Nikki Gemmell’s article, “Losing their Religion” (Australian Magazine, 5-6th November, 2022) exemplifies the zeitgeistof our time and gives a good insight into the thinking of atheists today. As such, it deserves attention.
To be fair, Gemmell doesn’t say that she is an atheist, but she begins by quoting the late celebrity atheist, Christopher Hitchens, who asked if it was good that modern religion should “terrify children with the image of hell” and “to consider women an inferior creation.” This opening puts Gemmell’s prejudices and ideology on full display. And what follows is the rhetoric that is now consistently taught in the humanities departments of Western universities, and has become almost the only voice that the media will allow.
The lack of balance in Hitchens’ comment is breathtaking. Rightly considered, Christianity is about the “gospel”, a word which in its original Greek, means “good news.” Christianity centres on the actions of a loving God who died on a cross to pay the price for all the bad things we have done which would otherwise disbar us from his presence.
Later in her article, Gemmell quotes a disaffected female cleric who wrote to expose patriarchy in the Pentecostal church. I suspect that some of her comments are warranted. But to suggest that Christianity is inherently anti-women is quite wrong. Jesus involved women in the key moments of his ministry. And in the second century, Christianity was attacked by the Greek philosopher, Celsus, because he thought it was only fit for women and slaves.[1] It’s also worth remembering that it was Christian organisations, not atheists, who agitated for women to get the vote. Having said this, it is fair to acknowledge that things often go amiss when Christianity becomes institutionalised. When this happens, it is all too easy for the beauty of Jesus’ grace and truth to become distorted by people’s lust for power. However, authentic Christianity is beautiful, and it is this that atheists wilfully misrepresent.
Gemmell’s mention of the protests against Islamic clerics in Iran allows her to sow the idea that her readers should view the Western expression of Christianity with the same abhorrence. The fact that the protestors were largely young adults, particularly women, means that Gemmell can recruit sentiment from both feminism and the young. The point she wants to make is that youth are marching out of the church, with its old-fashioned ideas of morality, and are now marching in defiance of the church. “They’re coming for you,” she says, using language that might be employed to describe the storming of the barricades in a Parisian revolution.
The reality is, however, all is not well with this young adult revolution. Things are not as rosy as she suggests. Many young adults have indeed cut themselves off from the moral boundaries God has given for their protection, but statistics tell us that they are also committing suicide in record numbers and are suffering more mental disorders than previous generations. The reasons for this are many and varied, but it is difficult not to conclude that in losing God, they have lost both meaning and hope.
An inconvenient fact that Gemmel ignores is that those young adults who do attend church prefer to attend evangelical churches that hold to conventional biblical ethics. The National Church Life Surveys tell us that young adults are leaving liberal churches that advocate non-biblical libertine values.[2]
In the true tradition of “wokeism”, Gemmel makes good use of emotive words to excoriate, misrepresent and demonise those she contends with. Christians who hold to conventional biblical teaching are lumped in with those she describes as ‘religious extremists.’ She uses phrases such as ‘Christian fundamentalism’ and speaks of the ‘dogma of religious ultra-conservatives.’ I simply don’t recognise the loving, faithful, accepting church I attend in her writing. Such misrepresentation is, I submit, unjust and deceiving. The reality is, the ‘religious extremists’ she speaks of simply hold to the teaching that conventional Christians have always believed. It has been these convictions that have brought civility to the West, a point that the agnostic sociologist, Tom Holland, makes in his magisterial work, “Dominion”. It is a civility that we are fast losing.
Gemmel also attacks Christians for being sure of their faith. She quotes the Australian singer, Nick Cave, who said that ‘being sure’ tends to give people a sense of moral superiority. However, the New Testament teaches plainly that we should have faith (2 Timothy 1:12; Hebrews 11:1). Whilst Christianity will necessarily have elements of mystery (because it involves a God who is bigger than us) it also makes clear the essential truths that Christians can, and should, be rightly sure of.
Nikki Gemmell speaks nicely of Jesus. It quickly becomes apparent why. She uses this “nice tolerant Jesus” to attack intolerant and out-of-touch Christian institutions. The problem, of course, is that Jesus was not tolerant of everything. He was a fierce supporter of the moral boundaries introduced in the Old Testament (except for the concessional laws he augmented in order to bring them fully into line with God’s values). Here’s what it boils down to: Jesus loved everyone. However, he didn’t tolerate the behaviour of everyone. Big difference.
It’s also worth remembering that whilst it is fashionable in the woke world to say that disagreeing with someone means you hate them, this is manifestly unfair. It should certainly not be applied to the church. The church may not agree with someone’s life choices, but it will (or should) love and accept everyone.
Gemmel seeks to rub the faces of Christians in the reality of the falling church attendance numbers, so I’ll end by saying this. Christianity has never been a popularity contest. Jesus actually warned that authentic Christians would always be in the minority (Matthew 7:13-14). Further than that, he said that they would always be persecuted (John 15:20).
Perhaps that’s what I’m catching a whiff of.
[1] Origin, Contra Celsus, Book 3, Chapter 59.
[2] See also and article entitled: ‘Hip’ churches fading fastest,(The Advertiser,January 13, 2000, Page 33).The National Church Life Surveys occur every 5 years.
