Letter Urges Hotels To Promote Diversity In Religious Material

In February, I launched a public funding campaign with the goal of purchasing copies of Disproving Christianity and other Secular Writings for distribution in hotels, libraries, book stores, and more. Thanks to all of you, we reached (and surpassed) our $1,500 goal and I am now reaching out to hotels in my local area in hopes of getting their permission to place copies alongside their Bibles in each hotel room.

Here is the first draft of the letter I intend to send to hotel owners:

 

Dear hotel proprietor or manager,

I hope you’re well. I’m writing today to inform you of an outreach campaign aimed at providing a balance to the types of information available to hotel patrons.

As you are likely aware, the evangelical Christian group Gideons International is well-known for its efforts to ensure Christian Bibles are distributed in great numbers to hotels all over the world. While I understand that the group’s intentions are likely positive, as a non-Christian and advocate for secularism, I can’t help but see how diversity in reading material would be beneficial for everyone involved.

One option to address this disparity would be to allow other religious organizations to place their sacred books, too. Admittedly, this move may not be very practical. A second action, of course, would be to remove the religious reading material altogether. This would buck tradition, I’m sure, but would keep any group from being excluded and would enable you to perhaps allow Christian patrons to “opt in” to having a Bible placed in their nightstand. If neither of those methods work for you, and you sincerely seek to address this issue, you could also provide secular material to go alongside the Bibles already available.

As the result of a public funding campaign, I’ve recently purchased more than 300 copies of Disproving Christianity and other Secular Writings, a critique on biblical literalism with an admittedly provocative title. The book cites chapter and verse throughout and examines the world of Christianity while attempting to refute many of its key principles. Because of the generous donations of hundreds of secular activists and fellow non-believers in the area, I am able to offer you free copies to accompany the Bibles, if you so choose.

Regardless of your action or inaction on this matter, I hope to hear your thoughts on this important and controversial issue.

Yours in reason,
David G. McAfee

Disproving Christianity and other Secular Writings

Exposing Christians To Secular Material: Response To William Lane Craig

By David G. McAfee

 

Christian apologist and philosophical theologian William Lane Craig was contacted this week by a Christian who read my book, Disproving Christianity and other Secular Writings, and was subsequently finding it “hard to believe in God.” Craig’s response: “Quit reading the infidel material.”

The question, posed in this week’s Q&A section of Craig’s site, was published alongside Craig’s answer and entitled, “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” The anonymous questioner stated that he or she “wants to believe in God,” but is having trouble believing after being exposed to Disproving Christianity, Richard Dawkins, and atheist friends.

“Hi, Dr. Craig, I’m currently reading ‘Disproving Christianity’ by David McAfee. I’ve also been listening to Richard Dawkins. I want to believe in God, but I’m having trouble with my faith. I’ve always been a Christian, but since I started talking to my atheist friends, I find it hard to believe in God. When I think about it, it doesn’t make much sense to me to belive in a creator of the universe. It makes even less sense for me to believe in a God who intervines in our lives. Please, I want to believe in God, any suggestions?”

Craig begins by saying that he is “utterly baffled” by how many “ill-equipped” Christians expose themselves to material that is destructive to their faith.

“I remember vividly that when I first became a Christian I was very careful about what I read because I knew that there was material out there which could be destructive to my newfound faith and that I had a lot, lot more to learn before I was ready to deal with it,” Craig wrote. “Do we forget that there is an enemy of our souls who hates us intensely, is bent on our destruction, and will use anything he can to undermine our faith or render us ineffective in God’s hands? Are we so naïve?”

Craig goes on to offer the questioner four “suggestions” to help resolve his or her crisis of faith.

1. “Make first and foremost a recommitment of your heart to Christ.”
2. “Quit reading and watching the infidel material you’ve been absorbing.”
3. “Begin a program of equipping yourself in Christian doctrine and apologetics.”
4. “Attend some apologetics conferences.”

If Christianity is the transcendent truth and superior to all other faithful and non-faithful worldviews, as Craig believes, then why does it need to be protected from criticism? Why do Christians, in Craig’s view, need to “equip” themselves before being exposed to such material?

My view is the opposite. Where Craig says “believe,” I say investigate. I would never encourage an atheist to avoid the Bible, for example, out of fear that its strong arguments might compel that person to believe. In fact, I frequently encourage the opposite approach: I recommend believers and non-believers alike educate themselves about all of the world’s religions, including a basic understanding of the traditions’ core tenets and Holy Books.

If you study comparative religion, it’s more difficult to be religious because the great faiths are all very similar at the most fundamental level. Each organization has similar cult beginnings and “prophets,” they each began as local and cultural myths before being applied to a global context, and they are almost always spread through a combination of violence and proselytization.

Non-believers don’t have to be fearful of theistic material because there’s simply no evidence for the existence of deities, therefore every argument is automatically philosophical in nature and regards a general “higher power,” and not any specific deity – like Jesus or Allah.

All that said, I’m encouraged by the original questioner. This person decided, against Craig’s advice, to seek out material from someone else’s perspective. They didn’t let the fear of damaging faith keep them from exposing themselves to multiple sides of possibly the longest debate in human history. For any other believers who wish to do the same, please send an e-mail to DisprovingChristianityPDF@gmail.com for a free PDF of my first book, Disproving Christianity.

Q&A on William Lane Craig’s website.

A Letter to the Christian Hypocrites

A Letter to the Christian Hypocrites

By David G. McAfee

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                For all of the “Christians” who don’t abide by the dietary laws of Leviticus[1], didn’t save their virginity for marriage, work on the Sabbath[2], and have accumulated worldly wealth[3]– I ask why you would label yourself as a follower of an outdated tradition that you do not understand. All that I ask is that you question the beliefs that were (most likely) implanted in your mind as a young child and hopefully research your holy texts. If you read the bible from a modern and intellectual perspective, I doubt that you will have the spiritual experience that is to be expected. Instead, you will be disgusted with your “god” and most likely find the archaic principles the book teaches lacking modern relevance and scientific evidence.

Why Atheists Need to Understand the Bible- A Response to My Critics

Why Atheists Need to Understand the Bible

By David G. McAfee

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            Religionists have two primary ways of spreading doctrine: heredity (the passing of religious customs from generation to generation) and formal outward conversion (door-to-door and conversational peddling of religion). Regardless of which religion is being practiced, there are various cited cases of conversion and indoctrination of children- it is clear, however, that the latter is a more effective tactic in the expansion of a belief system. Each religion (at least all successful ones) has a built-in form of reward and punishment system that ensures- to a high probability- that the beliefs and practices are passed successfully from parent to child.

A Secular Scavenger Hunt

Secular Scavenger Hunt

By David G. McAfee

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                 The more I learn about various religious beliefs, the more I discover the little-known absurdities of each of these archaic traditions. I decided to put together a small list of biblical examples of absurd beliefs/statements in the Christian canon specifically, but I’d like everyone to input their favorite ridiculous beliefs from any mainstream religion. Please post a comment on this post with any quote, teaching, or religious belief that you have a tough time understanding how anyone could believe it. In most cases these will be relatively unheard of (or ignored) teachings or religious precepts that are no longer practiced in modern society- but are an important part of the religious tradition. Some people may want to start with the FIVE LARGEST RELIGIONS (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism) but some easy targets also include Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. Please support all statements with links or scriptural evidence (bible, LDS Handbook, Qur’an, Torah, Bhagavad-Gita, etc…)

Minor Inaccuracies and Contradictions within the Holy Bible

Minor Contradictions within the Holy Bible

Copyright David G. McAfee

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Here I will simply create a list of contradictions within the text of the Holy Bible- though I will be quoting exclusively from the Authorized King James Version- feel free to follow along in any bible because, though wording usually varies among translations, the overall meanings are similar. Some of these are well-known, some are largely ignored, but all show that the bible is false, in one way or another.

Morality Vs. Worship

Morality versus Worship

Copyright David G. McAfee

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            “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”[1]