Struggling to Be Heard / Dialogue with an Atheist, Continued

 

Dear Daniel,

 

This is a housekeeping missive, that is, one that addresses communication between you and me, not a substantive one, so I will address the housekeeping issue here, and strive for substance in the next letter.

 

You see "God through Binoculars" as a defense of the Catholic Church. Please have a look at the Amazon reviews. I don't think any reviewer describes "God through Binoculars" as "a defense of the Catholic Church."

 

Why this matters: I think sometimes Atheists are prejudiced against persons of faith, and one stereotype is that we are all knocking on your door, handing you religious tracts, trying to get you to believe what we believe. I think you may be mis-seeing me and my work, and, yes, I want to be seen accurately. And I want you to recognize that not all persons of faith comply with Atheist stereotypes.

 

You insist that, since I was defending the church, I should have mentioned the abuse crisis. But that's not what the book is! Really. But you want me to talk about the abuse crisis again, and I will, in my next letter.

 

Daniel you quote me as saying this "the consolation granted by the Church outweighs the Church's crimes." Daniel I NEVER SAID THIS. I do not believe it! I think it's obscene!

 

The Catholic Church does not offer me "consolation." The Catholic Church offers me, and anyone else who wants it, the central truth of the universe. That isn't "consolation." It's the sine qua non of life and eternity. "Consolation" is what you get from a sappy song on the radio. A sappy song on the radio does not "outweigh" child abuse and never could.

 

The central truth of the universe, the sine qua non, is the only thing that offers what one needs to overcome a history of having been abused.

 

Okay. So much for housekeeping. Next letter, God willing, will address your questions.

 

PS: I'm posting my responses to you on my blog. For this letter, I chose a photo of one person following another on a hiking trail in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. I hope we can "follow" each other, that is, understand each other. Here's the photo.