Reluctant Atheist

Read ‘Why I am an Atheist Who Believes in God,’ by Frank Shaeffer. Frank is a former preacher, current painter and writer, but it seems to me that he’s still suffering from preacheritis, which is a sort of childish belief in the primacy of emotion over reason. I love the premise of the book and I certainly identify with the issues, but those issues are implied here and not stated, since Frank never really seems to come to terms with them. I’m glad he loves his children and grandchildren (as well as small animals everywhere), and I wouldn’t mind if he mentioned them a time or two if he thought it would support his argument, but good grief, Frank, get on with it, will you? And it makes not one tiny bit of difference how many famous directors, artists, actors, opera singers, tv talk show hosts or bookies you know.

In my experience, genuine atheists are pretty rare. Want to see one turn agnostic? Just add hot water. And the real issue that most agnostics have is not with the concept of a higher power of some kind, per se, so much as it is the uncritical adherence to a random set of inherited superstitions that lie at the heart of most of, if not all religions. The problem with spirituality versus belief in the age of quantum theory is a discussion we need to have, but this book does not get us any closer to it.