If an Atheist discovers
a cure for cancer, will Christians want to be cured – or will they be satisfied with their “religious” version of being saved?
Back in 1950 it was not yet a scientifically accepted premise that there was such a thing as global shift. As far as teachers were concerned they were satisfied with their idea that our world had always comprised seven continents. Tectonic plates were not yet a part of our vocabulary.
A grade seven student found a globe that had been thrown out when neighbours down were moving.
He installed this globe on top of his dresser and often lay in his bed dreaming about how the world must have been millions and millions of years ago. His grandfather had told him that, in spite of what he learned at school or Sunday school, our world was at least that old.
He thought how things must have changed over millions of years. As he examined his globe, his thoughts were drawn back to the shape of Africa's west coast and Brazil's coast. It looked to him as if they were once joined together.
That year he had a geography assignment and got an idea. With some financial help from his granddad, he purchased another identical globe. He painted the old globe blue and cut out the continents from his new globe. Then, he glued them on his blue globe – only, he fitted them all together as best as he could to make one continent.
It was a masterpiece. He dreamed of finally getting a good mark.
He introduced his project by telling the class that millions of years ago, our earth had only one continent floating on top of molten rock. Each continent broke free and drifted away.
As he presented his assignment to his class, he felt something was wrong since none of his classmates were looking at him or his globe. As it turned out, their eyes were glued on their teacher who was seething mad. His red face was only exceeded by his ears that were, by now, a bright crimson. Boy, was he upset!
Finally, his teacher couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the globe and threw it into his waste paper basket.
“That's where it belongs, now sit down right now and then see me after four. I have a few words for you!”
It turns out that his teacher belonged to a religion that believed our world was only 6,000 years old. The boy's claims of our earth being millions of years old were outrageous as far as his teacher was concerned.
He got a failing mark.
Religious ignorance had struck once again.
Unhappy but undaunted, he told his grandfather what happened.
“Well, I am sorry it turned out that way,” his grandfather said. “We'll just have to avoid getting him angry. In the meantime, you might find some books at the library on these people. Many of them suffered like you did.”
His list was long. It included the ancient Greeks, Gallileo, Leonardo de Vinci, Newton and Turrin among others.
“The list would have been longer but we went through a period of several hundred years where if your art, music, poetry or discoveries did not honour god or if they disagreed with the Bible, you paid dearly. A globe in a waste basket was the least of their problems.”
“If your work disagreed with their god or their bible, you could lose your home, be thrown in the dungeon or even burned at the stake,” he told me.
“More than a thousand years ago the Persian doctors were performing appendix operations. When their country was invaded during the crusades, all of them were killed. The Christians believed those Persian doctors were doing the devils bidding. It took us a thousand years to catch up.”
Our student learned not to confront his teachers with his atheism. The practice helped later in life as his employers displayed similar prejudices – and ignorances.
Later in life, he often wondered what our world would be like without atheists. For example, atheists had used electricity to create light, developed computing and our personal computers (both the Apple and the PC), discovered and harnessed atomic energy (although some later used it for immoral purposes), discovered a world of DNA, and introduced us to space travel. He was certain that there was more.
He often wondered if religious fanatics ever stopped to consider how much they owed to atheists.
Some religious leaders have been quick to dismiss this idea by saying that their God had inspired inventors and innovators. I don't think so.
Recently, renewed attacks on atheists have surfaced. For example, President Bush (the older) stated that he would deny atheists citizenship. And of course, his son declares that he was chosen by God.
I wonder what religious extremists will do if an atheist comes up with our world's next big discovery, like a cure for the common cold, or better still – a cure for cancer!
Would they continue to dismiss us or would they learn to live as we do . . . without gods!
Anton Kozlik
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