Back in February, a famous atheist, whom I follow on Twitter, tweeted a series of comments about religion and/or religious beliefs and ended each of his tweets with the derisive phrase “makes sense.” His actual point, of course, was that the religious “truth” he had just stated made no sense whatsoever.
His actions apparently inspired his Twitter followers, who likewise began to post their own “makes sense” tweets, many of which the famous atheist then re-tweeted. I read them with great interest.
As you might expect, some of the comments were snide and dismissive. More than a few, however, were intriguing and spoke to a vitally important issue today, namely – the question of the moral character of God.
In the wake of the horrific Newtown massacre, one very high-profile Christian leader was quoted as saying: “… I think we have turned our back on the Scripture and on God almighty, and I think he has allowed judgment to fall upon us. I think that’s what’s going on.”
If he was quoted correctly, I find his perspective shocking and woefully misguided. If one were to follow his reasoning to its logical conclusion, Adam Lanza was – in some twisted and disturbing way – doing God’s bidding.
A god who, even indirectly, would will the vicious slaughter of innocent children as a form of judgment on a sinful world would be a monster unworthy of worship.
I find it fascinating when thoughtful atheists and agnostics seem to recognize this truth while many Christians still do not.
One tweet particularly captured my attention because it blatantly called out an uncomfortable contradiction that is often ignored or attributed to God’s “mysterious” nature. That tweet was as follows:
“If you doubt God’s infinite love & compassion he will have you tortured for all eternity. Makes sense.”
No, it doesn’t. That atheist was correct.
Today, as never before, reasonable questions about the moral character of God are being raised by critics of religion, and their voices might actually be recognized as prophetic if the Church would attentively listen.
God is absolutely good; and, God’s goodness allows for no darkness, no ulterior motives, and no complicity with evil.
Adam Lanza acted alone.
Musings Amid the Thorns 
Adam Lanza acted alone. And Jesus wept.
Jacqui, thank you! I don’t think we’ve ever fully comprehended the meaning or the implications of that shortest verse in the Bible.
This erroneous understanding of Christianity by atheists is one sad consequence of the more than 30,000 Christian denominations.
If they would seriously look at how the Catholic Church sees and understands the God of love they wouldn’t be as likely to think of God as a mean spirited entity, not worthy of their time.
Larry, I think many atheists rightly reject the notion of a mean-spirited God. So, in effect, they are defending innocence against the notion of a divine tyrant. Honestly, the Church needs to do a better job of evangelizing and teaching. And, that begins with cultivating, among the faithful, a clear understanding of God’s absolute goodness. By rejecting the tyrant God, atheists are doing the Church a great favor.