Meditation 851
Billy Graham still doesn't get it.
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Billy Graham seems to have problems with the concept of disbelief in a deity. He does not seem to believe it is possible. This issue was discussed earlier in Meditations 538, 539 & 540. And it came up again in a recent column.[1]
He was asked:
Q: I suppose you've heard the old expression that "there aren't any atheists in foxholes." Well. I'm on my second tour in Afghanistan, and I don't think it's necessarily true. Some people in my unit have strong faith in God, but others don't want anything to do with Him, even when they are facing death. Why are they so resistant?
Lt J. McK
Now to me the answer is obvious. They are resistant because they do not believe in God. But it isn't so clear to Graham. He just does not have a clue about disbelief. He replies:
A. I too have puzzled over why some people want nothing to do with God. It's not logical because whether we die tomorrow or 50 years from now, some day we each will enter eternity and stand before God.
I agree it's logical that those who actually believe that they will stand before God to be judged should probably act accordingly. But it is sure not logical for those that don't believe. Why pretend to believe in a god that you don't believe in so as to look good before this pretend being when you face him on a pretend judgement day that you don't believe in? Graham cannot distinguish between disbelief and avoidance.
Graham continues:
Most people, I find, who reject God do so for one of two reasons. The first reason is pride; they don't want to admit they are weak and need God. The second reason is a stubborn will; they want to run their own lives, instead of submitting to Christ's will.
But disbelief involves rejecting, not a god, but the very idea of god. Somehow Billy Graham is incapable of understanding that some people just do not believe. It is not pride; it is not stubbornness; rather it is we find no rational reason to believe. But the Reverend Billy Graham just does not get it.
Footnote:
- Prepare for the day when you meet your God before it is too late; Billy Graham; The Calgary Sun, Sunday, July 18, 210