Dinesh D’Souza just published a piece about how famous atheist AnthonyFlew has now renounced atheism and believes in God.  Although Flew cannot be praised for timeliness, I suppose he deserves credit for honesty.  After all, it isn’t easy to admit that everything you’ve been espousing for a half a century — everything that has made you famous and that has transformed you into an icon in atheist circles — was wrong.  One really has to be able to swallow his pride, and most are found wanting in that regard.

Having said that, I find it tiresome when famous people who have a bit
of talent with the tongue or pen play the bull in the china shop of
life, stumbling about spewing pseudo-intellectual nonsense and
trampling on faith and tradition on their way to the discovery that
grand-pappy was right after all.  It much reminds me of what I was told
in Poland about the United States, "When the US sneezes, Poland catches
a cold."

Millions of anonymous people go on spiritual journeys and descend into
error along the way, but their folly isn’t on display for the world to
see.  Too many famous people are still spiritual neophytes when Lady
Luck smiles upon them, and too many regular folks watch their
intellectual contortions and suffer intellectual contusions.  And here
I also think of Ann Rice, of  Interview with the Vampire fame.
After years of conducting her search for Truth through her writings,
she now has come back to the Catholic Church.  I’m happy to hear it,
but she now has written a book about Jesus in which she puts words in
His mouth.  She certainly means well, just as I’m sure she meant well
before when she was writing the kind of books she says she will no
longer write.  I wonder, will she say in 25 years that she will no
longer write presumptuous books about the Lord?

On another note, when talking about Anthony Flew, D’Souza calls him an
atheist philosopher.  "Atheist philosopher," however, is an oxymoron.  A philosopher, properly understood, is one who searches for Truth; an
atheist, properly understood, is one who does not believe in Truth.  (Truth implies something that is apart from and above man {i.e., God}.)  Thus, if
you truly are an atheist, you cannot believe there is any Truth to be found.  And if there is no Truth to be found, there is no point in philosophizing. 

Of course, since Mr. Flew did discover Truth, I suppose we could say that he did behave like a philosopher.  What is now thrown into question is if he ever really behaved like an atheist. 

Regardless, it took Mr. Flew 50 years of
"philosophizing" to have this realization.  And what’s sad is that there are great
Christian apologists who, during that half century, have produced great
works that could enrich souls.  Yet, they wallow in anonymity. 

I’m probably being too harsh, for as a man of the cloth once said to
me, "We’re all in different stages of conversion."  It’s true, and
there certainly are people in this world who found faith at a younger
age than this writer.  So, but there for the grace of God go I.

I just wish that the world didn’t have to catch a cold every time one of these famous searchers sneezes.