Atheism on the Charts

Writing for Reuters, Michael Conlon reports that a "fresh wave of atheistic books has hit the market this autumn, some climbing onto best-seller lists in what proponents see as a backlash against the way religion is entwined in politics."  Among the books mentioned in the article are Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.  Both books are on the bestseller list.  Publishers Weekly believes that this trend (if it is a trend) is inevitable given "the super-soaking of American politics and culture with religion in recent years."

This argument, which seems plausible enough, highlights one of the potential dangers in the church being narrowly tied to a political agenda: people in our day may reject God as much for political reasons as they do for theological ones.  While Christians have as much right as anyone to let their faith influence their politics, we should do what we can to make it clear that Christianity is not primarily a political cause.