So in the past few weeks a lot has happened and I have been doing much thinking on this a lot of happening which is never a good thing. One of these happenings was a rally that involved a speech given by the apparent Well-spring of All Things Science (according to his more enthusiastic fans) Richard Dawkins. I get it, he doesn't care for theists, that's his right as a free will exercising human being and I can even understand (and share) his contempt for the "less polite" representatives of Christianity. In his speech he urged atheists to challenge, and ridicule Catholics for believing in the Eucharist and all that other stuff. Got it.. well Mr. Dawkins I have one thing to say to that:
Challenge Accepted!
I would like to take a moment to thank Rick for kicking the game into Hard Mode. I am in no way claiming intellectual equality with Dawkins but I will happily stand my ground against a challenge even if it came directly from him. If i claim to believe in something and cannot defend it then what am i doing with it? Calling all brothers and sisters of faith! What good is it to believe if our belief is not affirmed by our actions? So let's do this.
In all honesty I think that this type of reaction towards people of faith is the result of a combination of assumptions and bad experiences. Are either of those things good enough reason to discredit something completely? NOPE. That's just my thoughts. I feel challenged by Dawkins' words to step up my own faith, learn more about it, and grow in spirituality. I want to be the kind of Catholic that people meet and see the joy in my life and begin to wonder "What is it I am noticing here?" Is it my faith, is it just me, or is it a fantastic combination? The Grace of God is so much sneakier than the heavy handedness of some Christians and even sneaker than those crafty temptations. God's Grace is capable of inspiring people without notice until it is too late! Grace creates a joy, a drive to work, and a humor about life that is very obvious because faith has become so ingrained in the life of the believer that every action is their prayer to better the world in love.
My question is this: can what Dawkins suggests be used to promote dialogue or is this just an open door to mock people and fall into the classic point-fingers-and-yell-louder-than-the-other-guy style of enlightenment? This is my impression of someone giving the benefit of the doubt.
I welcome discussion. It seems to be the most overlooked aspect of figuring things out lately. So much is happening in the abortion/gay marriage/atheist vs theist arenas and all we are getting is a yelling match. It almost seems that the days are gone when two gentlemen of opposing views can sit down to a pint of beer light their pipes and actually talk about what they believe with the levelheadedness of trying to understand the other persons position. That's right, leave your blood pressure meds at the door its gonna be a good old fashioned "talk about stuff." Of course I have experienced several wonderful discussions with people who differ from me on a number of beliefs and we get along just fine. It is just unfortunate that all we are going to hear on the news and in main channels of information is the people yelling the loudest and not listening. Maybe we should start discussing with bullhorns..
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