Frank Schaeffer: "Why I am an Atheist Who Believes in GOD" | Talks at Google

[rug]

August 19, 2015 by Frank Schaeffer

Two weeks ago I had the honor and pleasure of being invited to give a “Talks at Google” at Google’s building in Cambridge MA. I spoke on my spiritual journey out of the religious right to sanity and my book, WHY I AM AN ATHEIST WHO BELIEVES IN GOD: How to give love, create beauty and find peace . Then GOOGLE gave a copy to every employee who attended the talk.

The talk (like all “Talks at Google”) was streamed to all the other Google offices worldwide. Now they just put it up on YouTube.

#t=67

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2015/08/my-google-talks-talk-please-watch/

[immoderate]

1. I liked his talk.

The main difference between us, beside that I was never a believer, is that I don't like rituals! Aside from that, I can relate to what he said about paradoxes, and expectations of perfection.

--imm

[Jim__]

2. "... only when we abandon our hunt for certainty do we become free to create beauty, give love ..."

... and find peace"

From Amazon's blurb:

Caught between the beauty of his grandchildren and grief over a friend's death, Frank Schaeffer finds himself simultaneously believing and not believing in God - an atheist who prays. Schaeffer wrestles with faith and disbelief, sharing his innermost thoughts with lyricism that only great writers of literary nonfiction achieve. Schaeffer writes as an imperfect son, husband and grandfather whose love for his family, art and life trumps the ugly theologies of an angry God and the atheist vision of a cold, meaningless universe. Schaeffer writes that only when we abandon our hunt for certainty do we become free to create beauty, give love and find peace.

Bookmarking to listen later.

[MellowDem]

3. It seems a tired trope...

"atheist vision of a cold, meaningless universe". Atheism doesn't necessitate that you think the universe is meaningless, it's a really tired trope, and it makes me doubt this video will have much of anything interesting to say.

[rug]

5. Atheism says absolutely nothing about "the meaning of the universe/life".

It simply is nonbelief in a god(s).

So, in that sense it's meaningless.

[MellowDem]

7. Being an atheist...

Doesn't tell you whether you think the universe is meaningless or not.

That's the tired trope.

The word itself certainly isn't meaningless, I'm not sure what you're getting at there.

[rug]

8. Therefore, it provides nothing about meaning.

To the extent someone wants it, he or she will have to look elsewhere.

[Yorktown]

4. an Atheist Who Believes in GOD

Is he also a Marxist who believes in Capitalism?

Or a vegeterian cannibal?

Or a murderous angel?

[Humanist_Activist]

6. He keeps talking about "embracing paradox" when all I see is him demonstrably embracing cognitive..

dissonance or being intellectually dishonest. Not sure. However, from any reasonable point of view, while he could claim to hold opposing ideas such as theism and atheism in his head, in reality, he cannot, at least not consistently.

He also mislabels agnosticism, atheism, theism, puts a lot of weight(and belief) in Spiritism, etc.

He can, if he were honest, call himself a Christian who entertains doubts. But he's trying to sell a book, and controversy(and atheism!) sells.

He also seems to grossly fail to understand methodological materialism and puts far too much weight on subjective experience and emotion in informing reality. In general, it doesn't.

He makes erroneous assumptions about "fundamentalist" or "new" atheists as well, to the point of being insulting.

Oh, and he propagates misconceptions of evolution and other sciences as well.