Real Free Thinkers I

Atheists often say with a glare of arrogance that they are "Free Thinkers." They insinuate that those who believe in God are not "Free Thinkers." Once such example is that of the Hemant Mehta, also known as the "Friendly Atheist." In one video I viewed on youtube, he sarcastically and arrogant says that to those who say to him that they will "pray for him," he replies, "I'll think for you."

The phrase is as corny as it can get. Atheists make it seem as if they are the only ones that "think." In reality, everyone thinks. Just because someone does not share your views or opinions does not make them less of a thinker than you. The phrase "free thinker" really is debatable as I demonstrated in this post http://www.sacerdotus.com/2014/04/atheists-are-not-free-thinkers.html.  If you watch the "Friendly Atheist's" videos and/or read his blog postings, you can tell he is not well read.  He is far from a "free thinker."

Nevertheless, there have been great free thinkers in history.  Today we in the Catholic Church celebrate one.  He converted to Catholicism, became and bishop and is one of the greatest "Fathers" of the Church. He is also spoken of greatly in philosophy, psychology, history, and even science courses.  His name is St. Augustine of Hippo.  You can read more about him in this post: http://www.sacerdotus.com/2013/08/st-augustine-of-hippo.html

Augustine of Hippo was a true free thinker. His thinking, studies and the prayers of his mother St. Monica led him to realize that the Christian God is the one and only God.  Other gods were just man's attempt to define the one and only God. Augustine didn't rely on arguments of the day in regards to God and faith.  He came to the conclusion by himself. Uniting himself to the one and only God, or the "Logos," allowed him to grow even more in wisdom.  He helped expound upon and formulate with great articulation and reason, many of the Church's doctrines.

Unlike today's atheists who rely on outdated irrational arguments from the 17th and 18th centuries, Augustine thought freely. He applied the Hellenistic philosophies which were in circulation at the time and improved on them with his own thoughts and ideas nourished by the grace and wisdom of God. Atheists of today have difficulty pushing their ideas due to the fact that they are indefensible. The many self proclaimed "rationalists" go about the social networking world posting all kinds of lies and distortions in order to make atheism attractive. These pettifoggers go about using mordant statements meant to bait theists into discussions that seem fruitless.  They get caught in their own circular argumentation.

This is not free thinking. It is merely a bloviating form of discourse that engages nothing but the atheist's ego and inner intellectual insecurity.  Augustine was a true free thinker. He thought outside of the box, so to speak. This is what a true free thinker does. He/she does not regurgitate the codswallop rhetoric of thinkers before him/her.