Being good without God -- and does it really matter?

Being good without God has become the mantra for many atheists, and they undoubtedly have a point. Atheists, agnostics and people who worship many gods or no god in particular, are in fact capable of goodness, capable of acts of kindness, mercy and even self-sacrifice. (Of course, the opposite is also true, evidenced by the table set up by an atheist group at the University of Texas at San Antonio offering pornography in exchange for "holy text.")

This Friday, the Sacramento (California) Area Coalition of Reason will take down 10 billboards that have asked the question "Are you good without God?" and answered it with "Millions are" that have been displayed in and around Sacramento since early February. (They may receive special dispensation to leave two of the billboards up for an additional week, to make up for two billboards that were vandalized over the weekend. Apparently, several acts of vandalism occurred during the month-long display, the latest two leaving little time for repair or replacement before the scheduled end date.)

Not believing in God doesn't make you a bad person. Believe it or not, even those of us who do believe in God -- heart, body, mind and spirit -- are still bad. (The aforementioned vandalism just one disturbing example of that sad truth.)

Jesus once responded to a question prefaced by the salutation "Good teacher." with "Why do you call me good? No one is good -- except God alone." (Mark 10:18).

Being good isn't the point. It can't be, because it is beyond any of us, and if atheism becomes faith based only on the goodness of the followers of Christ, then there's little hope of changing their minds.

The older I get, the more I learn, the more evidence of God -- and his goodness -- I see. I understand this isn't the case for the atheist. Perhaps the older he gets, the more he learns, the spartan evidence of God that may have once been glimpsed out of the corner of his eye is now utterly eclipsed.

It really isn't role reversal so much as it is opposite sides of the same coin.

On one side, belief. Belief that no matter how broken man is, no matter how broken man becomes, individually or collectively, God is -- and is able and willing to redeem.

On the other side, belief. Belief that no matter how broken man is, no matter how broken man becomes, individually or collectively, it is within the power of each man to repair the brokenness, if indeed, man is broken. Because without the benchmark of "no one is good -- except God alone" how can brokenness be measured or even defined?

The debate is picking up steam. Noted author and self-avowed atheist Christopher Hitchens, in his provocative book "God is not Great" makes the claim that religion perpetuates war, exploitation and oppression -- none of which can be called "good."

To his credit, Hitchens acknowledged, during a recent interview with Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell, that he is in the number Pascal identified in his Penseés, "so made that they cannot believe." And so to him, much of faith's language is nothing but "white noise."

Nevertheless, even though he admits that he has no intrinsic ability to understand the language of faith, he feels free to denigrate it, referring to faith in one instance during the interview with the statement, "Anyone who can look me in the eye and say they prefer the story of Moses or Jesus or Mohammed to the life of Socrates is ... intellectually defective."

The interview, published in the January 2010 issue of Portland Monthly, came to my attention through a link provided by noted Christian author Randy Alcorn. It drew Alcorn's attention because in the course of the interview, Hitchens called Sewell out on her definition of Christianity, in fact he questioned the authenticity of her faith at its base.

To wit:

Sewell:

"The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I'm a liberal Christian, and I don't take the stories from the Scripture literally. I don't believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and(y) distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens:

"I would say that if you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you're really not in any meaningful sense a Christian."

Hitchens' response was spot on.

And the challenge to believers is plain. If we are going to have any kind of a meaningful, purposeful dialogue with anyone -- a fellow believer, an agnostic, a prodigal or an out-and-out atheist -- we need to have a coherent, reasonable response ready when the questions come. Too often, our responses feed the myth that a life of faith and the life of an intellectual are mutually exclusive. A friend and brother in Christ recently stated, "I believe every word of the Bible is true. I haven't read it, but I believe it." Surprisingly, many would applaud such a bold affirmation of the veracity of Scripture, unfortunately, feeding the myth that in order to have faith, you must part with your intellect.

For far too long, believers have treated Christianity as the default faith in the United States and so, even in the pulpit (as demonstrated by Sewell), we have settled for pat answers such as "God said it. I believe it. That settles it." These cutesy answers easily fit on bumper stickers or key chain fobs, but do little to impact the culture.

It's time for us to get busy. The debate is heating up. And do not be deceived, there is a lot more at stake than our intellectual reputations. Because if we believe that God is -- and that he is good and that we are broken -- and that he is both willing and able to redeem, then that message must be clearly, concisely, consistently lived out, not only in our lives but in our words.

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." 1 Peter 3:15-16 (NIV)