Happy Blamesgiving! The Atheist Festivus
- innerweavings
- Nov 14, 2019
- 4 min read
The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt; their acts are vile.
There is no one who does good.
The LORD looks down from heaven
upon the sons of men
to see if any understand,
if any seek God.
All have turned away,
they have together become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
Will the workers of iniquity never learn?
- Psalm 14:1-4b (BSB)
Today Innerweavings takes a look at a holiday created by atheists to protest Thanksgiving. It was given the catchy name "Blamesgiving" and its purpose was to say "Bah, Humbug!" to all expressions of gratitude and, instead, focus on all the miserable things of the previous year. Think of it as Festivus with only The Airing of Grievances segment.
Yes, there WAS actually such a thing. It was held in New York City for only one year (1931) and, for some reason, never really caught on. The event was designed as a mockery of a Christian church service complete with sermons railing against the injustice of God and even a hymn which cited specific examples of all the horrible things for which God was supposedly responsible.
The organization behind this event, the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism (AAAA/4A) had been founded in 1925 by a man named Charles Lee Smith. Young Charles had aspired to become a minister, but, after growing disillusioned with his faith, he instead embraced atheism accompanied by the unchristian attitude of racism, anti-Semitism, and white supremacy. After a few years of blasphemous promotion, internal turmoil, lawsuits, and general chaos, the AAAA fell apart, but its atheist leaders and members branched out into other projects. Their goal remained to eradicate religion (particularly Christianity) from all public thought and daily life.
The AAAA followed the characteristic pattern, as outlined in the Bible, which all those who reject God follow. Just as every episode of MTV's Behind the Music series repeated the same story (high school buddies finally top the charts with their hit single but then internal squabbling and a band member's overdose lead to the break up of the band), atheism follows a similarly unhappy template.
Atheism is the natural result of the sin of rebellion.
Satan's first temptation, and the root of every temptation since that time, has been the tantalizing promise, "Ye shall be like God." (Genesis 3:5). Atheism is this verse in practice.
"Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done." Roman 1:28 (NLB)
Atheism is grounded in anger that often arises from disillusionment.
The all-consuming characteristic of atheism is irrational anger. It is irrational because it professes to believe that the object of its anger does not even exist. This can stem from disappointment or from an honest struggle with what atheists feel is their Ace in the Hole argument: if God exists, why is there evil in the world?
"For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one." Job 5:2 (KJV)
Atheism is self-refuting and therefore has no foundation on which to stand.
Atheism claims to be based on reason. But what is the objective standard by which to prove their reasoning is correct? As way of personal illustration, I may proclaim that I am a tall person. But "tall" is a subjective standard. Exactly how tall are we talking about here? Put me up against any kindergartner and I will tower over them in my tallness. But place me against the objective standard of a measuring tape and you will realize why I'm a member of the Little People of America. The atheist rejects the objective standard of reason - the omniscient Creator - but then proclaims himself to be the objective standard. Even their "best" argument citing the existence of evil necessitates the existence of good. "Good" and "Truth" are standards which apply only to God. (Matthew 19:17, John 14:6)
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9
Atheism cannot answer the big questions.
Where did we come from? What is the purpose of this life? What happens after this life? Atheism has no answer. If there is no underlying reason, there is no purpose and no
direction to follow. The Apostle Paul pointed out, in that case, we might as well "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die" (I Corinthians 15:32)
There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." Proverbs 14:12 (KJV)
Atheism has no hope.
The popular saying "YOLO" - You Only Live Once - sums up the philosophy of making the most of life. But for atheists this life is ALL there is. Even the happiest atheist can only look forward to eternal extinction and nothingness. Even the most persecuted Christian has the promise of a glorious eternity. As Paul said, "if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world." I Corinthians 15:19 (NLT)
"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope." I Thessalonians 4:3 (NIV)
What a contrast to the atheistic Blamesgiving, that we who have humbly acknowledged faith in Christ have been chosen by God "before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence"! (Ephesians 1:4) Let us pray that those who are trapped in Satan's snare of atheism would experience this same joy and unfathomable future!
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” I Corinthians 2:9 (ESV)
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