tdekeyser

From CBN:

"The experience the child has with their father is the first experience they have with the idea of God. And it mediates their own understanding of God," said Dr. Paul Vitz, author of Faith of the Fatherless . "If you have a defective father, one who abuses you, a father who is weak, unworthy of respect, a father who is even just dead, what it does is set up a negative understanding of the father and a negative attitude toward God."

Vitz said people intuitively think of God as a father, and God has an element of authority and justice tempered with love, just as an ideal father should. But when the father is not around, the results take their toll on spirituality. Vitz studied the life histories of several famous atheists.

"Some of them had dead fathers who left them abandoned in certain clear ways," Vitz explained. "Others had really abusive fathers who literally abandoned the family and rejected it. Others had very weak or irresponsible fathers. I found this pattern over and over again in lives of famous atheists."

That pattern includes atheists like Nietzsche, Jean Paul Sartre, and Madeline Murray O'Hair. They became public figures because of their atheism, but Vitz said it was their private lives that drove them to a militant rejection of God.

"It looks like atheists reject God because they can't believe in a God like their father because their father is an intolerable memory for whatever reason, so that's why they reject God. They want God dead," he said.

The prime example is 19th century philosopher Nietzsche. He was best known for his pronouncement "God is dead." Despite this, he was preoccupied with religion, and throughout his life, he often attacked Christianity for being feminine and weak. Instead, Nietzsche glorified greatness and pride in oneself as the highest ideal — an idea that went on to fuel Hitler's fury and shape humanist philosophy.

Nietzsche's father was a Lutheran pastor who died when Nietzsche was just five years old. His death devastated the boy, who grew up to view his father and God as weak. He was raised by his mother and sisters and lacked any kind of father figure. Nietzsche wrote: "I missed the strict and superior guidance of a male intellect."

"All of Nietzsche's biographers see Nietzsche's concern with his father as central to his philosophy, his understanding of Christianity and so on," said Vitz. "Basically, when Nietzsche said God is dead, he was really saying dad is dead. Therefore God is dead."

Another famous atheist with no father was the French existentialist Jean Paul Sartre. Sartre was the man who said if you reject God, you must invent your own values. His philosophy revolved around man becoming God.

Sartre's own father died when he was a year old. He had a very close emotional attachment to his mother, which ended at age 12 when his mother remarried. He spent the rest of his life hating his stepfather and paternity in general.

In his autobiography, he wrote, "There is no good father... don't lay blame on me but on the bond of paternity which is rotten... had my own father lived, he would have lain on me full length and crushed me. As luck would have it, he died young."

Vitz also cites 20th century atheist Madeline Murray O'Hair, who fought and succeeded in having prayer removed from school. Her son wrote that O'Hair once went after her own father with a butcher knife screaming she would kill him.

But strong Christian fathers can provide a foundation that lasts for years to come.

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<a href="http://cbn.org/cbnnews/news/020523a.asp" target="_blank">http://cbn.org/cbnnews/news/020523a.asp</a>

irishajo

Another CBN epiphany.

I've got a great father. He tells me he loves me every time he sees me. I heard it all the time growing up, and he showed it too. Only thing I wish was different was that he was very religious (and strict).

Nope, don't think I can blame my atheism on him...

Talulah

This begs the question. What about your fathers? Abusive? absent?

Mine was abusive and overbearing. Doesn't mean there is a God.

butswana

Uh, my dad was/is great. He did anything and everything that he could to take care of us. He supported my mother and four kids.
We were never beaten/abused/neglected. Always encouraged to pursue interests.
My parents are still married too(37 years).

Stupid fucking christians.

IvanK

Asked and answered in a previous thread. I guess those who have close relationships with their fathers grow up to be pederast priests . . .

Sephiroth

*sigh* Is there nothing to stop the march of Christian lies?

SteveD

Just like butswana, my father is a great guy. Has always provided for his family. No physical or emotional abuse. Married 46 years. On top of this he is also an atheist.

steve

Bree

My father is a recovering alcoholic who forced his family to God in order to help him get over his feelings of inadequacy as a father.

Now, tell me that isn't fucked up.

GunnerJ

My Dad's an outspoken agnostic. Nuff said.

bonduca

*wonders about Fred Phelps's children*