In my life I have had three encounters with bullies that really stand out. The first one happened when I was in eighth grade. A bully named Jack was very jealous that some of his friends liked me. Everyday he would threaten me and tell me he was going to beat me up. He was very loud, obnoxious, and cruel. He would get right in my face and make fun of me in front of my friends. I told him to leave me alone. He said, “make me.” I said, “I don’t want to fight you.” I guess I was afraid he would knock my block off. One day on my way home he blocked the side walk so that I was unable to get by him. What happened next was a blur. He swung and I ducked. As I ducked I managed to get behind him and got him in a headlock. I held on with all my might trying not to let him go. So for about 30 minutes we kept going around in a circle. He was trying to get free and I was trying to hold on with all my might. Finally he asked me to let him go. I said, “only if you let me go.” He promised he would, and the fight ended.
The second time I had a fight was in 10th grade. I had never played soccer before, and every time I tried to kick the ball I would either miss it or step on it falling backwards. I was new to the school having come from Queens to Long Island. I didn’t have any friends at that time. A boy walked over with a group of his friends and started mocking me. The next thing I knew, he shoved me to the ground. I jumped up and yelled leave me alone. With that he looked back at his friends and with a smirk across his face whirled around to punch me as he did I ducked and by accident hit him with an uppercut. He fell backwards stunned. I noticed the other boys started moving closer towards me. To my good fortune the gym teacher came over and broke everyone up.
The third time I was playing softball and a huge blonde haired kid with scars on his face said to me, “I’m taking your turn at bat.” I said to him, “I waited all day to play. I want to bat for myself.” I later found out he bit the eyebrow off another kid in school. He sent two other kids to the hospital with injuries. He was a brutal and cruel person. He looked at me and probably liked my spunk and walked away taking another kids turn at bat.
I watch with great interest the debate between theists and atheists. Atheists claim possession of something they do not own: reason. They are loud, boisterous, cruel, unkind, and have a mocking attitude similar to the bullies I’ve described above. Many of the great colleges and learning institutions in this country began with Christians who believed that God gave man the power of reason. Atheism now makes claim that religion is devoid of reason. Like bullies in any given place, they are trying to rob what rightly belongs to all men — religious or irreligious. Some of the greatest scientists and scholars, past and present, believe in God. It is sad that because atheists are loud, cruel, and entertaining many think that they’re right. There numbers are greater in our colleges, so they believe might makes right.
It is just more proof that atheism has no code of conduct or respect for other people who believe differently than they do. These people claim diversity and pluralism until there belief system is seriously challenged. They then revert to bad behavior. People who believe in God need to stand up for themselves. Atheism is trying to dominate the market place of ideas by providing crude entertainment in the form of mockery. They demean people who believe different than they do. Like ancient Rome the atheist sees himself as the lion in the Coliseum with the Christian as the victim. In a society today where a lot of our entertainment is vulgar, atheism has found a willing audience. Just because it is loud, boisterous, and mocking doesn’t make it right. The co-opting of reason from Christianity is a fallacy that must be overthrown. Scripture reveals that God himself invites man to speak to God with these words, “come let us reason together.” It is the Christians search for truth that founded the educational system in our country. It is time to give rightful place to people who believe in God as equals in powers of reason, and that they are equal if not smarter than those who profess atheism. Well over 75% of Americans believe in God. We must not let a small vocal minority lie about reason being the possession of atheists or bully the rest of us. There are a great many brilliant people, equal in intellect and powers of reason, that could easily shame by argument, education, and civility those who are atheists. So I say to the atheists, stop your bullying and come let us reason together.
We who believe in God must not allow atheists to threaten us to make their point. We must not allow their cruel taunts to go unanswered. We must not be afraid of the fight. In fact apostle Paul wrote, “fight the good fight of faith.” In all three instances in my life, bullies wanted to demean and humiliate. I was very fortunate to come out unscathed in these three instances. I think it’s time that we fight for what we really know to be true. Sooner or later as the truth comes out they, too, will smirk and walk away, picking on someone weaker. Dear believer, know that what you believe in is important, not just for yourself, but for all of us to stand unified in our faith. The value system of our faith has made America great. Our faith has greatly helped contribute to America’s greatness. Atheism, like Jack, is very jealous that a lot of people like what you believe. To those atheists, the fight is not about truth but about popularity. In the second instance we are in the territory of science and philosophy where they think they are in charge. They may think our arguments are clumsy but we can surely hold our own. Dear friends, standup for what you believe, in these evil times. Without an audience the bully, like the atheists, will give up. They can go back to their surly views, fighting each other. Like their belief in evolution they can devour one another in a contest for the survival of the fittest. There are plenty of analogies in the above stories. I think the moral is to stand your ground knowing that truth sets free, even for atheists.