In today's culture, sound defense of the faith needed, says D'Souza

By JOHN FORTMEYER
CNNW publisher
     PORTLAND — In a culture increasingly hostile to the Gospel message, effective evangelism requires sound preparation on some basic issues, says Dinesh D’Souza.
     That’s because the culture is growing more diverse in its beliefs, and thus posing greater challenges for today’s believers, the famed Christian apologist told a packed banquet hall at the Red Lion Hotel at Jantzen Beach Nov. 11.
    “If you’re going to be a Christian, you need to be a different kind of Christian than your parents or grandparents,” he said.
     Specifically, he called for believers to be ready to respond to atheists’ charge that Christianity is not only untrue, but that it also is cause for much of the trouble in the world.
     D’Souza said the “crayon Christianity” that many believers learned with simplicity as children — while based on the truths of God’s Word — is not likely to calm the intellectual attacks of atheists. He noted that today’s prominent unbelievers, such as Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins, are “a little more suave,” and “culturally more cool” than their predecessors, and that they also enjoy more support in the media.
    “These guys, their agenda is simple,” said D’Souza. “It is to make every Christian feel like an idiot for believing in Christianity.”
     D’Souza spoke during the Innovative Evangelism Conference sponsored by Portland-based international evangelist Luis Palau and his associates who encompass the Next Generation Alliance. The conference took place at the Jantzen Beach hotel Nov. 10-13.
     D’Souza is experienced at challenging atheism. He regularly engages in debates with leading unbelievers, and his new book What's So Great About Christianity seeks to comprehensively answer recent atheist books denouncing theism in general and Christianity in particular.
     A former policy analyst in the Reagan White House, D'Souza also served as John M. Olin Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1983.
     Among his other books are Illiberal Education, The End of Racism, The Virtue of Prosperity, What’s So Great About America and The Enemy at Home. His articles have appeared in many major magazines and newspapers, including New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, Vanity Fair, New Republic, and National Review.
     He has appeared on numerous television programs, including the Today show, Nightline, The News Hour, O’Reilly Factor, Moneyline, and Hannity.
     D’Souza described general areas where Christians can bolster their arguments for the faith:
    • Science. While atheists contend that scientific discoveries move society forward and religion does the opposite, he said that since the mid-19th century, scientific advances have “cut the other way” and support faith. For example, physicists are constantly learning more about “hidden dimensions” and “multiple universes” that make Christian beliefs about life after death more acceptable. “As Christians, we don’t need to be scared of science,” he said.
    • History. D’Souza said atheists often blame Christians for some of the most horrible crimes of history. But he said careful study shows that atrocities committed in the name of Christ are actually few compared to the overwhelmingly massive loss of life in wars and other actions undertaken by atheistic regimes. “Atheism has produced a massive body count the Christians cannot match,” he said.
    There is an arrogance and belligerence that has developed among many atheists that needs to be confronted, said D’Souza.
    “You’ve got to take on the secular guy with his own weapons,” he said.
If Christians take on the unbelievers by “speaking the atheists’ language of history and science and reason and evidence,” the unbelievers’ haughty attitudes can be worn down, he said.
     “Ultimately, I want them to go home and say (to themselves), ‘I’m not quite the genius I thought I was.’ ’’ D’Souza said.