Eyes Wide Shut

One of the heaviest charges leveled against Christianity, and religion as a whole, is that it is simply a form of escapism, a way for gullible people to ignore the harsher realities of this life.  It has become popular for atheists to equate people of faith as laborers struggling to whitewash their fears with a thin and misguided sense of purpose.  They love to expound upon how the universe is really a cold and dark place, devoid of concern for its inhabitants.  Belief in a divine comforter and creator, they claim, is at best wishful thinking and at worst a severe misunderstanding of the cosmos.

And their argument seems at face value to have some sort of basis.  Certainly, the universe seems cold enough, and I am quite sure that I draw a lot of comfort from my belief in a loving God.  In fact, there are plenty of cases where people in various times and places have used religion in exactly the way the atheist describes.

Take Heart

What the atheist fails to prove, however, is that the ability to help someone cope with pain proves the futility of a pursuit.  Stated differently, does the fact that my faith helps me live within a broken world imply that my faith is misguided or false?  Not so!  There is no logical correlation between the fact that something gives me hope and the claim that it is futile.

In fact, these same atheists who scoff so smugly at us from their crumbling ivory towers fail to realize that they are leaning on the same crutch for which they deride us.  For what is atheism but a rather infantile attempt at soothing a conscience riddled with guilt?  If God does not exist, then there really is no reason to worry about any moral order.  If God is a myth, then we can truly embrace the mantra of Richard Dawkins and the British Humanist Association: "There's probably no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life." (see this picture of the much discussed bus campaign)

So which is it, atheists?  Is my Christianity an escapism?  Or is it an encumbering dogma designed to make me miserable?  As G.K. Chesterton points out in Orthodoxy, there are really only two explanations for such disparate accusations directed toward one entity.  The first is that the thing in question is so incomprehensibly complex and obtuse that it confuses the attackers.  I think even the atheists themselves would not claim to be so baffled.  The other explanation, then, is that the entity in question is actually in the middle of two extremes, each of which is attempting an assault on it.  This option, in fact, seems to fit the situation quite well.  If Christianity is so easily attacked by atheists for being both too carefree and too austere, then it is logical to assume that the faith has a balance of both of those qualities.

So, before I move on, I wish to summarize this section.  In short, religion's ability to help people cope with crisis is no proof against it, atheists are just as guilty of escapism as any religious adherent, and Christianity likely has a balance of escapism and pessimism, one which might just prove effectual.

More than Conquerors

With all this talk about escapism, I thought it would be prudent to take some time to address exactly what Christianity has to say about the "real world."  First, escapism implies an ignorance of harsh realities and an almost psychotic refusal to face these darker aspects of the world.  This is not what we find in the Bible.  The words of Jesus would be a good place to start: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)  Jesus does not deny that there will be hardships for his followers.  In fact, this is some of the more blunt and direct speech which He directs at His disciples (no parables or metaphors here).  Or consider the poetry of David.  The Psalms are full of pleas to God for relief from suffering.  For me, one of the most powerful of these psalms of petition is Psalm 143, wherein David cries out to God, "The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead.  So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed." (3-4)  Or I could pull any number of passages out of the book of Job.  I mean, there is a whole book in the Bible called Lamentations!  This does not seem like a manual teaching its readers how to overlook the abuses they have endured.

Instead, what we find is that Christianity, far from ignoring the problems of the world, addresses them head-on, and proposes a solution.  Heaven is not the dissolution of the natural order, it is the reinstatement of the true natural order.  Faith is no longer an escape, but a redemption.

When I talked earlier of faith's ability to help me cope with my pain, I was really only telling half of the story. Because what faith actually allows us to do is surpass our trials.  We are able to see the pain for what it truly is- a temporary fixture of a broken world which is swiftly passing away.  And this realization allows us not just to get over our hurts, but to turn them into a source for good and joy.  This is why Jesus can tell His disciples to "rejoice and be glad" when they were persecuted. (Matt. 5:12)  And the disciples take this lesson to heart in a scene that would seem very out of place to the atheist (see Acts 5:17-42, esp. verse 41).

In fact, this is one of the many reasons why I believe that Christianity is a superior worldview to atheism. Atheism is the true escapism: since this life doesn't really matter, pain also must not matter- just don't worry about it. Christianity, on the other hand, is resurrection- pain used to hurt because the universe is cold, now it hurts despite the fact that the Creator of the universe is so warm. And we do see an end to it someday, but we are not escaping from reality, we're finally escaping into it. I think Paul does a pretty good job summing this up, so I'll close with his words from Romans 8:31-39:

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died —more than that, who was raised to life —is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.