I've told you all many times about my friend from college that became an atheist several years after I graduated. It must be acknowledged that she grew up in an unhealthy Pentecostal cult and I'm sure at some level this contributed to her abandoning Christianity, or at least the shell of it that she belonged to. After her conversion to atheism, we were talking and she said to me, "There are tons of atheists that are good people just because, not because some religion told them to be."

I asked, "What do you mean by 'good person?' What is your definition of a 'good person?'"

She didn't really have an answer, as has no person that I've asked since that time. It seems we have a hard time defining what a "good person" is exactly. Does it mean you've never killed anyone? Never been to jail? Only told white lies? Given food to the homeless man at the street corner? Marched in a Civil Rights protest?

And if you show the world the appearance of being a good person, what does it mean if behind closed doors you aren't? Does that cancel out the public display of goodness?

The muse for this blog is a follower of mine who I often disagree with. We have verbally sparred for several years now and while at times it has gotten heated, I think I can safely say we've come to respect each other. To his credit, he often challenges me and makes me really think through my posts. His contrarian nature has given me ample opportunities to practice patience and humility, which I've come to appreciate. For example, I have learned to give him the last word in many of our disagreements, which is wildly hard for me to do. If he reads this, I think he will chuckle to read that I think he helps me sometimes work out my sanctification. I say that as a fellow contrarian.

Anyway, back to him being the muse for this blog. He recently commented that he knows some amazing atheists who are “better people than a lot of Benedictine monks.” He lamented the fact, as he often does, that there are heaps--HEAPS--of bad Christians while going on to sing the praises of the "good atheists." 

Oftentimes, what happens when Christian people defend atheists against Christians in a self-deprecating manner is that they compare Mr. Wonderful Atheist to Mr. Terrible Christian.

No, what you must do is compare Mr. Wonderful Atheist to a Saint. You have to compare the best with the best.

Not that I like the comparison stuff anyway, but if you are going to do it, then do it right. 

I do believe atheists can be “good” people, whatever that actually means. All humans have the Natural Law written on their hearts. This means that you can know what is right and wrong when it comes to natural moral things without God having to explain it to you. There's a reason that most crimes/sins are done in the cover of darkness or secrecy. We know that these things are wrong and we are trying to use darkness to hide ourselves.

What you don’t have are atheists that inspire because of the amazing ways they go beyond the Natural Law. I’ve spent the last few days trying to come up with an atheist that will be known for the rest of time as going above and beyond the Natural Law and doing what seems to be impossible. The world has had really smart atheists--Stephen Hawking comes to mind. The world has, also, had atheists that want to treat people well and help their fellow man. Secular humanism, which is the "good atheists" philosophy, has areas where we, the Christians, can find common ground.

But, atheists can’t go beyond that—into the supernatural arena, because they lack grace. They aren’t open to it. 

Grace was not something I understood until I became Catholic and started homeschooling my kids. The good ‘ole Baltimore Catechism teaches you all about grace. Essentially, grace is the Divine Life within you. There is Sanctifying Grace, Sacramental Grace, and Actual Grace. It is grace—the Divine Life—which enables us to do good things beyond the Natural Law. 

If grace is the Divine Life within us, we have to be open to receiving it and cooperating with it. If you outright reject God, how can you have the Divine Life within you? That’s pretty tough. Now, if you open yourself up to God, even a little, grace can find a way in, but you have to open yourself up. 

But, what does grace actually do?

If you believe that this earthly life is just a blip in your eternal life, grace allows for you to give your life away for others in a way that seems contrary to human preservation. But, if you believe this is all there is; that once you die, it's lights out. Well, you aren't going to give your life away. The goal will be to maximize your earthly life until, as many atheists believe, it's too much of a burden to go on living anymore.

A "good" atheist will give from their abundance, which is nice. A Saint filled with grace, will give all they have, even from their poverty.

This is why there is no atheist like St. Maximilian Kolbe who gave his life for another man in a Nazi concentration camp. 

This is why there is no atheist like St. Damien who volunteered to go be a priest to the lepers on the island of Molokai. He knew he may never come back to civilization and he didn’t--leprosy got him.

This is why there is no atheist like St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta who lived in the slums of Calcutta tending to the poorest people imaginable. She sacrificed beyond human abilities to bring hope, light, and life to those in despair.

This is why there is no atheist that will willingly give up their secular life to go live a cloistered life behind convent walls to pray for the souls of the world. They give up numerous earthly pleasures: Marriage, sex, physical freedom, material possessions, etc.

I could go on and on. You will never find a litany of atheists with the workings and impact that we have with the Saints. 

Now, I don't say this smugly, but to make a point that, sure, atheists can lead "good" lives, but they will never lead holy lives unless they find Jesus. Holiness is modeling Christ in the virtues and trying to live out His Will for your life. When people do that, the positive impact is felt through the millennia. Even St. Joseph, a man for whom we have no spoken words, has impacted the world in countless miraculous ways because he cared for and protected the Christ Child and His Mother.

The Saints can do what they do because they were in service to God and that means that graces flowed into their souls, giving them the power of the Divine. 

Now, some will argue that there are bad Christians out there. Yes, there are bad Christians who have done very bad things. But, that is because they have not followed the teachings of Christianity. Christianity didn’t make them bad, their fallen nature did and their rejection of Christ’s teachings and the teachings of His Church. 

To be sure, I'm glad that there are "good" atheists out there that strive to live by the moral teachings of the Natural Law. I'd rather them do that than be like the atheists Mao, Pol Pot, or Karl Marx. It's not as if I want to hoard grace and not let the atheists have any. I do want them to have grace; they just aren't open to it...until they are...which is where we see conversions and even some atheists becoming Saints.

When you get a person who is obedient and wants to serve God by loving others through living out the virtues, you get Saints. The Saints are the most impressive people the world has ever known. Why? Because they have the Divine Life in them. We are all called to be Saints, not just "good people."

Live the Faith boldly and travel well.