Pastor Offers to Pray for Billboard Atheists, Angry Non-Believers Ridicule Christianity
A pastor from a church in Missouri called on believers to pray for atheists and politicians who only think for themselves, responding to the new atheist billboards put up at the I-44.
Rev. Kenneth L. Chumbley from Christ Episcopal Church in Springfield shared with The Christian Post an article he wrote for News-Leader.com that addresses the billboards and the rising number of atheists in the nation.
In the article, the pastor admitted to “having flirted” with atheism during his college years as many young people do, but then he found his Christian faith again and realized some of the traps that skeptics can fall into.
He explained that Atheism is to "believe in not believing. It is to have faith in the proposition that there is nothing to have faith in - - - Atheism is to believe that there is no evidence for God, only evidence against God's existence.”
He went on to accuse famous atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens of exploiting human suffering caused by natural disasters and crimes by stating that it is proof that God does not exist, while at the same time ignoring all the work that Christians and other religious groups do in service of the community.
The billboards read: “Don't believe in God? You are not alone," and call for atheists to come together and unite. However, Chumbley warned that many nonbelievers and politicians subscribe to the philosophy of writer Ayn Rands, who states that people should only be concerned with pleasing themselves.
As evidence, he referred to some congressional representatives, such as Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who support-ending government programs to help the needy.
The pastor urged all believers who pass by the interstate and see the signs to pray for atheists and self-centered politicians to reconsider.
A number of replies in the comment section by atheists made arguments in defense of their worldview by saying that not all atheists are alike and not everyone lives their life according to Rand’s philosophy.
One user, GrannyLou, went on to remind that many of the so-called selfish politicians label themselves as devout believers: “But all those politicians in Washington (except for a few Jews and one Muslim) are CHRISTIANS! They proclaim it loudly all the time.”