Postmodern Atheists Rant on

In the Austin American-Statesman, James H. Dee, professor of Classics at the University of Texas makes a series of supercilious claims against the Bible in his writings. Being a person of the soil, I tend to look ahead to see what will result from such seeds that are planted. To your great fortune, Prof. Dee, there is a huge laboratory where you can see where your ideas will lead. It is called the former Soviet Union, an officially Atheist state. I once visited a city, about the size of Austin, in the Ukraine. My interpreter Sergei referred to it as a dustbin. This, however, is the sort of thing that people who followed James Dee’s philosophy, i.e., Marx, Engels, and Hegel come up with in producing an idealist society.
When you take the Resurrection out of the equation, what use is there for living? What good is doing good if the Bible and its promises are untrue? In the Ukraine, as of 1993, this represented the highest good to those who, like Prof. Dee, believed the Bible to be a pack of lies. Medical care lagged far behind the West. Social services, such as Hospice or Child Protective Services, were unknown.
Dee says modern—actually postmodern—archaeology will bring about a “Copernican moment” for Jews and Christians. Beat the Medieval Catholics up all you want to, Dee, but if you get sick, you better hope one of their hospitals will accept you as a patient. Better yet, if you need medical assistance, why not seek treatment in a facility where people think of religion in the same way you do? Find a treatment center named for, and following the philosophy of Madelyn Murray O’Hair. Or perhaps a more enlightened one founded by Voltaire or Nietzsche. Hate us people of faith all you want to, Prof. Dee, but I warn you: you’re not going to feel so good.
By the way, educators in Russia and Ukraine are busily incorporating the Bible into their school’s curriculums. I personally got to speak with the superintendent of one of Russia’s largest school systems, on his way around the country to ask for help in placing a Bible in the hands of every Russian school student. They tried your philosophy, Prof. Dee, and found it wanting.