An Orgy of Atheism; Typically, at Holy Easter By James Reed
If it is not the Pope, which it always is, then the liberal press will have something upsetting for Christians, and orthodox Jews, at Easter.
“The New York Times published an op-ed Friday that proposes eliminating belief in God — as one of the holiest weekends of the year begins.
Titled “In This Time of War, I Propose We Give Up God,” the article claims that God is responsible for “war and violence” and for “oppression and suffering,” and suggests that people stop teaching children about Him.
Author Shalom Auslander, who is disillusioned about his upbringing in a religious Jewish community in New York, argues (original emphasis):
… If he were mortal, the God of Jews, Christians and Muslims would be dragged to The Hague. And yet we praise him. We emulate him. We implore our children to be like him.
Perhaps now, as missiles rain down and the dead are discovered in mass graves, is a good time to stop emulating this hateful God. Perhaps we can stop extolling his brutality. Perhaps now is a good time to teach our children to pass over God — to be as unlike him as possible.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/opinion/passover-giving-up-god.html
How is God responsible for what man is doing to man in the Ukraine, or anywhere else? Sheer atheism indeed, born of a Job-like frustration! And there is nothing original about what Shalom Auslander proclaims, it being the objection made by garden-variety atheists for centuries. The same type of argument would apply with even more force to the religion of humanism, which has failed dramatically. That it is a repeated mantra does not give it any credibility, and theologians since St Augustine and Aquinas have addressed this weak point adequately. Indeed, it is not even a fully detailed “argument from evil,” but more a tantrum … or is it a cry for God to answer? There are plenty of great rabbis in New York that can help, I am sure.
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