I've been reflecting on a clear, but illustrative point.
If you are reading this on a computer, look at the 'Top 10 Ever" of posts on this blog's sidebar . All enlightening, amusing and challenging, sure. All - more to the point - about the minutiae of church life. What is absurd about being a Christian; what sort of Christian are you.
Not apologetics. Not, as for the last 48 hours, pouring scorn on atheist Dawkins fan boys.
I consider the daily 2,000 readers I typically get for a bit of silliness about Church profiles. I compare it to the 20 readers of the, to me, gripping question of how God might be involved in Creation without turning up and waving a magic wand. (Clue: the words to consider are 'in him we live and move and have our being').
What does this tell us? I'm a big science fan. I have an Oxford MA in Chemistry. I love science, me. The way religion and science shed light on each other - I love all that. Seeing some wannabe Dawk spouting off in a mixture of ignorance and confirmation bias - or some creationist doing the same, for the two positions are illegitimate half-siblings, not opposites - that gets me grumpy. Sends me off to create a mountain of snark.
But the typical churchgoer is miles ahead of me. They know Richard Dawkins and his ilk are basically just wasting good breathable air when they spout forth. They don't care if I satirise the excitations of the Richard Dawkins Foundation, or whatever it's called.
Because my readera have more important things to worry about. How many buttons on the cassock of an evangelical who's quite fond of the 39 Articles? What type of incense to use Plough Sunday? Is it green or gold from Epiphany to Pentecost? Now that the Food Bank appears to be functioning properly in town, should we expand to renting the school on the middle-class estate? These are the things my readers mostly worry about.
Arguing with scientism and radical atheism - that's of no interest. If you are collecting a car boot-load of groceries for the local people who can't make ends meet, you ain't got time to worry about Stephen Fry. You want to help your fellow people, then get home to an argument about what colour the third candle in Advent should* be.
That's why the readers of this blog care more about which Charismatics are always forgotten about** or what the weight of a churchwarden is if expressed in badgers***, than an argument about whether God exists.
They know God exists. And they've got their priorities right.
* Rose. Or, if you are a man, pinkish.
** Catholic Charismatics
*** European or African badger?
Exactly! Though I always read the science ones too.
ReplyDeleteAnd those of us who are scientifically challenged appreciate the expertise of those who are not! and perhaps the silly things indicate a greater wisdom than the deadly seriousness of Dawkins et al.
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