Jesus is peace
Your April 7 Broadside article is full of errors. Let’s begin with the title: “I don’t need Jesus to know peace, and neither should you”.
You are wrong to argue that you don’t need Jesus to know peace. You might not need to believe in Jesus to know His peace, however, what you believe or don’t believe is irrelevant with respect to what is true. That is,
your belief or unbelief in the truth does not make the truth untrue. Jesus gives you His peace, and you need Jesus in order to experience His peace, whether you personally believe in Jesus or not. So, I can accept as true “I don’t need to believe in Jesus to know peace”. But I cannot accept as true “I don’t need Jesus to know peace”.
Secondly, you are wrong to argue that no one should need Jesus to know peace. Who are you to tell people whether or not they should need Jesus? God exists, and Jesus is His Divine Son; isn’t it up to God to determine whether or not we humans should need Jesus? How would you
feel if Jesus argued, “No one should need Jimi Hendrix or Whitney Beyer”?
Are you declaring that we should believe you, and not Jesus? If so, it’s a very old ruse: the serpent worked it on Eve in the Garden. Thirdly, how can you preach that good and right exist, but that God and Christ do not? You preach that it is right to “do good”, but where do you ultimately get your notion of “doing good”, if not from Goodness Himself?
Who is your ultimate “good person”, if not God? You preach that “good people do good things because it’s the right thing to do”. That’s a tautology.
What exactly is good and what is evil, if there is no God, and if there are no demons? What is right, and what is wrong if there is no God? If God and demons did not exist, then there would be no good or evil, no right or wrong. Would the universe as we know it even exist?
In such a universe, there would merely be physical events — things that people did to other people (or failed to do for others) — and those things (no matter what they were) would have no moral or ethical significance. We humans would not even be able to make judgments of good or evil, right or wrong, moral or immoral, because there would be no such things. Doesn’t resemble the universe in which we live.
Fourthly, in a true, reality-based definition of good and evil, there is nothing offensive about the bumper sticker. Without Jesus there is no peace, and to know Jesus is to know peace. It is simply a pro-Jesus, pro-Peace statement.
If someone displayed a sticker saying “Death to Atheists”, “Atheists are evil”, or “Stone the Atheists!”, any of those would be offensive. By the same token, if someone were to display a “Death to Christians”, or a “Christians are evil”, or a “Stone the Christians!” sticker, any of those would be offensive. But a sticker that says “No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace”, is in no way offensive. It is merely a confession of Faith in Jesus as the One through Whom peace flows from God to humans. And it happens to be true (whether Atheists believe it to be true or not).
If you want to believe that Jimi Hendrix is essential to experiencing peace, you are free to so believe. And if you want to display a “No Jimi, No Peace” sticker, you are also free to do that. Such a sticker would not be offensive to my belief in Jesus as the pipeline of Divine Peace. Yes, the message of the Jimi sticker would be false, and yes, you would be confusing what you are free to believe with what is true. But that’s fundamentally your problem, not mine.
Finally, you are wrong to argue “… everyone should have a problem with this bumper sticker”. Why should anyone
have a problem with that simple expression of Faith? Why should anyone have a problem with the meek and humble miracle worker from Galilee? Why do you see it as a problem to publically honor Him as the giver of peace?
Mike Kaarhus
A new perspective
Loved the article about Jesus and peace. I’m not an atheist, and I’m not a church goer either, but somewhere in between and this article offered a new perspective on the matter. Thanks!
Pedro Rios
On behalf of the atheists
I thouroughly enjoyed your article. Thank you for speaking on behalf of us (other atheists). Can I put in an order for a dozen bumper stickers?!!!
Kevin Gray
Tyler Buckwald • Apr 14, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Very well spoken, Mike!
Tyler Buckwald • Apr 14, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Very well spoken, Mike!