I had written a piece "Don’t dis them that brung ya to the dance" in 2011. It was about how secularists and atheists and such,
claim to be all about love, hope, charity, but beat on Christians. I pointed
out that such ideas and ideals didn't exist before Christianity.
I came across an article in the magazine "First
Things", an article by J. Budziszewski titled "This Time It Will Not
Be the Same" this past week that is an extension of that idea. The thought
he addresses is the evangelization of the pagans the Apostle Paul and other
early Christians faced, and how we modern Christians now face neo-pagans.
His point is the first Christians were presenting something
new, entirely different from what anyone had experienced before. Neo-Christians
have lived with the concepts and oft times the practice of charity, hope, love
and the other ideas and practices of Christianity and have no need, they think,
of Christianity to carry through with Christian principles.
Budziszewski points out the big difference: "The pagan
made excuses for transgressing the moral law. By contrast, the neo-pagan
pretends, when it suits him, that there is not morality, or perhaps that each
of us has a morality of his own. Since they had the Law and the Prophets, it
comes as not surprise that the Jews took morality for granted. But to a great
degree, and despite their sordid transgressions, so did the pagans."
He goes on: "The pagan wanted to be forgiven but he did
not know how to find absolution. The him the Gospel came as a message of
release. But the neo-pagan does not want to hear that he needs to be forgiven,
and so to him the Gospel comes as a message of guilt."
Since Christianity and the Gospel become messages of
guilt, Christians are the guilty ones, and all is well with them; they can now
create their own morality. As stated on this blog several times, we live in a upside down world.
I often talk with secularists and atheists, and though they
express such things as love, charity, hope as good things, they seem to think
this has been something that has always been around. Budziszewski: "The
pagan was raised differently. He was brought up in the ways and the atmosphere
of paganism, and in order to be converted, he had to be removed from both. By
contrast, though the neo-pagan has probably also been taught pagan ways, he may
have been brought up in an atmosphere of Christian sentiment. Consequently, he regards
the Gospel not as a story of the God became a man but as a sentimental fable
for children."
The other thing I've noticed talking with nones, atheists,
secularists, is they render all to caesar, not to God. They believe government
can eradicate poverty, bring peace, through laws, regulations and rules, and
people will act and behave correctly and with charity and love toward all.
The other element talking to these people they only know the
bits and pieces of Christianity that have filtered into the culture. They've
not read the Bible, let alone studied it, don't have a clue about Christian
history other than it's responsible for the Crusades (mostly didn't happen they
way we were taught), a couple inquisitions that were responsible for a few
thousand deaths over centuries, compared to the millions slaughtered by secular governments,
especially in the 20th century. The billions of people through the centuries
that have benefited from the institutions, teachings, charity, love, and the
Salvation of Christ are completely ignored.
Budziszewski notes
there's a problem too with those within the Faith, that often accept the
secular zeitgeist. The Apostle Paul, especially in his letter to the Galatians,
points out this is always a danger. It's always more difficult to live a get
along life of the pagans, neo-pagans, and secularists, than by the Word, having
the Holy Spirit reside within us, and by the truth of the Gospel.
J. Budziszewski has a
web site "The Underground Thomist". The second half of his article
can be found there. The full article can be found at "First Things",
but one must subscribe to the web site. I subscribe to the magazine on my
Kindle. For a couple bucks a month you can get superb articles like this. Worth
it for a cover to cover read each edition.
