Monthly Archive for July, 2007

How does "the universe exists" imply Christianity?

C. S. Lewis wrote, in 1945:

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

Now, I perfectly understand that, if natural science isn’t among your interests, then the fact that the world around you seems so complex, sometimes so beautiful, and “just made for us”, the fact that there is both a) a universe, and b) life, can be interpreted as evidence of a creator deity. As I said, this is understandable.

What isn’t understandable is to see all that as proof of Christianity. Why not Islam? Judaism? Hinduism? Native American creation myths? How on earth does the fact that the universe exists become evidence that, for instance, there was a Jew called Jesus about 2000 years ago who was the son of the Old Testament god and “died for our sins”? How does one follow the other?

Lewis is guilty of the same error as Pascal when the latter invented his famous wager: “it’s Christianity or nothing”. It’s a pity when you can’t see further than the limits of your own education and traditions…

My attempt at Hemant’s "Short and Sweet" questions

Hemant of Friendly Atheist, recently, challenged atheists to come up with very short answers to a number of common theist questions. A couple of bloggers have already answered them on their blogs, and now it’s my turn. :) I’m trying not to be influenced by other answers I’ve read.

I think this is an interesting project, as there are already several atheist FAQs (including my own, still unfinished), but those usually have longer answers. Having to answer a tough question in a line or two is a nice challenge. :)

Without further ado…

Why do you not believe in God?

For exactly the same reason that you don’t believe in every other god than yours.

Where do your morals come from?

Empathy, mostly. And reason, and a sense of fairness and justice.

What is the meaning of life?

I could tell you mine, but I can’t tell you yours, or anybody else’s. What, you believe it should be dictated to us by some outside source? ;)

Is atheism a religion?

No. Incidentally, that question implies that having a religion is something universal, even if it’s “atheism”. That is wrong; it’s like saying everyone has a car, even if yours is “feet”.

If you don’t pray, what do you do during troubling times?

Depends on the kind of trouble. If I can do something about it, I do it. If not, I deal with it in many different ways, which tend to include friends, family, getting slightly drunk, and listening to heavy metal music. Not all at the same time, of course. :)

Should atheists be trying to convince others to stop believing in God?

Yes, in the same way we’d try to convince an alcoholic or drug addict to do something about their addiction.

Weren’t some of the worst atrocities in the 20th century committed by atheists?

Hitler and Stalin had moustaches. So, having a moustache makes you a mass murderer! What, you’re saying that their moustaches didn’t inspire their actions? Neither did Stalin’s atheism (Hitler was a Catholic). The Inquisition, on the other hand, was caused by what, exactly…?

How could billions of people be wrong when it comes to belief in God?

See: flat earth, geocentrism, demonic posession as an explanation for diseases, slavery, and many other times when billions of people were wrong.

Why does the universe exist?

“Why” is the wrong question. “How” would be better. How, exactly? I don’t know, it’s not my field of expertise, sorry. But I don’t take the easy way out and say “Goddidit.”

How did life originate?

Again, I’m not a biologist, but I don’t see the need for a supernatural cause there.

Is all religion harmful?

Yes, because even the most “harmless” ones teach you to replace critical thinking and skepticism with wishful thinking.

What’s so bad about religious moderates?

They believe that any religious creed is above criticism, simply because it is a religious creed. So, they protect extremists, and prevent rational discussion of religion.

Is there anything redeeming about religion?

People may feel better when, after a catastrophe, they somehow still feel that “someone above cares”. But that’s wishful thinking again… and it often keeps them from actually doing something about it. So, no.

What if you’re wrong about God (and He does exist)?

Which one? And what if you believe in the wrong one? Anyway, I believe a good god would prefer a decent unbeliever to a vicious believer… and, as for an evil god, only a coward would ever serve him.

Shouldn’t all religious beliefs be respected?

No. Something is either true, or it isn’t. Why such a fear of reality?

Are atheists smarter than theists?

Technically, no, but statistically they probably are. For instance, the percentage of atheists among scientists is much greater than among the general populace.

How do you deal with the historical Jesus if you don’t believe in his divinity?

If he existed — which isn’t certain — I’m almost sure that it was Paul, not Jesus, who invented the “he died for your sins; accept him as your savior and be saved” thing. In other words: the information we have about the historical Jesus is far from reliable.

Would the world be better off without any religion?

Oh, yes. Without religion in the middle ages, we would be at Star Trek-like levels today — not just in terms of technology, but of society. Religion is the thing that’s holding humanity back the most, and always has been.

What happens when we die?

It’s over for us, but we can leave memories and deeds, and can have made the world a better place for our children and their children.

Now, I’d add a few ones:

Isn’t atheism just hatred of God?

Do you hate Thor? Or just don’t believe he exists or ever existed? Well, it’s the same thing here.

How can you be sure God doesn’t exist, if you’re not all-knowing?

I’m as much sure God doesn’t exist as I am about unicorns or werewolves, and for the same reason: there’s exactly zero evidence for all of them.

Fundamentalists to "militant" atheists… and agnostics

Readers of Planet Atheism have probably seen this several times today:

Fundamentalists: believe 2+2 =5 because It Is Written. Somewhere. They have a lot of trouble on their tax returns.

“Moderate” believers: live their lives on the basis that 2+2=4. but go regularly to church to be told that 2+2 once made 5, or will one day make 5, or in a very real and spiritual sense should make 5.

“Moderate” atheists: know that 2+2 =4 but think it impolite to say so too loudly as people who think 2+2=5 might be offended.

“Militant” atheists: “Oh for pity’s sake. HERE. Two pebbles. Two more pebbles. FOUR pebbles. What is WRONG with you people?”

And, of course, it’s absolutely correct.

But I’d add another one in the middle:

Agnostics: 2+2 may be 4, or may be 5. Yes, it LOOKS like it’s 4, but I don’t have perfect knowledge, and I want to keep an open mind. Who’s to say the religionists aren’t correct? Who am I to know?

Yes, as long time readers of WotM are probably aware of, I really don’t like agnostics. Sorry if you’re one, but, to me, agnosticism is pure intellectual cowardice.

A fundamentalist theist believes “truth” is separate from reality, and, if they conflict, then reality is wrong. An atheist believes reality IS truth. An agnostic, on the other hand, believes reality is unknowable, and therefore evades the responsibility of trying to understand it. Anything goes. Reality is fluid, ever-changing, unpredictable. We can never truly know anything for certain, since everything we know, every law we take as true, may change tomorrow.

An agnostic — much like a New Age mystic — distorts the concept of “open mindedness” to an absurd level, where there are no laws, no rules, no hard facts, no reality — at least none that can be ever understood. To an agnostic, everything is possible, so nothing is ever certain. Taken to the extreme, nothing is ever even more likely than anything else.

Sorry, but, to me, this is no more rational than believing in an invisible bearded man in the sky, invented by primitive Bronze Age nomads, who, somehow, hates all the same people you do.

Gullibility Test

Hermann Klinke emailed me recently about this Gullibility Test. It’s relatively short, and may be educating in some areas.

I got a “91% free thinker” result, which is quite good, but then again I’ve always been a little paranoid, and it helps on this. :) The best part of the test, IMO, is the results page, which explains each of the questions (and the truth about them) in more detail, with links to more info about each. While I’m not 100% sure that all their explanations / data are absolutely correct (I’m paranoid / skeptical here, too…), most of them should be.

A suggested reply to "America is a Christian nation"

Years ago, it was also a “slavery nation”. Your point…?

(inspired by vjack’s post, and a little of Peter David)




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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Portugal