I like it very much. Here is a quote I think sums it up very nicely:
"In the context of our necessarily subjective perception, an atheist telling religious people that they the atheists have the facts and that the rest of us are deluded is a sign of hubris. It's just as arrogantly insane as ... telling atheists that the Creator wants to keep them alive for eternity in order to burn them, just because the atheist believed the 'wrong' words or didn't pray the so-called sinner's prayer."
Very good book, you should read it.
It looks to me that Schaeffer is trying real hard to create an atheist stereotype. Then he puts words in his hypothetical atheists' mouths and calls them arrogant for it. The problem is that his stereotypical atheist doesn't exist. He is very careful to pick on fundamentalists in the breath, too, all the while not making any absolute statements. It's very slick, and also a bad case of the pot calling the kettle black. Only there's no kettle.
ReplyDeleteYou'd have to read the whole book. He lays out his case most succinctly.
ReplyDeleteIt's also important to note that he is referring to the extreme ends of the atheist/faith spectrum (which do -- believe me -- exist), while recommending people find a more moderate "middle road."