R.I.P. God?

That is why You will find the most committed atheists were once Christians.
This quote is from the recently-released movie Gods Not Dead. Its characters range
from a Muslim-turned-Christian girl and a dissatisfied minister and his visiting missionary friend
to a busy journalist who finds out that she has cancer and a successful business executive whose
mother sinks further into dementia. As the movie progresses, their lives become intertwined and
serve as a background for the two central characters: Josh Wheaton and Professor Radisson.
College freshman Josh Wheaton enrolls into Professor Radissons infamous philosophy
class. What starts out as an elective humanities requirement becomes a life-changing experience
for Wheaton when, on the first day of class, Radisson demands that his students write God is
dead, along with their signature, to pass his course.
It is a very interesting movie premise, but it is one based on very sad real-life premises
(yes, premise in plural form). Fast forward to the end of the movie, and the viewers will see that
the closing credits list more than 20 legal cases wherein university students and campus
ministries were actually condemned for their faith.
Spoiler alert: Josh Wheaton takes the course alternative which is to defend the antithesis:
God is not dead.
The question is, would you be willing to do the same?
In a dominantly Christian country such as the Philippines, it is alarming that there is a
growing population of agnostics, that is, those who do not know or, more accurately, doubt the
existence of God.
But why, you may ask, is this alarming exactly? Why, amidst the pork barrel scandal,
post-super typhoon mismanaged rehabilitation program, and regular slum-area fire breakouts,
does this sudden talk of God need to be published on a national newspaper?
It all comes down to a choice: believe or dont believe Thats all there is. Thats all
thats ever been.
For the sake of breaking unnecessary ambiguity, Ill tell you an anti-secret: Im Catholic.
I was born Catholic, I was raised Catholic, I attended 3 different Catholic schools in my 16 years
of formal education, but somehow, right in the middle of all that Catholicism, I lost God.
I dont know if it was because of the 21-year running television drama entitled My Life
whichwithout going into further detailsinvolved terminal illnesses, untimely deaths, marital
failures, illicit affairs, and legal court cases in non-chronological order. Where was God in all
that? If he did exist, I hated him. If he did not exist, I still hated him.
How can you hate someone, if they dont exist?

With this simple line, Gods defendant, a college freshman, wins against His prosecutor, a
philosophy professor.
God never not existed. He died, scripturally speaking, but he rose again on the third day.
I died too, but I needed to rise again in my Faith. I knew this much when I was 14. Faith,
however, is not as simple as flicking the light switch on. Even when I got to the stage wherein I
wanted to believe again, I could not bring myself to. That was when I realized that Faith is not all
human work; God has to come in, or, more accurately, to be let in. And so after receiving
communion every Sunday (I continued to hear mass to please my dad), I knelt down and prayed,
God, help me to believe in you again, which I promptly forgot the moment I stepped out of the
church.
God answered my passing prayer in college. He gave me an opportunity, and I took it.
Something beautiful happened in that three-day open retreat. It wasnt one of those crying
sessions over palancas and what not. I was in a candle-lit oratory full of other people, but for the
first time in my life, I was alone with God. Something inexplicable, beyond comprehension,
beyond human I called God, and He answered. And good though it was, we both knew that my
conversion was only the beginning. There is plenty of work to be done, but I lack for nothing. I
have my mentor, a remarkable set of friends who prefer to work with me unpublicized, and more
importantly, I have God.
It has been three years since. Every day I wage war to protect my hard-won Faith with
mental prayer and spiritual reading and by hearing mass, saying the rosary, and offering my
teaching duties for the conversion of many more souls. It is hard, but lets just say I dont have to
do all the work.
A few days ago, a colleague of mine recommended an article entitled, Renewed Again.
She suggested that I write something back. You mean, to refute his arguments? I asked her.
She shook her head.
Dont try to be clever. Be content to tell the truth.
This is another quote from the movie. To be content to tell the truth is the Gods Not
Dead moviemakers purpose, as it is my purpose in writing this article.
I am not judging whether you are an atheist, an agnostic, or whatever non-religious
nickname you want to go by. I am here to tell you the truth: Gods not dead.