2012)

Mankind has tried for centuries to prove or disprove the existence of God. Creation vs. Evolution theorists in various academic, scientific and philosophical circles still debate this question, even in our day. With recent attention focused on the breakthrough discovery of the Higgs boson, so-named ‘god particle,’ we can expect such debates to once again take center stage. Many God vs. anti-God proponents are just waiting to be heard.

However, my purpose is not to debate the existence of God. God is God regardless of what anyone of us thinks. Our belief or lack thereof doesn’t change that. Genesis 1:1 confirms, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty." And in John 1:3 we read, "Through him [God] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." If you believe this Bible account then the discovery of a ‘god’particle makes perfect sense.

In the beginning God created the heavens...View from Hubble

telescope. Getty Photos

God created it along with everything else out of nothing and left it there for a purpose known only to him. Science has so far been unable to explain certain natural phenomena like gravity, animal migration, black holes, supernovas or the totality of how the universe fits together. Answers to these questions and others like it have eluded the intellect of man. Perhaps it is because this knowledge belongs to God, the creator, alone. Noted physicist Gerald Myatt admits that many phenomena in the universe defy a logical explanation: "It has taught me that there are laws in the universe that science is powerless to explain. We understand the laws of physics, but where did the laws themselves come from? Why do they work?"

From a purely religious perspective, one can theorize that this ‘god’ particle (subatomic mass) is somehow exerting a controlling influence on other particle mass in the universe (earth included) acting, if you will, as God’s remote controlling device. I propose that the ‘god particle’ is a type of game controller for the universe or, in medical terminology, a kind of PICC line for God to facilitate the delivery of future events. These future events are foretold in the Bible: “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind (Isaiah 65:16-18); and “Looking for the hastening of the coming day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his [God’s] promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 2:12-13)."

Likewise, the Bible foretold the coming of a Savior who would save the world from sin. Christians believe this prophesy was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. The existence of many irrefutable historical facts as recorded in the holy scriptures and elsewhere support this claim. But don't just take anybody's word for it. You owe it to yourself to learn more about God's plan for the universe and where you fit in. For starters, I recommend Rick Warren's best selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life." It will help you find out what on earth you're here for.