The Myth of Nonbelief – You Gotta Serve Somebody

This week a thought came to my mind over an article on The Blaze I read recently. The link to it is listed below the reflection. It was about a student at Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Oregon. Eric Fromm is the student body president of the school and came out recently stating he is an atheist. I have no problem with that as he can be whatever he wants to believe. What concerned me was some of the descriptors in the article.

The descriptor that troubled me is seen first in Eric’s statement “For those of you who didn’t already know about my nonbelief, this news may be a bit shocking, but I was an atheist long before I came to NCU.” He speaks about his “nonbelief”. Then later in the article comes the statement, “Fromm took aim at some of the Christians on campus who have treated him differently since they found out he’s a non-believer.” When I read statements like that in news articles I always think to myself -- what is it with this “nonbelief” or non-believer status. Probably the only person who could be called a non-believer may be an occasional honest agnostic who doubts everything therefore they would be non-believer in the true sense. Someone like this young man who states he is an atheist is a believer. He has a belief system. An atheist has a strong faith belief that God does not exist. This is a belief as they have no proof so they have to go on blind faith that God does not exist.

Matter of fact even in the article it states: “Fromm went on to explain that he was baptized a Lutheran and raised a Methodist, but that, over time, he began to develop the belief that “God wasn’t real’”. He states he developed a belief that God was not real. It did not say he had solid scientific proof that God is not real. No one can say that, because belief in no God has to be taken by faith. Just as belief in God has to be taken by faith is also true.

I wish reporters would think through and use the right terminology. Atheists who stress their so called “nonbelief” try to promote that they are more rational that Christians and those in other religious faiths. Instead they are simply being disingenuous as it takes a strong faith to believe that there is no God with no proof. Christians are also to blame for the misuse of terms as I have read many Christian articles that speak about non-believers. I usually cringe saying to myself “No, they are believers. They are just believing differently.”

As I was thinking this through the old Bob Dylan song “Gotta Serve Somebody” came to my mind. Take a look at the lyrics and think what he is saying in relation to what I have been speaking about.

Gotta Serve Somebody by Bob Dylan ( click on the title to hear the video of

Dylan and his band )


You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Might be a rock'n' roll addict prancing on the stage
Might have money and drugs at your commands, women in a cage
You may be a business man or some high degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a state trooper, you might be an young turk
You may be the head of some big TV network
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame
You may be living in another country under another name.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a construction worker working on a home
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome
You might own guns and you might even own tanks
You might be somebody's landlord you might even own banks.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side
You may be working in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk
Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk
You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread
You may be sleeping on the floor, sleeping in a king-sized bed.

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may call me Terry, you may call me Jimmy
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray
You may call me anything but no matter what you say.

You're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Like Dylan says we all gotta serve somebody. The Buddhist serves the principles of the Buddah, the atheist serves the principles of atheism, and the Christian follows the life of faith in Jesus Christ. Everyone’s serving is based on their belief system. I am glad to see from what I have read most on the NCU campus students and administrators are trying to be understanding of the young atheist’s faith journey. Also from the article and other related articles I have read the student is showing his true colors by crying like a victim about those he perceives as being against him because he is an atheist. Yet if you do read the various related articles and student comments the truth is even those who are coming out against him, are not concerned about his atheism. It is more about his deception and hypocrisy of not being honest about his worldview while running for student body president. If you critically think about it, those students have a good point. Believe what you believe but be honest and open about it.

In the world where we live we need to understand there are many various world views based on a variety of beliefs. There would be less strife if we could learn to respect each other’s beliefs. The ancients seemed to have a better command at having open dialogue than we do today. The Apostle Paul in the times of the Romans could speak and debate openly for example in Acts 17, to the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers in the Areopagus in Athens. He was not told to shut up. The other philosophers listened to him. Some thought he was mad or crazy and others believed while others simply said they would think over his statements. Why can’t we have that open dialogue today?

Reflection: Do you have a firm understanding of your worldview and why you believe what you believe? Are you open to agree to disagree with those of differing worldviews?


http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/08/christian-colleges-student-body-president-issues-shocking-admission-in-campus-op-ed/