This week, I watched a thought-provoking debate between Richard Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Many of you know Richard Dawkins, a reductionist atheist who wrote the famous book, “The God Delusion.” I mentioned him a few weeks ago in another message.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia and grew up in the Middle East as a Muslim and became an atheist after moving to Europe. Ever since then, she has criticized all religions, including Christianity. She frequently appeared on CNN and other channels, so you might have seen her. Dawkins and Ali were partners in crime, promoting atheism.
However, in a truly unexpected and dramatic twist, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a staunch critic of all religions, recently underwent a profound transformation. She found solace and redemption in Christianity, accepting Jesus Christ as her personal savior. This seismic shift, a shock to Richard Dawkins, sparked a heated debate on her newfound faith.
The debate, a battle of intellectual giants, is a must-watch. It delves into the survival of Western civilization and the well-being of our children and future generations, all in the context of the pervasive mind virus of wokeism and Marxism infesting our campuses.
The debate, a clash of two levels of consciousness, is fascinating. Both Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Richard Dawkins were once intellectual radical atheists. However, Ayaan Hirsi Ali has ascended to a higher level of consciousness, recognizing the destructive nature of radical atheism and the vacuum it created for the mind viruses to infest our media, government, and education systems.
I have noticed in this debate that Ayaan Hirsi Ali is considerate, but Richard Dawkins is condescending. According to the Taoist philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi, persons of lower consciousness tend to be condescending and sarcastic when they deal with the higher level of consciousness they don’t understand.
For example, Zhuangzi began his book by telling the story of the Peng bird with a thousand miles of wingspan, flying 9,000 miles above the sky. A quail and a cicada look up at the giant Peng bird flying above them and say, “It is stupid and useless to fly that high. It’s useless and nonsense.” But the Peng bird doesn’t care about the noises they make because they belong to two different worlds—heaven and earth.
There are many stories like this in Zhuangzi. When a person of lower consciousness can’t understand that of a higher consciousness, they try to define them using condescending terms. On the contrary, a person from a higher consciousness is considerate when dealing with them, as Paul put it, speaking the truth in love.
In the debate, Richard Dawkins constantly tries to define Ayaan Hirsi Ali using condescending words like BS, nonsense, ridiculous, etc. Dawkins’s book title is also condescending, “The God Delusion.”
On the contrary, Ayaan Hirsi Ali politely invites him and others like Sam Harris to see what she sees, mainly how atheism has caused the potential extinction of the great Western civilization in recent decades.
Richard Dawkins has also recently softened his stance on atheism. He now calls himself a cultural Christian because he appreciates Christian culture, art, and music. The irony is that he enjoys the fruit but wants to kill the tree. Isn’t it hypocrisy? People like this are not conscious of their own hypocrisy but quick to define others.
In the Bible, Jesus doesn’t allow the hypocrites to define him. They called him Beelzebul, the head of the demons. Even his family thought he had gone insane and tried to stop him. Jesus prevents being defined by defining himself according to God’s definition.
The truth is, if you don’t define yourself, the world will define you, and you won’t like it. In fact, the world is constantly defining you. There are numerous Richard Dawkins, Sam Harrises, and the like who try to define you as delusional, BS, ridiculous, nonsense, stupid, and so on.
How do you define yourself? You can’t define yourself based on your own fantasy of who you think you are. The best way to define yourself is based on what God thinks you are because that works for thousands of years for billions of people.
Today, we will look at how Jesus defined himself and defend his definition when he was being defined by the world, especially by the so-called intellectuals with lower consciousness, so we can learn from him. Let’s begin!
The scripture lesson for today, Proper 5, is from the Gospel of Mark 3:20-35.
[Listen to the Word of the Lord!]
And the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”
23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.”
33 And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mk 3:20–35).
[Blessed are those who delight in God’s Word. Thanks be to God!]
The context of this story is that Jesus began his ministry by teaching, healing, and exorcising. We previously covered his healing ministry. Now, the focus of his passage is on his exorcism, casting out demons and unclean spirits. Many people have a hard time understanding demons because we cannot see them.
If you wonder what demons are, the term “unclean spirits” describes them well. Unclean means unholy. They act against the Holy Spirit. So, they bear the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit. Since you know the fruit of the Spirit, the opposites are the fruit of the demons. Hatred instead of love, anxiety instead of joy, discord instead of peace, impatience instead of patience, etc. You know the rest.
Demons are like viruses that need a host to latch on to survive. The difference between bacteria and viruses is that bacteria are living organisms, but viruses are more like parasites that cannot survive independently. They need to infest an organism to propagate.
For example, in Mathew 8, when Jesus cast out the demons from a man, they asked Jesus to let them enter the nearby herd of pigs. Jesus allowed them. The pig went crazy and jumped into the sea and died.
Demons are also like destructive ideas; ideas need a mind to survive and propagate. The most common demons of today are the mind viruses of workerism, Marxism, reductionism, and adctions. In fact, any -ism can be demonic.
It’s easier to heal a physical body than the mind. Jesus casting out demons drew people’s attention. So, many people came to him for healing and to watch him heal people. The passage begins by saying,
And the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. (Mk 3:20).
You can imagine the situation. People were hungry for healing and liberation from the demons, so they crowded Jesus’s home to the point that he didn’t even have time to eat. That also describes his compassion for these disadvantaged people.
When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” (Mk 3:21).
Christians appear to be crazy in the eyes of the world. That’s why they try to define as crazy. I thought about titling his sermon, “Christians are Crazy,” but I changed my mind. When the world defines you as crazy, ignore them. Here, things got worse. Powerful people came to define him.
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” (Mk 3:22).
Scribes were highly respected authorities because they were highly educated, like Richard Dawkins, a professor from Oxford. Their words carried a lot of weight. When they defined Jesus as Beelzebul, that was serious because many people could believe them because of their authority. Most importantly, you might end up believing them. That’s dangerous if you let their definition sink into your head.
Beelzebul is the head of the demons. Since these scribes couldn’t comprehend what Jesus was doing, they defined him with condescension. People do it all the time. They will define you as stupid, retarded, or lunatic, don’t let those definitions sink into your mind, even if those definitions come from people of authority or highly intellectuals.
To prevent being defined, you must define yourself first because if you don’t define yourself, people will define you, and you won’t like it. Jesus responded to the scribes by defeating their logic.
And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? (Mk 3:23).
The first thing you need to remember is to analyze their definition logically. When people call you names or define you, instead of feeling hurt, think about whether what they are saying is logical or not. Mostly not.
You might remember the movie Forest Gump. People called him stupid, but his mom taught him to respond, “Stupid is as stupid does.” He had a great mom.
Then Jesus explained to them how their definition of him doesn’t make sense. He put it into a parable. He said,
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. (Mk 3:26-27).
In short, Jesus defined himself as someone more powerful than Satan, the strong man. He came to bring an end to Satan’s demonic mind viruses by first tying him up. Jesus knows who he is. In other words, Jesus knows who he is and what he is capable of. No one could define him.
Do you know who you are? Have you defined yourself? According to the Bible, you are a child of God, you are a prince or a princess. In God’s eyes, you are so precious that you are worth dying for, and he did die for you. He also has made his home in your heart as the temple of the Holy Spirit, enabling you to do greater things than Jesus did when he was here on earth. That’s how you define yourself because it’s the truth. Jesus then said,
“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.” (Mk 3:28-30).
When you bear the fruit of the Spirit, but people define you with insult and condescension, they blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Here, according to Jesus, it’s a serious offense because they can’t differentiate between the clean and unclean spirits. That’s a sign of total depravity.
It means you don’t have to fear those who define you unjustly. God will settle scores with them. That’s how precious you are. That’s how you should define yourself as a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” (Mk 3:31-32).
Sometimes, people will use your loved ones as leverage to make you give in to their definition. Jesus’ family may have been pressured by the authority and the community. Jesus knew they came against God’s will, but they came in fear of the definitions.
And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mk 3:33-35).
You know God’s will. According to Jesus, God’s will is to love God and love people, nothing more and nothing less. He is doing God’s will by loving people, teaching, healing, and exorcising. Those set around him were his disciples, who endured long work hours caring for the poor, the sick, and outcasts.
They were doing God’s will and forgot about their hunger because doing God’s will is like eating food, as Jesus mentioned after he ministered to the Samaritan woman at the well.
At one point in the debate, Richard Dawkins tries to define Christianity. He said, “Christianity is obsessed with sin. … that we are born with the original sin. … This is all nonsense. This is all theological BS. The idea that humanity is born in sin and has to be cure of sin by Jesus being crucified; Jesus being punished for all our sin. That is a morally very unpleasant idea. I am sure you must agree about that.”
He was asking Ayaan Hirsi Ali. You can see Richard Dawkins tried to corner Ayaan Hirsi Ali by defining Christianity as a religion that is obsessed with sin, and he ends by saying, “I am sure you must agree about that,” as if it is the obvious definition.
To this, Ayaan Hirsi Ali responded thoughtfully with her own definition, saying,
“I find that Christianity is actually obsessed with love. (The audience roars with applause.) … I’m a brand-new Christian. … The message I get is the message of love. It’s a message of redemption. It’s a story of renewal and rebirth.”
Later, Ayaan Hirsi Ali said atheism tears things down and offers nothing better to replace it. As a result, the beautiful Western civilization is at risk of collapsing or extinction. Only Christianity can restore this great civilization because it’s where it started.
Unfortunately, Christians have allowed others to define us because we want to please the world, and we fail to define ourselves. When Jesus’ family came, they came in fear of the criticism and definition.
Jesus said that those who do God’s will are his family. God’s will is love. The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is fear. John said,
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.” (1 Jn 4:18).
We are products and purveyors of love. Don’t let others define us otherwise. Let’s define ourselves as people redeemed by love and for love and striving for the perfection of love because that’s who we are.
That’s it for today. Until we meet again, let our light and love shine brighter and broader and harvest the fruit of freedom, purpose, and happiness. Amen!
