Beyond Belief

Atheism is chic, it's cool, it's the latest craze. The bookstores are chock full of authors declaring that "God Is Not Great," that God is a "Delusion," that you are a moron if you believe in the Deity.

The secular press, of course, loves these books, and the reviews are largely admirable. Some of the books are also selling very nicely, as it's been a long time since atheists had much to cheer about.

Polls show that about 90 percent of Americans believe in God, but that leaves 30 million folks who just say no to a higher power. If only one percent of that group buys a certain anti-God book, you have a best seller.

But the atheist chic trend is not just on the page, Hollywood is involved as well. According to the book "Celebrities in Hell," a number of big stars may be aligned with the universe, but not with the force that some believe created it.

The book quotes the following:

— George Clooney: "I don't believe in heaven or hell. I don't know if I believe in God."

— Angelina Jolie: "There doesn't need to be a God for me."

— Carrie Fisher: "I love the idea of God, but it's not stylistically in keeping with the way I function."

Indeed. Believing in God is not very stylish in mainstream media circles these days.

The question then becomes is there anything wrong with that? After all, we have freedom from religion in America — the Constitution makes it clear that no power in this country has the right to impose religion on anyone.

So the atheists have clear sailing, and I say: Thank God.

That's because people of faith should be challenged and think about their beliefs. Critical thinking in all areas makes the mind sharper, and your philosophy stronger.

Thus, I was looking forward to debating the most successful of the atheist authors, Richard Dawkins, who wrote the best seller "The God Delusion." Dawkins basically says that science can explain everything on earth, and no one has any direct evidence there is a God.

But I stopped him in the fourth round with this right hook: "(the earth) had to come from somewhere.

Dawkins replied: "You're the one who needs a leap of faith, the onus is on you to say why you believe in something ... you believe in, presumably, the Christian God Jesus."

"Jesus is a real guy," I said. "I know what he did. I'm not positive that Jesus is God, but I'm throwing in with him rather than throwing in with you guys, because you guys can't tell me how it all got here."

"We're working on it," Dawkins said.

"When you get it," I shot back, "maybe I'll listen."

But the atheists will never get it. The universe and the earth is so complex, so incredibly detailed, that to believe an accidental evolutionary occurrence could have exclusively led to the nature/mankind situation we have now, is some stretch of the imagination. I mean, call me crazy, but the sun always comes up, while man oversleeps all the time.

So bless you, Richard Dawkins, and all the other non-believers. As long as they don't attack people of faith, I have no problem with them. As my eighth-grade teacher Sister Martin once said: "Faith is a gift."

But not everybody gets to open the box.

Veteran TV news anchor Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" and author of the book "Culture Warrior." To find out more about Bill O'Reilly, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. This column originates on the Web site www.billoreilly.com.

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