Why I Am Catholic
from the “know it all” Know Nothings. In this case, the know it all is Patheos’ own Friendly Atheist.
I once wrote that treating atheists like they are stupid is a mistake. I still believe that. Of course, it’s also a huge mistake to let them pretend they have figured everything out, deciding to junk thousands of years of tradition, revelation, interpretation, and enlightened study of Christianity. The Flying Spaghetti Monsters & Sky Fairies ya-da, ya-da offense is getting played out.
Monsignor Pope’s charitable takedown is a fine example of how to defend the Faith while not dehumanizing the attacker. We’re going to have to get used to defending the Faith, despite the difficulties involved in doing so. Because pretending that Christianity is “old hat,” and even more ludicrous, that any one person can sift through over 2,000 years of world-changing beliefs, and world-changing ideas that have arisen from her, and then proclaiming that the world “knows all about it”, flies in the face of the following truth about Christianity that the modern “know it alls” seem to miss.
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried. –G.K. Chesterton
I don’t pretend to know it all. I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of the riches in the treasury of the Catholic Church. It will take an eternity of lifetimes to plumb the depths of Christianity. Call me Grasshopper.
H/T Kathy Schiffer
UPDATES:
The Friendly Atheist’s rebuttal to Monsignor Pope (be advised, language alert!).
Not related, but timely, Shameless Popery’s Three Arguments Against Atheism from Pope Benedict.
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