Golmer's Blog

Converse with religionists online invariably leads to a statement similar to the following: “If you don’t believe in God or you don’t believe in the Afterlife, then you can’t have Hope.”

Such a statement would, of necessity, mean that the utterer believes that “hope” is a purely religious concept. 

A simple look at a definition of the word “Hope” (from Webster’s online dictionary) reveals the meanings of the word:

“Main Entry: ¹hope 

Pronunciation: \ˈhōp\Function: verbInflected Form(s): hoped; hop·ingEtymology: Middle English, from Old English hopian; akin to Middle High German hoffen to hopeDate: before 12th century

intransitive verb1 : to cherish a desire with anticipation <hopes for a promotion>
2 archaic : trusttransitive verb1 : to desire with expectation of obtainment
2 : to expect with confidence : trust

— hop·er noun

— hope against hope : to hope without any basis for expecting fulfillment”

Notice there is no reference to religion or religious belief in the definition whatsoever. One can “hope” for a promotion, or “hope” they did good enough on their midterm exam to pass, wit a confident expectation that they will or that they did respectively.

Atheists have hopes too. Those include (depending upon the individual, of course)

-A hope that the supposed religions of peace will eventually demonstrate said concept of peace without attacking, oppressing, repressing, enslaving, belittling, torturing, or murdering those who do not adhere to said religion of peace.

-A hope that people will eventually see that our lives, here and now, and those of our progeny are the only ones we have, and that we need to work together to make the world the best place to live it can be.

-A hope that Christians in America will eventually learn some history and see exactly how and why this nation was formed as a secular nation - i.e. to prevent the totalitarian theocratic mistakes the colonists and founders were fleeing when they formed our Constitution the way it is.

-A hope that Christian revisionists will eventually stop erroneously mixing the content of the Declaration of Independence with the US Constitution, and stop trying to undermine the protections our religious founders fought so hard to put in place to protect themselves from themselves.

-A hope that Christians in America will eventually learn from groups like the Amish and worship in private, in church and in private, without trying to force everyone else to believe exactly as they do; and see that life is all about choice.

-A hope that our iPads won’t really take until at least June 9th to arrive in the mail.