There are No Atheists

August 6, 2002

by Lewis J. Goldberg

It doesn’t take much reading of conservative commentary to figure out that a large number of self-described conservatives in these United States are Christian. Yet we hear the media constantly lamenting the fact, as if Christians have no legitimate claim to the position, or that the nation should fear Christendom’s usurpation of political power. In examination of other cultures, we find the same phenomenon: factions advocating preservation of their old order tend to be men of faith rooted in the predominant religion of the region. Understanding what conservatism is and why Christians are drawn to the ideology clarifies why it could never be otherwise.

While it is tempting to use the standard nomenclature of political and religious labels, closer examination shows that the line between politics and religion is blurry at best - and most likely non existent. Is it fair to say that all Christians are conservative? Of course not - liberalism is gaining force in many socialist-Christian denominations,twisting doctrines in what used to be good, Bible-believing church communities, and forcing others out to go it alone or seek affiliation with other, more traditional denominations. Likewise, many nonbelievers consider themselves old traditionalists, and find it frustrating to converse with Christian conservatives on political topics. But these traditionalists struggle in vain, for despite the fact that it is a prime directive of the enlightened to keep religion and politics at arms’ length, careful study of history shows that it has never been thus.

All veracity aside, the purpose of religion is to help man understand where he came from, why he is here, and where he is going. Religion is, in essence, a quest for ultimate truth in all things. Politics is a quest for truth in how men should be governed, and in our modern nanny state, has become an engine for dispersing ultimate truth in those matters previously the bailiwick of religion. Though the Romans allowed their conquered subjects to maintain their religious practices, they ultimately drew the line when it came to Christianity. All the pagan faiths the Romans oversaw were considered acceptable, because the Romans knew they were so much balderdash anyway, and powerless to present any threat to their order. Christianity they couldn’t accept because it preached the Gospel of truth, which made it obvious to everyone that the Romans presided over untruth, and deserved to be cast down as a world power.

Today’s Western governments are no better than the Romans of old. Our society is run, in large part, by unbelievers. In the name of religious freedom, society accepts a wide range of belief systems...save one, of course. It is acceptable to serve the god of self,or so-called science (which makes idols of God’s creation,) or to serve Ayn Rand, or anyone else with time on their hands who wrote an interesting book. These fake gods are as real in their sacrilege as the Baal of Old Testament times, and will just as surely lead their followers to Hell. If someone makes an utterance and calls it truth, the logical question should be, where did that truth come from? If it did not come from the Author of all truth, then it isn’t, because there can only be one.

The landscape of politics becomes more understandable realising that we live in a faith-filled world. No person anywhere is without religion. The atheist has faith he came from a monkey, and calls it science despite its unprovability. He has faith that the Grand Canyon took millions of years to carve, despite the fact that a flood can carve a new canyon in a matter of days, or even hours. These are doctrines of men, and are subject to drastic change at the whim of the latest academic trends. At the right hand of the atheists are liberal Christians, who dress the crucified Christ in secular clothes, putting words of heresy in His mouth.

Politics becomes much more comprehensible when the vying factions are considered for what they are: religions. It seems logical that if God had a plan for our existence, that He should have given us some concrete way of understanding that plan. He did, and every political cataclysm bears witness to the fact. Until God blows the whistle to get out of the pool, we shall ever struggle: those who bear the truth, and those who grasp at straws of their own design. Conservative, liberal, moderate: these are words that have no meaning in the final day.