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Do You Believe People Can Still Be Moral Without Religion?

Posted on May 17, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Religion provides guidance for many people. It set laws and rules for ancient societies to abide by. And many religious people feel these laws are necessary to dictate what is right and wrong for humankind. Many atheists feel that morality is innate and modern society’s laws are sufficient to govern mankind.”

The Church had hoped that a healthy universal respect for natural law would bring consensus and cooperation in forming a better and moral society. However, the current clash in values is readily interpreted by believers as ample evidence that apart from God, men and women do not know how to be good. We would likely agree with the more reasonable atheists that there should be an innate sense of right and wrong, at least for most people. But we should not forget that human nature while good is also fallen.

Morality includes not only prohibitive acts but also altruism for the good of others and the poor. Ayn Rand’s thinking is particularly popular among conservative politicians on the right. She would also appeal to atheists. Her philosophy of selfishness shuns expressions of charity. It has been noted by certain atheists themselves that the charity and social justice efforts are disproportionately linked to churches and religious people. Both the civil rights efforts for racial integration and the marches for the lives of the unborn are heavily populated by believers. The faithful and Christian organizations are often the first on the ground to support the poor and disadvantaged. Where would they be if people of faith were to disappear?

Many a believer has prayed that he might be spared from the terrible compassion of non-believers with benign intentions but with a lack of guidance about right or wrong. A mother panics about an unplanned pregnancy and destroys her unborn baby. A family frets about the pain that an elderly grandmother suffers and opts for euthanization to end her misery. The Christian places ultimate trust in God. By contrast, the atheist must place his trust in mankind alone, and in practice this means politicians and the state. While believers speak of inalienable and God-given rights, what the state gives, the state can take away. Right and wrong becomes a capricious exercise of pandering to power. The wealthy and powerful will always win in this scenario. The poor and the weak will be victimized and manipulated. It is in recognizing God that we safeguard human dignity and rights. Nothing else satisfies as well.

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Why Have So Many Wars Have Been Fought in the Name of Religion?

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “From biblical times to modern day, it’s true that many wars have been fought in the name of religion. From the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades, to modern religious extremists and terror attacks, many have suffered. However, most religious people don’t support going to war with people who have different beliefs. Those who have been mislead to resort to violence fail to see the peaceful messages that are present in virtually all religious texts. Some atheists feel that the world would be more peaceful without the impact of any religions.”

Were there many wars fought over religion? While Hitler ordered the holocaust of six million Jews, it was not really a war over religion. The first World War had to do with clashing empires, alliances and money. The Japanese wanted sovereignty over Asia and control of the Pacific Ocean. Korea and Vietnam was all about the aggression of Chinese atheistic Communism. The Inquisition employed religion as a tool but besides stamping out heresy was essentially a political effort to secure Europe from Moslem occupation. The Crusades preserved Europe from Islamic invasion. Religion was a factor in the Crusades because it was hoped that the Holy Land might be reopened to pilgrims. Religion is merely one factor among many in such questions about human congress and tension. It is not necessarily the single root-cause for hostilities.

Speaking in terms of Christianity, the pacifism of the earliest believers became increasing impracticable and hard to sustain. Believers were martyred like the killing of flies. The Roman empire opposed the new religion because Christianity was intolerant of paganism and believers refused to compromise. One could not worship idols or the demons they signified and still claim the lordship of Jesus Christ. Old Rome saw the emergence of Christianity as a political threat to the empire— especially the language about turning the cheek, giving to those who take from you, and loving your enemies. Christians joined with Constantine to bring three centuries of persecution to an end. When it came to the relationship between the Church and Islam, the weight of guilt was more heavily upon Islam and its notion of jihad or holy war to force religious submission. Islam was to Europe what the Soviet Union was to us during the Cold War. Our faith and civilization were all at stake. The inquisition expelled an enemy from our midst. The crusades sought to open the holy land to pilgrims. The tensions between Protestants and Catholics in Europe were part of a struggle for political power between princes, kings, and the Church. The conflict was more about temporal matters than spiritual ones.

While there are many apologists who argue that militant Islam is an aberration to a religion of peace, in truth every place that becomes 51% Islam experiences a repression of Christians, Jews and others. We would concur with atheists that God’s children should not kill each other over religion; however, Christian believers have a right to defend themselves. When this becomes impossible, as with the Coptic men who had their throats cut, there is a witness to how we should remain faithful even if we must die.

Those atheists who think that a world without religion would be more peaceful are delusional. Atheism has been tried, and as with Stalin, millions suffered the loss of rights and incarceration in the gulags. He killed 20 million of his own people. The atheists who claim political power, subsequently treat their anti-god philosophy like a religion, seeking converts not through argument but through war and revolution. When God is taken out of the picture, men assume his throne. There can never be a vacuum. While critics lament God’s laws and judgment, the verdict of men is much harsher. Separated from the Divine Mercy, why should we be surprised?

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Do You Believe Everything in Your Holy Text?

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Religious people typically accept their holy text as the word of God, verbatim. This can cause friction with modern concepts of personal freedom and liberties that didn’t exist in biblical times. Some atheists criticize the archaic laws and customs of the Bible, and insist that it’s outdated and shouldn’t be followed by modern people.”

First, the Bible is not a morality manual. That which is taught must be understood in a contextual way and not quoted as isolated proof texts. Second, everything taught in the Old Testament must be appreciated in the context of its times and culture. No one today would seek to impose stoning or beheading for either adultery or idolatry. Third, the message of Jesus in his words and actions constitutes the prism for understanding the entire Bible. Fourth, not every law or custom in the Bible is meant to have lasting significance. We must discern between the transitory and lasting. Fifth, Catholic morality and beliefs emerge from the Bible, Tradition, the teachings of the Church. Sixth, added to the mix of divine positive law are the truths of natural law. It is precisely a reflection upon the mystery of Christ that enlightens the believer about genuine human rights and the freedom that belongs to the dignity of persons. Those who insist that the Bible creates friction with modern concepts of personal freedom are quite right as a non-Christian secular humanism has lost its way. It not only tolerates but gives approbation to homosexual acts, gender dysphoria, fornication and adultery, and the destruction of the unborn. Many critics would strip believers of their religious liberty. Those who would destroy the unborn forfeit the moral high ground to judge anyone. Freedom was never meant to be a license for sin. Freedom can be abused and become a type of bondage. Part of the problem with the criticism is a wrongful definition of “freedom.”

While we may literally declare the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, immutable divine truths are interspersed with the truths of men. This appreciation of the Word goes beyond the text to an appreciation of the divine presence of Christ. Our Lord is present in both the Word and in the sacrament or Eucharist.

Few or none would argue that we as Christians must believe in or follow the Old Jewish juridical law. The atheists who reject the teachings of the Bible would put no faith in the teaching Church that is charged with the transmission and interpretation of sacred truths. The atheist wrongly views the Scriptures as entirely man-made and thus as having no binding force upon secular men and women. Unfortunately, this includes more than customs but the Decalogue which underpins the traditional appreciation of right and wrong. Believers seek to promote virtue and discriminate against vice. And yet, separated from the sources of revelation, modern men find it difficult to distinguish between right and wrong.

What is often omitted is that the so-called “archaic laws and customs” of the Bible became the underpinnings of Western culture for most of its 2,000 years. Something that was old and ever-new is brushed aside for the new morality and of an emerging secular society. All that is old is rejected as obsolete and wrong while untried fads are given an unmerited importance. The commandments about God are utterly discarded. The commandment about objective truth is compromised by the deception of relativism where the subjectivity of politicians and the media are even given sway over reality and nature, itself. The good of marriage and family life is surrendered to fornication, adultery, and homosexuality. “Thou shall not kill” is qualified as not to include euthanizing old sick people or terminating unwanted or defective children, either in the womb or soon after birth. Obedience becomes a dirty word for a people who will not be told what to do, especially by elders and the Lord. Greed, lust, indeed every deadly sin is celebrated instead of rejected. Minds are poisoned, wills are compromised, and confusion reigns. Today many confess uncertainty about their gender. Biblical morality or Christian ethics are readily discarded, but what if anything substantial is offered in its place?

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Why Doesn’t God Show Himself?

Posted on May 14, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Theists suggest that God is omnipresent, and is in all living things, including us. Some claim to be able to feel God’s presence, or even suggest they’ve experienced divine intervention. These experiences are interpreted as signs from God. Atheists insist that there are no signs from God. They ask why God doesn’t just show himself to everyone to prove his existence.”

Beyond human ignorance and malice, the failure to see signs of God is not dissimilar from the Satanic veiling of consciences regarding the many crimes against the dignity of persons and the sanctity of life. If Catholic politicians are willing to celebrate legislation that promotes the termination of children fully formed after nine months in the womb, then why should we think they would recognize the presence of God or the divine in the world. Those of a secular humanist society have closed their hearts and minds to miracles both natural and supernatural.

Christian philosophers would contend that there needs to be some sort of initial demarcation between ourselves and God as “the greatest good” to preserve freedom. This was likely true for angels before the fall, and it is still the case with us. The acquisition of the greatest good in heaven ensures that one will always say YES to God as a saint.

We are promised that we will all stand before the Lord. But such will be a time of final commendation and reckoning. Those who would demand that God reveal himself immediately right now are literally invoking judgment day. It is for this reason that after death one’s orientation becomes permanent. What we know now is through faith and not through sight. This rationale is why God does not fully or immediately reveal himself to his material creation.

The Lord wants us to meet him part way instead of him doing all the work. He comes to us; we must also go to him. That is an element of the incarnation where Jesus is the human face or revelation of God. God relates to us as one of us, literally joining the human family. All this is to assist us in properly relating to God. The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen spoke about Christ becoming a man as the traversing of a greater distance than a man becoming an ant. The Old Testament asserts that none could see God as he is and live. Notice the transformation in the likeness of Moses after commingling with God on the mountain. God is fire and to encounter him threatens being burned.

Theists do more than suggest that God is “omnipresent,” he is necessarily keeping all things in existence. His role as Creator is not locked in a moment of history but is ongoing and necessary. If God were to neglect us even for a moment, we would cease to exist. Fortunately, the divine economy does not permit annihilation. The intervention of God also includes his interaction with us and a gradual revelation that finds fulfillment with the coming of Jesus Christ. The Lord establishes both a corporate or communal and a personal relationship with us. He desires to share awareness, life, and love with us. It is in this that we are made in the image of God. God has given us his Church and there are supernatural signs to reassure believers, such as apparitions and miracles. Believers trust the testimony of past witnesses and the teachings of Christ’s Church. They also open themselves to a sense of the Lord’s presence and form a real relationship with the living Christ. Believers do not believe they are delusional but rather that there is a real spiritual encounter and friendship. However, one must be open to a relationship with the Lord. Many non-believers are ill-disposed for the grace that comes with faith and love in Christ.

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If God Created the Universe Then Who Created God?

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Most theists believe that God is eternal and therefore always existed. Some might suggest that God created time, space, and the universe all at the same time. Atheists insist that something cannot come from nothing, and therefore something must have created God in the first place. The phrase ex nihilo nihil fit is Latin for “from nothing comes nothing.” This argument has been used by philosophers throughout history to refute the notion of an eternal God.”

Yes, Christians believe that God has always existed; however, the matter is far deeper. God is the ground for all existence. He is existence itself or the great “to be.” The problem with atheists is that they are thinking about “god” as just another thing. He is not. God as a pure spirit exists from all eternity, but he wanted to share the goodness of existence. We believe that he created spiritual beings called angels and that he created material beings, the highest of which are men and women. Material things find themselves situated in time and space. They come into and go out of being. We are immortal because the soul is immaterial and has no parts to break down or die. The Latin phrase, ex nihilo nihil fit, is actually an argument against atheists, not theists. The proper question is not, “Who created God?” but rather, who created us and everything else? An infinite regression is an absurdity. If “nothing comes from nothing” then there should be no humanity and no creation around us to reflect upon. God is the necessary being. The catechism asserts that almighty God creates us through an act of the divine will out of nothing. Even the much touted theory of the “big bang” was theorized by a Catholic priest. Note the confusion of non-believing scientists when asked what existed prior to the singularity that became the big bang. They really do not know and their speculation takes them into the realm of magic.

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Why Does God Allow Tragedies?

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “You might hear an atheist bring up tragedies, people starving, genocide, or any example of immense suffering of the innocent and ask why. Theists believe that God gave man free will, and that god only intervenes in day-to-day life through miracles. Atheists question the logic of the conditional role God chooses to play in this scenario.”

Christians and Jews are realists. We know perfectly well that we find ourselves in a broken world. Indeed, those who minister view themselves as wounded healers. We believe that what God creates is necessarily good. The disharmony in the world is attributed to the sin of our first parents. It is a tenet of faith that suffering, sin and death enter the world through sin. God allows as part of his passive will both natural and moral evil. However, God in his direct or active will desires only the good for us. While we have brought our troubles upon ourselves, God gave his people a promise of a Messiah and redemption. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that as the “innocent one” he has made himself a sin-offering for us. He takes our suffering upon his shoulders and suffers and dies on the Cross. Doing so makes satisfaction for sin, redeems us, and offers us the gift of salvation. He rises from the grave and offers us a share in eternal life. It is in Christ that LOVE is stronger than DEATH. Sin and death are conquered by Christ, but the effects have yet to be undone. Such awaits his second coming. The problem of pain is answered within the solidarity of Christ. He commands us to take up our crosses and to follow him. We can add our struggle and pain to his and thus know transformation in Christ.

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Where is the Proof That God Exists?

Posted on May 11, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Many theists believe that the existence of man, the world, and the universe are all proof that God exists. They argue that everything we see is God’s creation, and the forces of the universe serve as proof that only something as powerful as God could have created it. Atheists suggest that the big bang is origin of the universe and that beyond that everything can be explained by science. They claim that any existence at all before the big bang simply unknown, or even unknowable.”

The assertion that everything before the “big bang” is unknowable is a bit of a cop out. Avoiding the question of ultimate origins, it reflects a linear thinking about time and the limitations of the scientific method. Observation and celestial mathematics require something to see or measure. What was going on before the beginning? Most throw up their hands and say that cannot be answered or even asked. Frustration about this is known by believers as well. We claim a faith seeking understanding. But sometimes we must be humble. Atheism from scientists is frequently exhibited alongside a hubris for their calling and a disdain against believers. St. Augustine posed the question differently in his Confessions, “What did God do before he made heaven and earth?” He jokingly answered, “Preparing hell for those who pry into such mysteries.”

Of course, the Christian would respond that our existence is itself the answer to the question of God’s existence. Which seems more reasonable, that the universe and rational human life emerged on its own from nothingness or that there is a creator God? The cosmological argument insists that nothing comes from nothing. The universe exists and can be studied. If the atheists are right then we should not be here— not us, not the earth, not the stars— nothing. But the fact remains, we exist and know we exist. There is objective reality. As rational creatures we can observe, make deductions, and ponder the great questions. Are we to imagine that we are merely a cosmic accident?

Besides the cosmological argument that assumes God’s existence from that of the created universe, there are various other efforts to prove God’s existence. Many are familiar with the ontological argument of St. Anselm that God is the “being of which no greater can be conceived” and as such by necessity must exist. Descartes would argue that the existence of a good God under-girds the credibility of our senses to the objective world. Aquinas gives us his Five Ways (the unmoved mover, the first cause, the necessary being, the perfection of attributes or goodness, and the final cause).

Throughout history there have been many efforts to prove the existence of God or ways to know that he is real. Christians believe that philosophy and human reason can bring us to this awareness, but that revelation is necessary to know that he is a personal God who loves us and wills to save us.

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Do You Believe in Evolution?

Posted on May 10, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Creationists, or people who take a literal translation of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, feel that scientific evidence for evolution was put here by God, possibly to test their faith. Atheists tend to believe strongly in Darwinism (the findings of Charles Darwin), and feel that it’s undeniable evidence that life evolved on our planet from simple life forms to all of the species we have now. There are some theists who believe in evolution, and believe in both modern science and the existence of God.”

Catholics are not fundamentalists who subscribe to a literal biblical interpretation of everything in the Old Testament. Believers are free to believe or not to believe in evolution. However, most scientists and no Catholics believe in strict Darwinism as one of his tenets was the evolution of the human soul. Atheists reject the existence of the soul. Catholics admit that the body might develop from more elementary forms but that the soul is directly infused by almighty God.

The Protestant notion of faith over reason would make God and not the devil into a prankster with the fossil record. This is ridiculous. Given that we live in a rational world with objective truths, there can be no competition between the truths of science, philosophy, and religion. All truth is complementary. Catholicism, which is Christianity 101, sees order in creation and makes the deduction of intelligent design and a first cause.

The complexity of creation and even the prospect of evolution points to an intelligence behind it all. It is ludicrous to imagine that given enough time and the right chemical stew that one might find the current complexity and vast diversity in the animal kingdom that we know. Order does not emerge from chaos and random accidents. The analogy is given of the first man to land on Mars. If he finds a watch, he will not surmise that it developed on its own from the natural properties of the planet. He would conclude that someone designed and built it. While this is a mechanical and not a biological find, we must admit that the complex diversity and interaction of systems in a human being are of a far greater level. A man might make a watch but only God can make a man— meaning from scratch!

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Why Do You Think Your Religion is the Correct One?

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Religious people tend to subscribe to just one religion and reject the others. Theists who are impartial to any specific religion might share the same sentiment as atheists in this regard. They might acknowledge the similarities between some world religions and suggest that which exact one a person follows isn’t as important as recognizing there is a God and praying. Atheists tend to believe that a person’s choice of religion is based solely on what culture they were born into, and is thus arbitrary.”

Atheists are right that most people tend to join the majority religion of the culture and family into which they are born. However, we are not creatures of fate and many either change their affiliation or lose faith entirely. Further, given the missionary mandate of Christianity, many are moved by the preaching of the Church and the grace of God to become Christian or Catholic.

Catholicism views itself as the Church directly instituted by Christ and as the true religion. There is a historical bond between Judaism (the first People of God) and the consummation of the covenant by Christ for the Catholic Christian community, the new People of God, or the Church. Judaism and Islam are both natural religions with a belief in one God. Christianity is a supernatural faith given the belief in the mystery of the Trinity: three divine Persons in one divine Nature.

Just as scientific theories vary, so does religion. But the truth is still what it is. The many religions of the world are an expression of how we were made for God and search out ultimate meaning. Many are regarded by Christianity as wrong or incomplete. We reject the negation of Buddhism and the polytheism of Hinduism. While certain Protestant affiliations emphasize a personal or individualized faith; Catholicism also insists upon the corporate faith. The Church is not merely for fellowship but is the essential sacrament of salvation. Christ is the Mediator and is the one and only Savior. There is also no salvation outside the Catholic Church. It is for this reason that we intercede in prayer for those believers outside her fold.

We would claim that Catholicism best answers the longings of the human heart and the need for meaning and answers about suffering, death and our place in creation. The problem of pain finds resolution in a profound solidarity with Christ where there is redemption. Sacrificial love becomes a hallmark of Christian self-donation and identity. We have not been orphaned by God. We have a purpose and no one need live and die in vain. The Christian faith offers the gift of HOPE and LIFE while atheism can only grant a temporary respite for some, despair for the many and ultimately oblivion for all.

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Have You Found Any Contradictions in Your Holy Text?

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Father Joe

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Religious people tend to acknowledge the differences between modern society and antiquity. Beyond this, there are certain passages or certain aspects of the Bible and other holy texts that cause scrutiny from atheists under the context that they contradict statements made in other passages. Some more reformed believers consider biblical texts as being open to interpretation and metaphorical. Atheists tend to reject holy texts, citing any apparent contradictions they can find and pointing out what they consider to be flaws in the text.”

The Bible offers salvation truth, but it also reflects various situations and the development of a people over a period of 2,700 to 3,400 years. While certain truths about God and commandments are immutable, others develop or change due to the maturation of Israel and the intervention of Christ. Our Lord would rescind the Mosaic writ of divorce and the early Church would place faith in Christ over the saving works of the law. All foods are made clean, and baptism replaces circumcision as the rite of initiation. The prohibition against graven images, which was never absolute, is totally abrogated by the new economy of the incarnation. The keeping of the sabbath day would transition to the Lord’s Day due to the resurrection.

The Bible is not a science book, and its history is not like the news with video clips. All is viewed through the prism of the Semitic people and the cultures through which they lived. However, it should be mentioned that even atheists have their books and despite competing string theories and constantly corrected conjectures about evolutionary development, they can be every bit as dogmatic as theists. The Bible is many books and includes all sorts of literature: history, myths, speeches, hymns, legal codes, poetry, etc. Each must be understood as the genre it is.

Note that Genesis itself has differing depictions of the chronology to creation in the first two chapters. The Hebrews saw no problem with this, and neither should we. Different threads of tradition focus on varying elements. We see this as well in the four Gospels of the New Testament. Each proclaims the same Good News of Jesus from the perspective of a different angle or tradition.

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