Where do I begin?
Let’s start with the facts at hand, shall we?
The Election
A special election for state senator was held in my home state of Tennessee, yesterday. In that election Gayle Jordan (D) was soundly defeated by Shane Reeves (R)… 13,139 to 5,179.
What made this election gain so much attention? What even led the great antagonist and atheist Richard Dawkins to chime in with insulting recollections of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial in Dayton, TN?
Gayle Jordan is an atheist, that’s why.
But Gayle Jordan (Democrat) is not just any atheist; she is the Executive Director of Recovering from Religion, a group dedicated to helping people transition from “faith to reason.”
(Sarcasm warning) Shame on those backward, hayseed, unenlightened, anti-reason, anti-freethought, banjo-playing hicks for electing a pro-life, heterosexual, Republican white male!
The Reasoning
Well, since it’s all about “reason,” let’s discuss the whole reason this story go my attention. What got me was the reason given for Gayle Jordan’s transition to becoming a “happy heathen.”
From her bio: “Gayle is a former Southern Baptist who left the faith 10 years ago when her then-teenagers began asking questions she could not answer.”
That’s the whole reason I decided to sit myself down in front of a keyboard this morning – she ditched her faith because she couldn’t answer her teenagers’ questions. She said it, not me.
So, let’s ponder that for a moment or two. She was a mother with teenagers, and just because they asked her some difficult questions about the Bible, faith, and religion (because it’s safe to assume they weren’t actually thinking original thoughts but were influenced by anti-religious evangelists such as Dr. Dawkins and others), she threw in the towel and completely changed her worldview?
Amazing.
Good thing that kind of radical shift doesn’t take place every time a young skull full of underdeveloped brain matter queries a quandary.
Teen: Mom, if a tree falls in the woods, but no one is around to hear it, will Al Gore still blame it on global warming?
Mom: Oh my gosh, dear! I don’t know! I guess I can no longer believe in forests.
Teen: Mom, who were the giants in Genesis 6:4? Were they aliens, angels, or mythical creatures covered in rock who helped build Noah’s ark?
Mom: You know, I have no idea, honey! That’s a really good question! I guess I’m gonna have to become a bona fide heathen and use my comfortable heels to crush the multiple pocket watches lying on the beach as I walk over them into oblivion.
But I guess I’m thinking too hard.
The Recovering Legalist 
I wonder what was the nature of the questions her kids were asking: “If God is benevolent, why did he and why does he plan to commit genocide?” They must have been some pretty profound questions.
But no profound answers.
Sometimes I think the hardest questions about Christianity can really bother us to our core and some people find a way to have faith – others, they see a contradiction that they cannot bear. Even so, it’s sad that Christians of all people don’t know how to give others the benefit of the doubt. Some of the best people I know are atheists – who are bound and determined to make the most of this one life they get to live – they tend to treat everyone pretty well – and sometimes much better than Christians do.
I guess, anecdotally speaking, some of the worst people I know are atheists, but that’s neither here nor there. But when it comes to the hard questions, it just amazes me that the only seemingly “reasonable” option is to become an atheist. Does something automatically have to be considered fundamentally untrue when a difficult or unanswerable question arises? For example, it is possible to wrongly frame a question and therefore find no satisfying answer, such as slandering the character of God at the foundation while searching for an ethically-pleasing response you doubt is forthcoming. A biased question to the negative isn’t always going to end with one concluding the positive. So, if the question the teen asks is “If God is love, why does He murder innocent people?”, where’s that going to lead?
As to giving others “the benefit of the doubt,” I honestly don’t know what you mean, at least in this context. We may simply be on different pages.
Nevertheless, “be[ing] persuaded” is what this is all about. Personally, “I am persuaded” that nothing – not even difficult questions – can separate me from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35-39). But for those who are looking for answers apart from God, regardless of any argument, even Jesus understood that type would probably never come around. As He spoke in story of the rich man and Lazarus, “neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Luke 16:31).
Love it. “Good thing that kind of radical shift doesn’t take place every time a young skull full of underdeveloped brain matter queries a quandary.”
Jesus is the truth. Jesus needs no defense.
Be blessed. God is with you.
Pastor Baker. The parable you refer to in Luke 16:31 is the exact thought I had, when I heard that Mr. Stephen Hawking passed away today.
I looked at her webpage and her web designer is Amazing Grace Designs..
Ironic. Lord have mercy. I’d seriously hate to be her when she stands before the One she now denies.