Atheism’s Evolutionary Reduction of Religion: Moralism

Great writeup, thanks for sharing that link Citizen Tom.
I copied and saved the following quote a while back but cannot recall the source now.
I think it was something transcribed from Chesterton:

”I have met an inordinate number of atheists who criticize the Church for devoting itself to the invisible and the eternal, instead of to the practical and hard-headed work of helping the poor on Earth. They list all of the great signs of Church wealth – the grand cathedrals, the priestly vestments – and ask whether all of that might not better be spent on poorhouses, or dormitories for the homeless. In vain do I remind them that the only place in London where a poor man may be assured of a meal is the church kitchens, and that if he needs a bed the first person he will ask is the parish priest. In vain do I mention the saintly men who organize Christian hospitals in East Africa. The atheist accepts all of it, and says it is not enough. Then I ask him if he himself has ever given the poor a shilling, and he tells me that is beside the point.

“Why are those most fixated on something vast and far away so often the only ones to spare a thought for the poor right beside them? Why did St. Francis minister to the lepers, while the princes of his day, seemingly undistracted by the burdens of faith, nevertheless found themselves otherwise engaged? It is simply this – that charity is the fruit of humility, and humility requires something before which to humble one’s self.

(snip) And it is that contact which Mr. Ceglowski most fears. For he thinks that “if everybody contemplates the infinite instead of fixing the drains, many of us will die of cholera.” I wonder if he has ever treated a cholera patient. This is not a rhetorical question; the same pamphlet-forging doctor of my acquaintance went on a medical mission to Haiti during the cholera epidemic there. It seems rather odd that someone who has never fought cholera, should be warning someone who has, that his philosophy prevents him from fighting cholera.”

Just one more note on “survival”:
I think it’s easy for us in our current relative safety to forget that much of the world isn’t safe for Christians. The foundation for the faith is to be Ambassadors to kingdom not of this world. And even though we are all imperfect and forget that and do sinful things, God reminds us and facilitates spreading His word. The Romans used to crucify Christians, feed others to wild animals, and use others as human torches to light the streets. And yet they couldn’t stop Christ’s Kingdom from taking over their empire in just over 200 years. Today there are Christians all over the world who are behaving “counter-to-(Earthly) survival” by practicing their faith.

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