My son told me he’s an atheist, part 2

After getting over the initial shock about my son’s lost faith, I began to research but I ran into two significant problems. The first was the feeling of being overwhelmed.

The Internet — which I use regularly in my IT career — provided an abundance of information. The resources available even back in 2007 were mature and robust. But there was so much to read!

My second problem? Even though I had a degree in theology, it was distressing to read so many articulate and cogent arguments against the Christian faith. As a result, I limited my frequency of research because of the cognitive dissonance I started to feel. At the time, I didn’t even know of the term cognitive dissonance, but I felt it.

My early strategy was to compile random notes in a document. Naturally, I relied heavily on Christian sources for arguments against atheism. I was a student of the Bible but I also had several favorite preachers who I would listen to often to prop my faith back up.

YouTube was one interesting source of content. But it was disappointing to read all of the angry comments by both sides, which wasn’t really helpful to anyone.

Some of the earliest YouTube content that I ran across were videos produced by Illustra Media. They have some compelling content, which includes Unlocking the Mystery of Life. I also came across an English fellow named Thunderf00t (spelled with ‘zeros’) who was a fairly prominent atheist on YouTube with a large following. He often ridiculed a New Zealand-born evangelist named Ray Comfort (aka, “banana man‘) for his arguments about “intelligent design” — the scientific label given to the argument for God as the creator of everything. Ray Comfort got the funny nickname of banana man because he claimed that the design of a banana was an atheist’s nightmare since it was clear that the amazing shape and characteristics of a banana showed there was a designer. Unfortunately, Ray didn’t realize until later (when it was pointed out to him) that the banana we enjoy today has been artificially bred to have the shape and attributes we now enjoy. Once confronted with the facts, Ray tried to say his video was all in jest, but it was too late. He looked like a fool.

During this journey, I remember hearing a few prominent people say that “this was the most important question in religion” and others would take it a step farther and say “the most important question in all of life” – – and I tended to agree. My Biblical worldview truly colored my life in dramatic ways.

I watched many formal debate videos and most were quite good. It was distressing though to read so many hateful or crude comments by fellow Christians! I’d also see trite comments like “I know God is real because He lives in my heart!!“. I understood where they were coming from, but posts like that wouldn’t convince a skeptic nor would they help someone on the fence. Instead, it just made the person look rather childish.

If anyone had asked me about my faith, I would have told them it was rock solid and that I was supremely confident in my beliefs. I also felt that any atheist was a mouth-piece for Satan. But I had never dug too deep into the arguments against the Christian faith before. I had no reason before to do so.

I later read this simple but profound question: Is a faith that is unchallenged really any faith at all?

My oldest son is a very bright young man, and I started my journey with the firm conviction that since God created the universe and everything that we see, it was just a matter of time before I could find those rational arguments in support of God and the Bible. What I discovered changed my life for the better.

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