Learn from the Fools

Ordinary Time XXIV; September 16, 2007

Psalm 14

Verse 1 of this psalm is plenty well known, so I’m going to stay with it for a little while. But we’ll not stop there; we’ll pull the rest of the psalm in as well in order to do it justice.

“Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’” I was interested to know what the culture at large was doing with that phrase, so I googled it to see what the Internet would reveal. I wonder if you could guess what I discovered. Although Google revealed about 2 ½ million websites using the phrase, I checked a small sample and found a predictable two groups of sites. One group is by religious conservatives, attacking atheists in various ways; for example, one gentle Christian woman related on her blog (under the heading, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’”) that she said to a man she was conversing with, “Unless you believe in Jesus Christ and follow him you will burn in Hell for all eternity.” Sounds like a good evangelistic tactic, doesn’t it?

The other group of sites is of atheists attacking the Bible. One, for example, included a video of brilliant men and women whose discoveries and cultural contributions have greatly enriched our lives. It claimed that all of these were atheists. Every so often, after showing pictures and describing their accomplishments, the editor would flash the phrase from the Bible and snidely ask, “Fool?” Just as the conservative Christians used the phrase to attack atheists, the atheists used the phrase to attack the Bible.

Both groups missed the point, of course, but I promise to get to the point before we’re done here. First, though, what if this were what the line from Psalm 14 meant, that it is foolish to be an atheist? Well, then I have a piece of advice for Christians: from time to time, we should listen to the fools. Although I believe that atheists are fundamentally wrong about the most important thing to be said about life, nonetheless when it comes to day-to-day matters they get one thing right: they pay attention to reality. Too many Christians are willing to distort or ignore historical or scientific truth about the world we live in because it doesn’t suit their picture of the world.

Here is an example. A recent survey by a nonpartisan educational group learned that seventy-five percent of those Americans who identify themselves as evangelical say the Constitution establishes a Christian nation (“55% in poll say Christianity in Constitution,” The Des Moines Register, Wednesday, September 12, 2007, A1). Fifty-five percent of all Americans believe the same thing, but the proportion is particularly large among conservative Christians. I have read the United States Constitution; it is a remarkable document. Tomorrow is Constitution Day and we celebrate all that the Constitution has meant to our Republic. Having read it several times and studied it, I can state without fear of contradiction that it does not establish a Christian nation. Rather than pretend it does, Christians should accept reality and get on with our work for the Gospel.

Looking for subjects for my philosophy students to analyze logically, I studied a website devoted to the belief that the Earth is the center of the universe (www.fixedearth.com). I will not go into all the ridiculous fallacies of that argument, but enough people believe it that it was considered in the discussion of science standards in Kansas and a legislator’s proposal in Texas. It is, of course, not based on the sober analysis of scientific reality but on a particular reading of a multitude of biblical texts.

Now, understand, I am a creationist, in that I believe the universe is the handiwork of God. But I cannot abide the lies and distortions of those who try to promote a particular way of understanding creation. Some claim that the magnetic history of the Earth proves that it is too young for evolution to have happened; that claim was overturned a century ago, but they still use it. Some claim that no transitional fossils have been found, but that is simply a lie. Some claim that evolution violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which proves only that they do not know what the Second Law of Thermodynamics is. Well, enough of this; here is the sum of my response to the misuse of verse one by both the Christian conservatives and the atheists: if atheism is foolishness, then Christians should learn from the fools only that we must deal with history and science and so forth on their own terms, not distort them to suit our view.

But let’s press on to another reflection, just about verse 1, and this is from my favorite philosopher, Miguel de Unamuno (Note: I ransacked my library and searched online trying to find the source and I cannot find it. I know Unamuno wrote it and I read it years ago, but I cannot find the source). Unamuno said that it is reasonable, he supposed, that persons should conclude in their heads that there is no God; it is a responsible intellectual conclusion. But it is monstrous to believe in your hearts that there is no God. If you believe in your heart that there is no God, then your deepest desire is for God not to exist, for this life to amount to nothing, but to come to a breathless sigh of forgotten possibility.

And although Unamuno is, like the others, taking the verse out of its place and potentially misusing it, his reflections at least open the door to the truth about the rest of the psalm. I wonder what the person who wrote it was experiencing; I imagine he (it’s attributed to David and the times suggest that most poets were men) was looking at his society and feeling discouraged. He saw all these powerful people – political and economic leaders – going about their business. They were making money, selling products, running a country, and what does he say about them? “They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.”

He goes on to complain that their behavior is destroying the people of God: they are enriching themselves and driving the poor into greater misery; they “eat up my people as they eat bread.” In other words, the poet isn’t complaining about atheists, about people who study the evidence and come to an intellectual decision that there is no God. Even in the twenty-first century, atheism is relatively rare. No, the poet is complaining about people who go through their lives – maybe even saying all the right things, religiously – as though God is irrelevant.

I call that “practical atheism.” Well, other people call it that too. The practical atheist may even go to Church on Sundays – or the shul on Saturdays or the mosque on Fridays – and say the right words and give some money. But when it comes to living what she or he claims to believe – pfah! The practical atheist can say the Lord’s Prayer and it never has an impact. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” – The name of the company I work for is more sacred to me than the name of God. “Your kingdom come” – but not too soon; this one is doing pretty well by me. “Your will be done on earth as in heaven” – heaven is a nice concept. “Give us today our daily bread” – actually, I have all the food I need and if those people would just get their act together they would not be hungry either. “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us” – you’re kidding, right? I don’t forgive; I get even. “Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil” – another interesting concept. Maybe I’ll think about it some day.

Yet the poet does not end the psalm in despair but ends it in hope. In my opinion, that is what is so sad about atheism: its lack of cosmic hope. But, Christian sisters and brothers, you don’t have to ignore historical and scientific reality to have hope, you simply have to trust God. The practical atheists don’t really trust God, either, or they would pay more attention to the presence of God in them, around them and especially in the other persons in their society. The psalm reminds us that God is the refuge of the poor and will tolerate injustice only for so long; it reminds us that the Lord does restore the fortunes of his people who trust in God.

When you and I say, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again,” we are not simply reciting words that the bulletin tells us to say sometimes when we are taking communion. Rather, we are repeating the hopeful message of this psalm. Evil and injustice are real; they can use political powers and economic powers and even religious powers to maintain their hold over life. People who mouth the right words about God but cannot recognize the presence of God because it is irrelevant are responsible: “Christ has died.” But God is even more real; God can use the powers of heaven and earth to accomplish his will and God is in the business of taking the worst situation and bringing new life from it: “Christ is risen.” And, life is not an empty fizzle, a chance to get some goodies and enjoy them before your teeth fall out, but it is held in the loving hand of almighty God who has great dreams for us: “Christ will come again.”

The message of this psalm to you and me can be summarized in this way: God’s people should have harder heads and softer hearts. Have heads that critically examine reality and don’t distort it if it might conflict with what you believe you ought to think. Have hearts that trust God, that yearn for God’s presence, and that are open to God’s salvation. For the Lord is the refuge of his people.

We yearn for you in our hearts, oh God, so that we may trust you, obey you and live in hope. At the same time, keep our minds open and active, and keep our hearts confident with a good hope for ourselves and for others; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Robert A. Keefer

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Clarinda, Iowa