Atheism, Agnosticism and Religious Belief: The Left Ideological Opposition to Religion and, in Particular, Christianity

BAYSIDE, NY – The left ideology, which claims advanced thinking and modernity, regards religious belief and religion as backward and not in tune with our scientific and business culture. In short, the left sees secularism as the answer and at least academia, Hollywood, and the media regard religion and religious beliefs to have outlasted their validity, truth, and usefulness.

For me, the left ideological approach in this respect fails in thinking and fails to give the answers to the ultimate questions of life that religion does, in particular Christianity and Judaism. The left makes a point to never criticize Islam, despite its record in the last 25 years of violence and oppression and its targeting women and non-Islamic religions, such as Christians and Jews, with hatred and disfavor.

Let me now explain why the left fails intellectually in discounting religion as a valid force and system, and, in particular, Christianity and Judaism, which are rarely if ever mentioned in the precincts of academia, taken note of, or taught at all or mentioned in history curricula. First, I ask my modernist secular friends how this earth and the universe and, in particular, life and human life came to be? A colleague of mine said the universe came about by a big explosion or big bang and that same colleague said the bible was a mass of fairy tales and myths; a taxi driver in Holland said the same. I have no argument with these persons or their views but state that there have been many, many explosions including, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and they have not given rise to life, but only resulted in death and destruction. The same is true of earthquakes and volcanoes. It is quite clear to me that secularism and science have failed miserably to answer the questions I have posed: how we humans, this planet, and this universe have come to be; and failed to accept that the creation narrative in Genesis is a much more reasonable, likely and probable explanation and answer than science, secularism, and modernity have provided. In fact the left ideology is in no position to mock and make fun of religious believers on this issue who are far closer to the truth and the mark than the left ideologues so confidently reject if not view with intellectual contempt.

Second, the left ideological system, which seems to reject religious belief as backward and behind the times, in particular Christianity and Judaism, fails to account for evil, sin, and the hatred and hostility that infects if not runs the world. Christians believe that in the Genesis story of Chapter 2 we are given an explanation and perhaps God is coming down to us in this explanation that men and women fell and perhaps continue to fall by reason of their pride. Adam and Eve, we are told, were tempted to believe in an appeal to their pride and self importance so that they could be like God. This event and story has a profound depth of meaning and for me is an intellectual starting point of how evil and wickedness came in the world and continues to function and be a part of, if not a dominating factor. Science and business and secularism provide no explanation for sin, evil, and wickedness that religion and the Judeo-Christian system does. Again the left fails in its position and thinking and fact; it fails to address the issue of sin, evil, and wickedness at all.

Third, the left ideology in its contempt for Judeo-Christian thinking on the ultimate issues of life fails to consider the obvious fact that men and women in their persons and souls are not simply akin to the plant and animal kingdom. It is clear when we look and consider ourselves and our neighbors that we are something more. The Judeo-Christian tradition addresses this issue and finds eternal value in all humanity. Science, secularism, and the left ideology, which view the church and religion with a degree of slight, scorn, and, at best, with indifference, fail not only to address this issue but provide no explanation for the fact that every human being, both within and outside, has a unique and enduring value that science, secularism, and business fail to touch.

I have given my views and opinions and explanations to my secularist, atheist, and agnostic friends and colleagues of the left as to why perhaps they are wrong in their approach to what I just described: they fail to give the answers to the great questions that the Judeo-Christian system of thinking and the church do in fact provide.