A good article that addresses a number of Christian concerns regarding atheism is Charles Bradlaugh's
A Plea For Atheism, written in 1864. Bradlaugh lived from 1833 - 1891, and a list of his works appears at
Internet Infidels, along with the dates of writing. Titles include
What Did Jesus Teach? and
Who Was Jesus Christ? So far I have read only
A Plea For Atheism. It's heavy reading but it was worth wading my way through it.
He opens with:
Quote:
THIS essay is issued in the hope that it may succeed in removing some of the many prejudices prevalent, not only against the actual holders of Atheistic opinions, but also against those wrongfully suspected of Atheism.
The first prejudice he addresses is the false notion that atheists are of necessity immoral people. In his words:
Quote:
It is too often the fashion with persons of pious reputation to speak in unmeasured language of Atheism as favouring immorality, and of Atheists as men whose conduct is necessarily vicious, and who have adopted Atheistic views as a desperate defiance against a Deity justly offended by the badness of their lives.
He makes the bold statement that:
Quote:
Atheism, properly understood, is no mere disbelief; is in no wise a cold, barren negative; it is, on the contrary, a hearty, fruitful affirmation of all truth, and involves the positive assertion of action of highest humanity.
He pleas for atheism to "be fairly examined, and neither condemned -- its defence unheard" by the "professional preachers of fashionable orthodoxy." He points out that the pulpit protects their sermons, but that atheism is so "unpopular as to render its advocacy impolitic."
Bradlaugh was writing 144 years ago. Nearly a century and a half later the situation remains unchanged.
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