Many non-Christians, particularly atheists, think Christians are ignorant people. ..
On a visit to my country of origin a couple of years ago I got on the phone to an old friend of mine who I hadn’t seen or spoken to for over twenty years. I had always known that he was an avowed atheist, and my intention was not to start an argument or even to mention my faith, but to ask him how life is for him these days.
His first sentence was not, “how’s life for you these days?” It was “You don’t still believe in that stupid God of yours do you?” As soon as I replied that yes, I am still a Christian, he launched into a series of venomous attacks on my intelligence and on my God and refused to chat with me, so that I finally had to say goodbye and hang up. For all he knew I might have been to university and earned a couple of degrees in the time we’d been apart, but even that wouldn’t have stopped the verbal attack, because to him, no matter what I could say, I was and still am “ignorant”.
I’ve noticed that atheists resort to insults far more often than “religious” people do, and the “i” word flies freely.
The word “ignorant” is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “lacking knowledge or information”, but also as “not polite, rude”. I will freely admit that I am ignorant about many things in the sense that I lack knowledge: will atheists admit that they can often be impolite and rude and are therefore “ignorant” themselves?
Atheists and unbelievers in general make the mistake of thinking that anyone who is ignorant, or uneducated, is automatically wrong about everything. If we were to adopt this line of logic and follow it through its natural course, we would have to hunt for the most educated person, the highest achiever, the one who could answer every single “Cash Cab” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” question correctly, and make him or her President. We could look up to him (or her) as some kind of a god, because not only would he know all things, but he would be “right” about everything. Our system of government would change overnight. All of our financial, political and social problems would be solved.
However, we know that we can have two candidates for the job who are equally well educated, who could answer the same number of questions, but who would also prescribe two opposing solutions to our problems. Why is that? It’s because decisions are made based not upon our intelligence or lack of it, but upon preference, upon personal opinions and desires, and upon our view of the world. I am not ignorant of the theory of evolution, I have just chosen to reject it.
Scientists haven’t solved all our problems. We still have cancer, heart disease, HIV, death: do we consider them to be “ignorant” just because they don’t know everything?
It’s very important to see that God does not reject ignorant people just because they are ignorant. If he did, we would all be rejected. He does not ignore the ignorant and love the intellectual. He does not grade people on their IQ or on their degrees and diplomas. If some Christians are uneducated, this is not evidence that God does not exist! Christ came for the poor, the sick, the lowly, the meek, the humble. He didn’t head straight for the local university and try to cozy up to the faculty, although he does love the educated just as much as he loves the uneducated. He didn’t head for the palace in an attempt to gain acceptance by the movers and the shakers and the “important” people in society. In this materialistic, vain society we tend to think that clever people are valuable, and ignorant people are worthless. That’s not the way God thinks.
There are plenty of uneducated people who believe in evolution from nothing and who are atheists. There are also many highly educated people (admittedly a minority) who are Christians. Some of them are scientists or qualified and trained in science. For example, peruse this list:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/bios/
Such Christians do not believe in spite of the so-called “evidence” for evolution from nothingness and against God: they believe because they reject the idea that such evidence is valid. They are aware that a person’s worldview is not just decided by knowledge, but by the heart, the will, and by his or her view of life, the universe and everything. One of my favorite Creationists, now passed on, scientist Dr. Wilder-Smith, had three earned doctorates from Oxford.
Many of the pioneers of history have been Christians, such as Copernicus, Pasteur, Joseph Mendel, JS Bach, Van Gogh, CS Lewis, JRR Tolkein, Werner Von Braun. Many Christian thinkers and scholars of today are as well educated as any atheist, and are able to defend their faith and to debate anyone you can mention.
What atheists, skeptics and unbelievers mean when they say that Christians are ignorant is that much to their annoyance (and anger) we do not agree with them. We do not agree that nothing created us. We do not agree that life is all about what we can detect with our five senses. We do not agree that there is no evidence to support our faith. We do not agree that the beauty and design we see all around us is all an illusion and came about by an expansion of nothing from that imaginary “singularity”, causing a perpetual change for the better, like some cartoon explosion of junk which brings about a Boeing 747, complete with passengers, control tower, itinerary, and lunch menu.
We could say that atheists and unbelievers have chosen to be “ignorant” of God and of the Word of God. They are ignorant of all that exists beyond the five senses. The Bible says that they are “willingly ignorant” (KJV), or they “deliberately forget” (2 Peter 3:6 NIV). They have made a decision based upon their preferences, opinions and desires, and upon their own view of the world. They filter all observation of the universe through their bias.
Going even further, and sounding rather like an insult, the Bible says:
“The fool has said in his heart, there is no God”, and;
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”
The truth is that the believer and the unbeliever are on two totally separate tracks, and the two will never meet. The atheist will never say, “hmm, yes, I think you may have a point about God’s omniscience”, and we believers will never say “hmmm, yes, I think you may have point when you say that we can’t see God in a telescope or a microscope”. It’s the unbeliever’s determination to not see God which ensures that, short of a miracle, he never will.
This is God’s intention. This is an integral part of God’s plan. God hates human pride – the kind of pride that says that the intellectual, the arrogant unbeliever, the highly educated should be able to see God, so that they can put Him into a tube, run tests on Him, measure and categorize Him, and then charge us plebians to see Him in a museum, and that the ignorant – the uneducated – should not be able to know Him. Here is what Paul had to say on the matter:
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate’…..”For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe….”For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength…”God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong…so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
The scientist can study the world of amazing true science, but once he chooses to believe we evolved out of nothing, he is not going to see God, even though he is daily staring at abundant evidence for Him.
I am very happy to be labeled “ignorant” if it means that I am being true to my God, and I would rather associate with the “ignorant” than the arrogant.
Fuel for Faith 
Yeah, well, Christians are not only ignorant but the ignorance leads the vast majority of them to be reprehensible bigots.
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So you’re the superior one then!
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Your friend was a little rude to just attack you like that just because you’re still a Christian. I too have many Christian friends. However, his assumption that you are “ignorant” at least about a lot of things especially regarding religion is not wrong. Judging by your article above his face would be red from face palming if he had read that. Why? Because anyone remotely educated in Biology or Physics can tell you that it’s full of logical fallacies and things that just aren’t true. It’s not a matter of opinion, they just aren’t true. Some things are matters of opinion, these aren’t.
How often have you heard a Christian begin their rhetoric by saying “I’m a simple man, I don’t know all the Sciency stuff, but… (quotes Bible and uses personal experiences)” You never wonder why this is exactly how you’d expect an uneducated and/or stupid person to behave?
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I believe that I can answer most of these questions with minimal effort. I could get some wrong. I’m not going to look this up, so go easy on me. 🙂
1. False: Abiogenesis and evolution are not one and the same.
2. True/False. For some reason I find this one tricky. Ancestors to those resembling mammals from the ape family. In essence evolution states that most every animal that exists today came from microorganism.
3. True: Can be witnessed in microbiology. The flu virus, while some argue whether viruses are alive or not, evolves persistently.
4. True! I actually read an article about that not long ago.
5. True. Unfortunately many Christians see the idea of evolution as a threat! It’s not. Evolution being a reality does not mean that a creator does not exist.
6. False. Evolution and the Big Bang are not the same thing.
7. Evolution is NOT just a theory. If one looks at some of the elementary ideas behind evolution it is easy to see that it’s a more than likely scenario. Conservation of DNA, vestigial appendages, links to a common ancestor and the list goes on.
I would not call myself a die hard Christian, but I would say that I believe in the possibility of a creator. I mean, I want to believe that there is a God. It would be nice if there was an all loving father who created all of us, but I can’t know that for certain. And I understand that me wanting something to exist doesn’t make it exist. If anyone asked me why I believed in the possibility of a God, I would simply say “because I choose to.” I take no offense in peoples disbelief. Heck, I find it hard to believe my self, and question faith frequently. But at the end of the day I don’t want to be a hardcore atheist. Not that it’s bad, it’s just not the way I want to be personally. I understand and I see the damage that Christians do to their own image. Also, I can see why they get such a bad rap from many people. Forced religion just doesn’t work. If you want to win someone over it will be with love, caring and understanding. I try to reach that point where science and the belief in a higher power can coexist. Science does NOT have to be the enemy! It really doesn’t, or that’s the way I like to think of it anyway.
Any who… Just because I have decent knowledge of science does not mean that I am superior to Christians. All it means is that I like to read and learn about a variety of subjects, and that I sought a higher education than most.
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Hi , Hi!
Here are the questions as Dave asked them, because you seem to have altered them in places:
1. Evolution says that life came from none life. True/False
2. Evolution says we evolved from chimps. True/False
3. Evolution has been observed. True/False
4. Evolution is both a fact and a theory. True/False
5. Evolution is rejected by many Christian secs unlike the theory of Gravity, germ theory because…?
6. Evolution says the Universe started with a big bang. True/False
7. Evolution is just a theory, this is a misleading statement. Explain why.
And here are my answers (next reply) Sorry that there’s no epistle here, but I do have other things to do:
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1 True
2 False-we are ‘related’ (according to the theory)
3 First define evolution. If you mean do animals alter from one generation to the next, the answer is yes, just as you are different from your Dad. However, a cat remains a cat, a dog remains a dog, a flu virus remains a flu virus, and NOTHING to the contrary has been observed. If by evolution you mean one kind of creature turning into another kind, the answer is NO, and since you have not observed any such thing, you are living by faith.
4 If you mean macro evolution (one kind into another) it is not even a theory, it is a hypothesis.
5 Sorry, doesn’t make sense
6 Just how ignorant do you think I am?
7 Answered in 4
If you haven’t heard of rude being a definition for ignorance, try the Oxford Dictionary.
If you mean you are slightly a Christian because you’re a nice guy, that may be so. If you mean a Christian in the original, true, literal sense of being a “Christ-one”, then you need to believe what Christ said, or else you are making up your own religion, and good luck to you. Christ believed that the Old Testament was true-that it was the Word of God. For example, he said “Haven’t you read that in the beginning God made them male a nd female”. You take it all or you leave it all -that’s your choice.
There is no conflict between true science and the Bible. Some of the greatest scientists and shapers of history were Christians, such as Copernicus. Some scientists today are Christians and believe that God created the heavens and the earth.
If I damage my “image” for standing up for what I believe is true, then so be it, and again, good luck to you , since luck is all you can call on without God.
Forced religion? What are you talking about Hi!? The only forced religion in our society is Evolutionism.
Anyway, thanks for your comments, just remember that I will not carry on an argument or fruitless discussion.
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Saying someone is ignorant is not an insult when it’s true. It’s like saying someone is obese. It can be considered an insult, but if they qualify to be considered obese, then they are obese. It’s just a fact.
You don’t agree that you are ignorant, but then you go on to say a bunch of stupid things (that only educated people will understand to be stupid) such as:
“We do not agree that the beauty and design we see all around us is all an illusion and came about by an expansion of nothing from that imaginary “singularity”, causing a perpetual change for the better, like some cartoon explosion of junk which brings about a Boeing 747, complete with passengers, control tower, itinerary, and lunch menu.”
If you don’t understand why this above is absolutely stupid, it is because you are ignorant. Ignorant of Biology, the theory of Evolution and the arguments about why the airplane from junkyard one is a logical fallacy.
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In fact I did admit that I am ignorant of some things-perhaps you didn’t read enough to find that out? You have accused me of saying “stupid” things, and thereby proved that you are “ignorant” in the sense of being rude. And thirdly, the explosion in the junkyard is no more “stupid” than is an expansion from nothing prducing all the order we see. Have you seen any videos of it actually happening? It’s an invention for those who do not want to think of the possibility of there being a Creator. I am not “ignorant of the theory of evolution”, because it was forced down my throat for many years, just as you are trying to force it down my throat now… Also, you assume that I am “ignorant of Biology” etc.How do you know that-just because I disagree with you?
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For as long as I have been alive I have never heard of the word “ignorant” being used to mean rudeness. Lets not go down the path of semantics, I doubt very few people mean that when they say ignorant. Maybe it’s meant as ignorance of etiquette or something.
The explosion in the junkyard argument is stupid because there are no known physical laws that can possibly create a man made object out of a junkyard. The Universe however, DO follow the laws of physics and aren’t even particularly ordered. 99.9999999999999999% of the Universe is inhospitable to life, it’s really not that fine tuned. Also it wasn’t from nothing. Nobody says it’s from nothing aside from Christians. The fact that you think it’s from nothing shows you know nothing about it. In fact a Universe popping into nothing is what Christians believe. It’s Magic!
Have I seen a video of it actually happening? Have YOU seen a video of your father being born? OMG he must’ve just popped into existence then. Have YOU seen a video of Jesus on the cross? I didn’t think so.
You’re not ignorant of Evolution? Answer these simple questions:
1. Evolution says that life came from none life. True/False
2. Evolution says we evolved from chimps. True/False
3. Evolution has been observed. True/False
4. Evolution is both a fact and a theory. True/False
5. Evolution is rejected by many Christian secs unlike the theory of Gravity, germ theory because…?
6. Evolution says the Universe started with a big bang. True/False
7. Evolution is just a theory, this is a misleading statement. Explain why.
There you go. I’m willing to bet you won’t be able to answer any of these correctly.
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1 True
2 False-we are ‘related’ (according to the theory)
3 First define evolution. If you mean do animals alter from one generation to the next, the answer is yes, just as you are different from your Dad. However, a cat remains a cat, a dog remains a dog, a flu virus remains a flu virus, and NOTHING to the contrary has been observed. If by evolution you mean one kind of creature turning into another kind, the answer is NO, and since you have not observed any such thing, you are living by faith.
4 If you mean macro evolution (one kind into another) it is not even a theory, it is a hypothesis.
5 Sorry, doesn’t make sense
6 Just how ignorant do you think I am?
7 Answered in 4
If you haven’t heard of rude being a definition for ignorance, try the Oxford Dictionary.
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Also, I didn’t call you stupid, I said you said stupid things. There is a difference. Plus it’s arguable that even if I did call you stupid, it may very well just be a fact based assessment. Whether to consider that rude is up to the individual.
btw I never call people ignorant just because they disagree with me. I call them that because they demonstrated profound ignorance by saying stupid things.
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Albert Einstein had inscribed in thread on his coat pocket (my god is the god of aberham Isaac and Jacob.
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Thanks M
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Hey it’s good stuff sir
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Your article seems to simultaneously condemn generalisations (“Christians are ignorant”) while subscribing to one (“Atheists are insulting”).
Its really a matter of perspective. As a Christian it is natural that you will disagree and argue with Atheists and not Christians. It is therefore natural that you will receive more criticisms and insults from Atheists, not because they are a more rude group of people, but because you disagree with them. Likewise an absence of disagreement with Christians is why they don’t insult you, not any innate characteristic.
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Nice!
Hope you like some of my thoughts: http://wp.me/p3i2IZ-54
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