Many atheists who have a relatively clear idea of what they mean by "God" when they reject His, Her, or Its existence, possess little knowledge of the sacred texts that animate religions. Indeed, Jacques Berlinerblau, in his book The Secular Bible: Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously (Cambridge University Press, 2005), opens his study by declaring, "In all but exceptional cases, today's secularists are biblically illiterate."My first gut reaction is to respond, "nonsense, there are lots of former believers who come to see the holes in their own faith through study of it;" the second is to say, "and if so, then so what? How many people who reject Hinduism are intimately familiar with its sacred texts?" If we're all required to be familiar with a religion in order not to believe or practice it, then we are all in trouble.
I am in the first category -- an ex-believer who used to actually teach/preach out of the Bible and feels that his knowledge of it is far above average among believers or unbelievers. The more I know about the Old Testament, the more ridiculous belief in its inerrancy is, as A. A. Milne wrote,
"The Old Testament is responsible for more atheism, agnosticism, disbelief — call it what you will — than any book ever written: It has emptied more churches than all the counterattractions of cinema, motor bicycle, and golf course."The author's thesis:
- A. A. Milne, Recalled on his death: January 31, 1956 (source)
It seems that the author is assuming, here in his former scenario, that the typical setting in which conversation about the Bible or Qu'ran comes up is one in which this sort of response is merited; a sort of intellectual discussion. Unfortunately, that accounts for maybe 1% of 1% of all the times I've discussed Scriptures with believers. The other 99.99% of the time, the latter scenario applies -- "when believers start to use sacred texts to oppress" -- it is in the context of converting me using the book(s)...so the article sounds good and all, but I'm willing to wager that all this doesn't really make much of an impact on the average atheist's real life.The simple answer, then, to how atheists should respond to sacred texts is: politely, if possible, employing all the wry ambiguity book critics use when awkwardly trapped with the author or admirer of a book about which they have reservations. "It's really quite amazing," one might say, or, "You know, I was just reading it the other day — it's as good as ever."
But when believers start to use sacred texts to oppress, the atheist must attack and reject the "divine" aspect of their books, out of self-defense and because it interferes with the individual's freedom of conscience and behavior.
Some things, after all, are sacred.
