"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." -Romans 12:2
Were I to Interview Bill
Maher...
The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, "Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you." But not many Christians have taken the time to do that.
I am not ashamed of Jesus, but I am sometimes embarrassed by the laziness of many who claim to be Christians. Too few of them are the kind who are given to actually reading the Bible that much on their own, much less giving thought to defending their faith. Rather, just like most non-Christians, they prefer to be entertained and have things spoon-fed to them - physical adults, but spiritual and intellectual babies.
The writer of the book of Hebrews addressed the same problem with believers in his time. He wrote:
"For although, considering the long time you have been believers, you ought now to be teachers of others, you really need some one to teach you over again the very rudiments of the truths of God, and you have come to require milk instead of solid food."
This is not the fault of the faith, which calls men to grow intellectually and spiritually. And of course, we have to give people time to grow. Those qualified and gifted as teachers should not consider themselves superior to the rest of believers. We are all of equal worth in Christ. I'd take a humble illiterate man as a friend any day over a learned man puffed up with self importance and conceit. The first man is most certainly the much more "intelligent" of the two.
But for the sake of Christ, we are all called to be ready to defend our hope. And most Christians just aren't ready enough to do that. This is something men like Bill Maher capitalize on. There are, unfortunately, enough Christians like that to keep him employed for life with documentaries such as Religious. Things have not changed much since the time when the book of Hebrews was written.
In our defense, the tendency to laziness is a general human condition we must all overcome, and I imagine there are proportionally just as many intellectually lazy atheists and anti-theists. Can we expect much more from a generation raised on TV and video games?
To demonstrate this, I would like to make a documentary stripping bare the reasons why people hold to atheism and anti-theism. I can think of plenty of questions that I would like to ask people of these orientations in interviews. If I were to do so, l would invite Bill Maher to be my very first interview subject. Here are some of the questions I would ask:
"Do you
(1) Feel certain there is no God,
(2) Think there is probably no God, or
(3) find yourself unable to answer because you have not been motivated to give much thought to it?"
If (1) is the answer, I would ask, "Can anyone honestly be certain there is no God? "
If the answer is affirmative, I would follow up with, "How can you be certain without having divine qualities yourself?"
If (2) is the answer, I would ask, "Then doesn't that make you an agnostic?"
If (3) is the answer, I would ask, "Isn't that like sticking your head in the sand? Is that very wise?"
For Bill Maher, I would reserve the following question:
"On a couple of occasions, you have called yourself an apatheist. This word can't be found in Webster's dictionary, but Wikipedia defines an apatheist as someone acting with apathy, disregard, or lack of interest towards belief, or lack of belief in a deity ...' If you really have no interest in whether or not there is a God, why then have you launched attacks upon theism?"
"Do you believe something can come from nothing?"
"Then would you say that the universe had to have a cause?"
"What caused the universe?"
If the reply is a "Vacuum fluctuation, or "A White Hole" I would in turn ask, "What exactly is a vacuum fluctuation or a white hole? What causes one? How certain are you that's how it happened?"
"How can non-life produce life?"
"How can something unintelligent produce something intelligent?"
"How can unconsciousness matter produce consciousness?"
"How did the first cell arise?"
"Do you know just how complex the simplest cell is? Do you know how many parts it has?"
"How did the eye evolve? Did it's components form all at once, or one at a time?"
"If they evolved one at a time, what good is an optic nerve without an eye? What good is an eye without an optic nerve?"
"If they all evolved together, what good is a partly formed eye?"
"How did the male and female sexes evolve?"
"Why two sexes? Why not just one?"
"Is there such a thing as sin or evil? Would you say that those who commit evil violate some moral principle?"
"Where do these moral principles come from?"
"You believe morality is what most people think is right. But can't most people be wrong about something? If so, what makes them wrong?"
"Is it OK to lie sometimes?"
"Under what circumstances?"
"How do I know for certain you haven't lied to me in this interview?"
"Can we be certain of what the truth is?"
"Are you absolutely certain of that?"
"If all life evolved, is human life any more valuable than animal life?"
"Why is it more valuable?""Please define the term 'symbolic information' for me."
"Would you say that a radio station broadcasts symbolic information?"
"What is the difference between symbolic information and noise or static?"
"What is required to know the difference?""If intelligence is required to recognize symbolic information, is intelligence required to produce it?"
"Does the DNA in your cells symbolically represent you in some way?"
"How was that symbolism produced without an intelligence?"
"Do you know the difference between micro-evolution and macro-evolution?"
"Did you know that one is a theory, and the other an un-proven hypothesis?"
"Do you believe that homology proves evolution happened?"
"My Toyota and my Ford are homologous. Does this mean they both have a common ancestor?"
"My hands and my feet are homologous. Does this mean they both evolved from a common ancestral limb?"
"Ever heard the design mantra, 'Form follows function?' Couldn't homology also be evidence of universal design principles?"
"Couldn't homology also be evidence of a common designer?"
"Would you say that the universe behaves according to physical laws, such as the laws of gravity?"
"Where did the physical laws of the universe come from?"
"Are you certain of that?"
'What makes one thing logical, and another not?"
"Would you say that there are laws, or principles of logic?"
"Where did these laws of logic come from?"
"If they come from human consensus, why can't we change them?"
I might call my documentary Incredulious. Hmm. I have a good video camera. Should I do it? Email me at rusty@benotconformed.org.
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Rusty Entrekin is a theology graduate of LA College. He and his wife Julie have seven children, with 6 still at home, and one grandchild. Currently, he resides in Kennesaw, GA, and teaches in a house church that practices participatory meetings.If you have been blessed by this article, and would like for me to be able write more, please prayerfully consider making a donation (but only if you can afford to, and only if you believe that this is a worthwhile writing ministry that truly helps people). Even small donations will enable me to spend a little less time working to support my large family, and a little more time helping others through writing. Because my writings sometimes touch on political matters that involve the Christian faith, and I want to be able to write without any government interference, I have decided not to apply for 501c3 ministry status. Because of this, your gifts are not tax deductible. However, you will have the reward of blessing those who read the articles you enable me to write, the reward of being a very important part of this writing ministry, and the reward of treasure in heaven!