The
17/1/2009
edition of the Greek magazine
“Tachidromos”
(Greek=postman)
from
where we obtained the information says of her: “Tired of
religions and their representatives who each preaches hostility
towards the others, has collected money though the Internet and
has in turn begun to preach atheism.”
This
excuse for preaching atheism is weak and rather poor in
conclusive evidence, however, the news item itself has
parameters of exceptional poemantic and theological interest.
But before moving on to further details, we would like to
present certain general observations.
Ariane Sherine‘s
atheist campaign is nothing more than an ephemeral blossom of
western civilization, in which deism is dominant; that is, the
faith that there is a supreme creative principality, which
however has nothing to do with the world at present. Surviving
hues, branches or derivatives of this religious view are
agnosticism, atheism, and even the anaemic Christian faith of
heretic Christianity, which has been cut off from the experience
of the living God. Having also imprinted in their memory the
violence of religious wars between the various heretic Christian
confessions, Europeans no longer want to talk about the truth of
the Faith, but rather about the respect for otherness – the
respect for every peculiarity. This is the reason that the
slogan
“There's
probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life“
was welcomed by so many Europeans.
Let
us take a brief look at this message, as well as its underlying
causes.
Ariane Sherine
claims to be an atheist, but is basing her atheism on the
“probability that there is no God”. She does not express any
certainty of her atheism. In reality, her message is agnostic by
nature. She doesn’t know if God exists. But she is annoyed by
the religious quarrels and the threat of Hell for sinners and
infidels. When asked what the reason behind her campaign was,
she replied: “Last June, I came out of the house and I saw a
message by an Evangelical organization on the side of a bus,
saying that those who do not accept Christ will go to Hell.”
This
threat triggered her subsequent reaction. She was annoyed by the
claim of an impending danger of Hell – which she naturally does
not believe exists. Thus, with the help of the newspaper
“Guardian” she commenced to collect contributions of money
through the Internet for a campaign that would counterbalance
the matter. Her action immediately found a huge response and in
six months, on the Day of the Epiphany, 800 “godless” buses –
200 of them in the capital city – appeared on the streets of
Britain with Sherine’s “counterbalancing” message..
Ariane Sherine’s
weariness of “religions and their representatives, who each
preaches hostility towards the others” is a weak pretense for
the militant outburst of her atheism. It over-simplifies the
complex function of human religiosity. By generalizing hatred,
which unfortunately is not absent from religious disputes,
religions are identified with that passion. And while there may
be some truth in the case of the Moslem religion, in whose
sacred book it says “fight the infidels, until there is no other
religion” (Koran, ch.8, vs.40), for Christianity – which teaches
love, even towards one’s enemies – it is obviously being unfair.
It is only justified in the cases of spiritual immaturity in
certain Christians and in the mentalities of certain heretic
offshoots that are unaware of the spirit of Christ. But they are
only misrepresentations of the Christian way of life, that
aspire to abuse the sacred institution of the Church.
It
appears that
Ariane Sherine
has
perceived the Protestant message that she read “on the side of
the bus” as a religious hatred, which foretold of eternal Hell
for those who did not accept Christ. And her reaction was
admittedly a natural one, to some degree. It was the reaction of
a selfish and haughty person, who doesn’t want to even consider
the possibility of temporary, let alone eternal hardship and
sorrow; and who especially cannot tolerate anyone judging her
actions and choices.
But
there is another parameter here, which is provided by the
orthodox poemantic utilization of the “fear of Hell”; Fear of
Hell is not a weapon intended to intimidate, or to wreak
vengeance on all opposition. Fear of Hell presupposes faith, and
in fact a faith in the God Who was incarnated and had shown His
love for man, “to the death”. In other words,
it
presupposes, through faith, at least a small taste of God’s
love. Because only those who have had even a “small taste”, can
feel what it means to be separated from God. To others, the bus
message is an extortionate one – a threat that implies spiritual
subjugation. It
was
not
perceived as a means for transcending the multiple fracturing of
the soul in order to make it whole again, within the benevolent,
pleasant and perfect will of God; rather, it was an incorrect
“missionary” move by the Protestant organization which had
mounted the advertisement and a product of their heretic
theology and ecclesiology. How indeed could an indifferent
or atheist person be attracted to a God that threatens with
Hell? And how is it possible to resort to a threat like
Hell, without relating it to an enjoyment of God’s love?
God
is love.
That
is
why it is not worth losing communion with Him, by far. And that
is why it will be terrible and humiliating if we prove to be
traitors to that love, when Christ (as Basil the Great tells us)
during His Second Coming - and in a sense Himself also
undergoing judgment – will be revealing to each and every one of us that
He had done everything He could to save us, to give us His life,
so that we might become unselfish, with unrestricted love and a
simple Nous – one that is open to the “view” of God.
Apart from the aforementioned points, also of interest were some
of the first reactions to the circulation of the “godless”
buses. Very few people reacted negatively. Some (atheists and
non-atheists) smiled… Christian organizations even
congratulated the idea! In fact, Methodists stated that the
campaign would actually “make the people give some thought to
God”. A certain Hasidic – orthodox Jew – thanked
Ariane Sherine
“on behalf of all the crypto-heretics of the world”, because, as
he explained, “I have all the external marks of a Hasidic Jew,
but deep inside, I am a liberal atheist.”
Unfortunately, atheism is often hidden behind a “painstakingly
groomed” religiosity. The reactions to the “godless” buses have
shown just this reality. They have revealed the “broad path” -
the highway of atheism and crypto-atheism and the impassioned
enjoyment of this world, which a large part of mankind is
pursuing, “without worrying”. That is why nobody in that news
report seems to have mentioned that Sherine’s message is a
harshly racist one, inasmuch as it pertains only to those with
health and possessions; those who have a body capable of
enjoying pleasures and those who possess enough income to cater
to their desires. In other words, the message does not cater to
the sick, the unemployed, the homeless, and generally to those
who are unable to enjoy their life the way they would like to,
and who can confront their situation only by ascribing a certain
loftier meaning –mainly a theological one– that will explain the
tribulations of their lives and provide them with an outlet.
And
yet,
Ariane Sherine
inconsiderately and cruelly advises even these people to “stop
worrying” about such theologically-oriented matters….