Stephen Hawking, the late famous scientist, noted that:
“Heaven is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.”
In response, noted theologian John Lennox said that:
“Atheism is a fairy tale for people afraid of the light.”
That sounds exactly on point. Now why do I say this? Why do I say it with such conviction? Because it is about light. See, we’re not afraid of the dark… we embrace the light. But the atheist — he fears the light. And this particular light is so bright and so challenging for him because if he were to see the light, he would understand that it’s about responsibility. It’s about accountability — answering ultimately for all of his actions and words. This is the problem for the atheist. This is ultimately the reason why the atheist hates the notion of God. It’s not because they don’t really believe in God. They are afraid of God. I’ve said this many times before.
They don’t want the accountability. They don’t want the responsibility that goes with believing in God. They know that there is responsibility and for that they hate you the believer. Because you are always calling them into account. This is the problem for the atheist and always will be the problem for the atheist. If you want proof of that, talk to an atheist about why you believe in God and he will shut you down so quickly. He will simply dismiss you as believing in fairy tales. Notwithstanding that you have all sorts of evidence and logic to compel your way of thinking. He will reject it.
If you want proof of that just look at any of the comments to any of these YouTube channel videos and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Virtually none of them have seen any of these videos all the way through. They’ve seen the title and that’s enough to set them off. But if they actually wanted to disagree with it, then they should listen to the video. Most of the people who do watch this video in full are the believers. But I would like you to please go out there and tell them to watch it with you. Explain to them that maybe this Lurie guy has got something here.
It’s a new way of thinking about the consequences of atheism and more importantly — the need to embrace God. And the need for accountability and responsibility. And ultimately, that God is at the center of any advance that we might ever hope for civilization.