MOST ATHEISTS ARE JUST NON-THEISTS
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As I have indicated above: I have found that when I have the opportunity to have an honest, open and transparent dialogue with rational people who say, "I am an atheist" I find that they do not deny what I call GOD.

Just recently, I met and had a long conversation with a person who told me he is an atheist. He is Don B--a former active member of the United Church of Canada, the church in which I was raised.

Don is a lawyer, and a public trustee. We are both involved in helping a senior who is going through a very trying time in afamily-court case involving finances and property. After many weeks trying to sort this out I am convinced that our client is the victim of much abuse.

My role is that of a volunteer on behalf of the Family Life Foundation. I have agreed to act, without a fee, as a mediator for the senior, who finds it very difficult to communicate what is happening to him. We have found that in this case our mutual client has been, and is, his own worse enemy. He is such a soft, trusting and easily-manipulated type that he has allowed himself to fall into a serious problem and is in danger of losing all his assets.

By the way, unlike the other turf-protecting and shark-like lawyers involved on both sides, Don welcomes my participation. When we got to talking about spiritual matters I found him to be a very rational, humane and caring human being with a deep moral and ethical concern for people.

When he told me that he is an atheist I asked him to describe for me the god-concept in which he was raised and now rejects. As I suspected: The theism in which he was raised was the one I rejected decades ago. Even as a student of theology I rejected what I now call the folk theism held by well meaning many folk theists. In my opinion, much of the theology of folk theism is just a pile of superstition--beliefs based on the blind kind of faith.

By the way, years ago I said "fair well" to this kind of blind faith: Interestingly, in my library I have the book, FAREWELL To God, a book by the late the Rev. Charles B. Templeton--a former evalgelist--who I knew very well and conversed with, more than once, before he died at 85.
This will put you in the picture:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2001/06/07/templeton_010607.html
http://www.tektonics.org/books/templefarervw.html
To the end, despite his "atheism", Chuck, as he was fondly known, was a devout believer in the essential message of Jesus--LOVE, EVEN YOUR ENEMIES.
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Last edited by Revlgking; 09/14/08 01:42 PM.