Is atheism a form of denial?

How could atheism be a form of denial?

Well, look at the definition of denial. According to an encyclopedia of mental disorders, refusal to acknowledge the existence or severity of an unpleasant reality is called "denial".

If one associates belief in God with unpleasant realities - such as facing eternal judgment, having one's lifestyle evaluated by a Higher Power, having to yield one's life to an absolute standard of behavior, admitting that man will never perfect his world, or even yielding to the supposed requirement to join an organized religious group - then denial seems quite possible.

I'm sure atheists would deny they're in such denial. Usually they claim that they know God doesn't exist. And they make that claim based on several ideas.

Some bitterly attack organized religion and blame it for all the world's ills, therefore reasoning that religion itself is godless (not exhibiting god-like behavior). For some reason, this recognition of human foolishness is supposed to prove that a Supreme Being doesn't exist.

Some claim God doesn't exist because, they say, it isn't logical to believe in an "invisible" trans-natural reality. They posit the scientific method as the best (and only) way to know anything about reality. Since God can't be subjected to the scientific method, He can't be proven to exist. If He can't be proven by this method to exist, then He must not exist.

Some take note of the evil in this world, then point to religious claims that God is all-powerful and cares about human life - and they find a contradiction. If God supposedly cares, and is powerful, then why, they ask, does He allow evil to exist?

Each of these ideas (and all the other atheistic challenges to belief in God that I've seen) have one thing in common - they attempt to use the rational mind to understand and challenge the phenomenon of faith in God.

But that's like trying to take one's blood pressure with a thermometer. Or like trying to measure wind speed with a crescent wrench. The tool doesn't fit the job.

It's not that faith in God isn't rational (I don't remember reading "leap of faith" in the Bible). But faith's rationale stands on a higher grade of evidence than what's used to prove scientific fact. Faith rests on revelation not information. And the rational mind can't always grasp revelation. It can't reason its way to enlightenment.

Like an animal rummaging for food in the woods while ignoring a lost $100 bill, the rational mind "does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV).

So, how does one come to that place of spiritual discernment? How would an atheist, or even an agnostic, who's toying with the idea of seeking that higher discernment... how would he or she go about it?

Follow the advice of the wisest man who ever lived. He said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." -Jesus