Dawkins' Book Alongside Bible in Hotels?

Extremely useful blog post many thanks for sharing

I don't mean to necessarily bring politics up, but in my mind I sincerely believe that they are unavoidably interlinked. Check out this video about how the modern liberal thinks. Again, this is about politics, but I believe the same premises he is making applies to the assault on religion, particularly Christianity.

Transcripts: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Lecture/Regurgitating-the-Apple-How-Mod...

You tube video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaE98w1KZ-c&feature=related

Perhaps you haven’t yet sensed the change in American thinking. Capitalism, or private capital and individual initiative, which previously defined our culture, now appears to be defined as unfair. Deciding what’s fair is evolving as a function of government. Under the current political climate I don’t blame business fear of repercussions, in looking at the direction we appear to be heading their fears appear justified.

If atheists place The God Delusion in hotels, why shouldn't theists place The Dawkins Delusion next to it? Richard side by side with Alister. And speaking of Tolkien, I can just hear Dawkins and McGrath sighing to each other the words of Aragorn's dear old Mum: onen i-Estel edain, u-chebin estel anim. "I give hope to the men of the West; I keep no hope for myself." How poignant.

If I sound jaded, it's because I believe it's time for an all out war with the inane neo-Darwinists. It's time to flood the streets, hotels and motels, schools and libraries, parks and panels, zoos and yahoos with profound irrefutable evidence of irreducible complexity, nanomachines in the cell, causal-agent informational code in the DNA, and you-name-it.

Let's stop fighting this battle with paper airplanes and begin ending it once and for all with hydrogen-bomb-level proof. Drown them in it. The time for pro-active radicalism has come. Down with Darwin. Up with God. Down with atheism. Up with the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator of the universe. Praise Him forever!

Oh and Lord of the Rings was great fun. Read the entire collection three times in high school. Try C. S. Lewis some time if you haven't already. Tolkien's devout faith was a significant factor in the conversion of C. S. Lewis from atheism to Christianity.

Do people ever read the Bibles in hotels? I think not. They watch cable TV or even porn channels if available.
As for Atheism being boring I find it endlessly interesting and I have been Atheist for most of my life.
If I want to read myths I prefer the Lord of the Rings.

I don't see any problem with it. Its just a book, if Christians feel offended about it, well they could throw the thing under the sofa and quietly read the bible.

I for one would like to see both arguments, since it would be fairer and more equal.

Besides, he whose faith is strong does not shun others, but embraces them, so that he may strengthen his own, through understanding and not blissful ignorance.

The irony is that Dawkins, et al, have popularized sanctimonious atheism, perhaps, nature's oddest duck. Their writings are as they sound - opinion pieces - and suffer from the fact that they sound that way.
Suppose that I reclused myself in some tropical rain forest and while I was there, there arose a debate about my existence, whether I was a real or a fictional person. Would it matter to me as I ate my jungle fare if the fictionalists won the debate? Could they will me out of existence? If they demanded that I show myself to them to prove my existence, would I be under any moral, intellectual or social responsibility to leave my new home and come to the place of their choosing to make an accounting of myself?

That is why the Bible is a book of testimony, not a book of opinions, contrary to the atheist's imagination - "That which we have seen with our eyes..." No event is at the mercy of the opinion of its detractors. It is what it is. The reason that Christians are sometimes rattled by the atheist and the agnostic is that we, too, are often too much enthralled by our personal opinions.

THE POINT MAY BE MOOT:

As the law allows for certain freedoms here and in various countries, we must consider that it may involve legal issues as well as the position on the issue that any number of hotel chains may take as they would be directly involved. If, in this case, atheists intend to pay and place books in hotel rooms it would certainly seem to be up to these establishments to evaluate any possible negative responses or backlash by their "religious" guests in turn affecting their bottom lines for placing these books in their hotel locations. Meaning, the hotel would have the choice to opt out or not.

The point may be moot because if, in fact, atheists would be allowed to place their publications along side the Gideon’s then all organizations should get the same treatment....Islam, Hindu, Pantheists, Scientology, etc. This would potentially create an entire spiritual/philosophical library in one night stand. We would essentially be staying in libraries with room service.

Besides, we would be able to see the tangible results of placing these books along side Bibles based on the increase of the postings for the "God Delusion" on Ebay.

-BAS

" If you know who I am then there is another wave of atheists coming on his heels which will not be as easily dealt with."

John

Why should we know who you are? With all due respect, are you trying to make a name for yourself?

Also, I perused your web page and found nothing of real interest in terms of making a concrete point against Christianity. The best you can do is to point out the sin. We would point that out as well as a sure sign that someone is missing the entire point of what God's ultimate will is for true believers, which is to be set free from sin.

If you could put it in all in a nutshell, that would be it. When men were brought into the presence of the Lord, they weren't overcome by love. They were overcome by fear because of His perfection and holiness. Jesus' atonement pardons our sin and His Spirit transforms us on the inside through His Word by grace through faith.

When you begin coming at the Bible recognizing just how much God hates sin (which, btw, is the opposite of love) and realizing the solution that He did on His own, which was a priceless gift of love, the text falls into place. The contradictions fall by the wayside.

Vera

Well, you all have very good comments. I especially liked Jane's practical comment of where would the money come from. The Gideons have a lot of support of many churches across the globe. Does anyone know if the atheists have that kind of support? Considering how few atheists there are, I would doubt it.

I have read Dawkins' God Delusion and I would not recommend it for "light reading before going to bed" -- especially while traveling. It tends to have a very hateful tone to it. It's full of unsubstantiated flippant remarks which seem to be meant for people who already agree with his point of view. I am a Christian, so I am biased against his point of view; but I was expecting a more logical and evenhanded approach to his arguments. Instead I got the impression he had an axe to grind. As I said... not really a good book to read to give comfort or to inspire.

from: janejosefson@yahoo.com
to: average joe

very simple measures:

(1) will the atheists pony up the money and how much compared to the Gideons, per year, to match the Bible book by book?

(2) will dawkins, hitchens, and the rest of the new 'aggressive' atheists donate all profits from their books (God Delusion et. al.) to the cause?

(3) assuming hotels allow the atheist books equal 'in the drawer' shelf space, will the atheist books be stolen like the Gideon Bibles sometimes are (people assume they're there for the taking, by the way) because people just can't put them down and can't wait to finish them?

I have just finished reading Anthony Flew's most recent book, THERE IS A GOD, and am impressed by the intellectual and moral integrity of this philosopher, who though a staunch atheist for 50 years, after following the scientific evidence from both the hard and soft sciences, has come to believe there is a rational, omnipotent, omniscient, spiritual Being who is the sole ground for the existence and maintanence of the universe as we now know it.
And contrary to slanderous rumors some have spread about "an old man's fear of death," Dr. Flew makes it clear that it was his rational analysis of the evidence underlying five issues, which Dawkins and company admittedly avoid, which led him to change his mind about God: the rational accessibility of the universe and the laws governing it; the incredibility of life going live by random, unguided chance; the origin of rational consciousness in a supposedly irrational, unconscious universe; and the origin of the human self that while conscious of thought processes going on in the brain, is yet distinct from and analytically critical of those processes. He says that essentially, he is being true to a committment he made as a philosopher long ago: To follow the path that reason and the facts demand, wherever they lead. And he has been interacting with N.T. Wright, and is giving a fresh consideration to the revelational claims of Christianity, though he is far from being convinced.
So I would, for those interested in truth, suggest that after reading Dawkins, they now read Flew, and then read the Bible. And here is a verse that every seeker of truth should take to heart: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Heb. 11:6, TNIV).

Well, first of all, we should point out that, unless you're a fundamentalist Christian who has the same view of religion that Osama bin Laden does, you know that there is no conflict between Christianity and Darwin's theory of evolution. Darwin, fact, had studied to be a priest (or pastor or whatever), and continued to be a Christian after publishing The Origin of Species. If you guys see a conflict, you are reading the Bible WAY too literally.

Having said that, it is clear that the people placing the book by Dawkins -- an extremist atheist who thinks there is something inherently irrational and/or evil about religion -- see a conflict between religion and science, and resolve the conflict in the opposite way. They, too, are wrong.

I myself am a Deist; I believe in a Deity -- God, if you will -- which is responsible for the existence of the universe, but does not intervene in its operation or in the affairs of mankind (obviously, that means I believe in both God and evolution). Hence, I see the Bible as a great work of literature and nothing more.

I have to agree with marc m; if someone is in a hotel room contemplating suicide, it is clear that the Bible would provide more comfort. NOT because there is a conflict between science and moderate religion, but because moderate religion is designed, in part, to provide comfort, whereas science is merely the practice of studying the material universe.

In fact, if one buys into Richard Dawkins' view of the world, it might make suicidal feelings worse by making them feel alone.

So I say, just leave the Bible!!!!!

i think putting atheist tracts in hotel rooms will have no effect whatsoever because no matter how truthful atheism might be, its weakest selling point is that it is quite boring. a lot of atheism is about taking responsibility for yourself and that is something suicidal troubled persons definitely don't want to discover because it is quite bleak.
as long as there is porn and videogames on order on the hotel tv, atheism doesn't stand a chance of being read.
The bible, on the other hand is a source of spiritual salvation for troubled persons for solid cultural reasons. I am sure that the placement of bibles in hotel rooms will have a lasting effect for some without regard to the truth of its inherent ideas.