Secularism Without Atheism

Many apologists and apologetic organizations put a lot of focus on responding to atheism. They place a lot of emphasis on presenting arguments for the existence of God, arguing that miracles occur, etc. Doesn't that make sense in a society that's been growing increasingly secular?

Not if the secularism isn't atheistic, and it's highly unlikely that there will be a significant turn toward atheism anytime soon. In a nation like the United States, secularism has resulted largely from the insignificance of the God people believe in, not a denial that any God exists. I've written a lot over the years about polling data and other evidence pertaining to the beliefs of Americans, how they spend their time, and other relevant issues. See, for example, here, here, here, and here. Americans believe in God. But the God they believe in is highly permissive, religiously pluralistic, and different than the Christian God in other ways.

Atheists are only a tiny minority in this nation, but they have a disproportionate influence on society. Part of the reason why they have such an influence is that their interests align so closely with the interests of many people who are religious in some manner. On sexual matters, for example, most people will free themselves from the constraints of Christianity by redefining God. They won't deny that God exists. But they agree with atheists in their desire to remove a restraint on their behavior. Though Americans resemble atheists in some ways, they aren't atheists. The same can be said of a large number of people in Canada, Europe, and other parts of the world.

When you're deciding what sort of apologetic work you should do, including what apologetic efforts you should support financially and in other ways, keep in mind how few people are atheists, naturalists, and such. We should respond to that small minority. As I said above, they have a disproportionate influence on society, including in academia, the media, and other highly influential places. (Similarly, the Jehovah's Witnesses are more involved in door-to-door visitation than other groups that are larger. If you were to judge solely by door-to-door visitation, you might come away with the impression that there are more Jehovah's Witnesses than Roman Catholics or Baptists.) And people who aren't atheists often use atheist arguments. If a college student is confronted with a campus evangelist, or if somebody is confronted with a coworker who's talking to him about Christianity, he might raise some atheistic objections that come to mind, even though he isn't an atheist himself. The influence of atheism goes beyond the small minority of the population who are atheists. But it's unwise to focus on atheism as much as it's being focused on in so many apologetic circles. We should be more concerned about persuading people that the God who exists is the God of Christianity, responding to objections to exclusivism, and addressing other issues that are more relevant to the surrounding society. There's a place for arguing for God's existence or that miracles occur, for example. But it's a smaller place than we've been assigning it. An individual may have good reason to specialize in responding to atheism. His background or his knowledge may warrant it, for example. Generally speaking, though, atheism doesn't deserve the attention it's been getting.