Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Atheists...Agnostics In Denial?



Atheism, to me, when you wade through all of it's complexities, really can be boiled down to one simple question: "Why is God so evil?"

First let's break down what "Atheism" technically means (Merriam-Webster Dictionary):
a :  a disbelief in the existence of deity

b :  the doctrine that there is no deity


Atheism, as diametrically opposed as it is from Theism, shares an ironic common-bond.
Neither of the two can, or will ever in the future be able to, 100% conclusively prove their theory or belief through the scientific means that the "educated world" would deem necessary to claim objective fact.

There are many staunch Atheists in this world, and Atheism has existed since as far back as we have records (or even further depending on whether you are Atheist or Theist).


I can understand, to a degree, the people that don't believe in a deity, simply because they've never put much thought to it. But then I wouldn't really consider them to be Atheist, as they have never really sought out an answer for themselves, and so could possibly be just as easily swayed either direction.
Instead, even if these people would categorize themselves as "Atheist", I would suggest that they are really instead "Agnostic": a:  a person who does not have a definite belief about whether God exists or not

I will instead focus on the staunch Atheists- the ones who believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no God, and that we are here by chance, and completely on our own.

I have myself grappled many times in my life with my understanding of the character of God- wondering whether God was a God of anger, spite, punishment, love or just plain indifference.
But I have always felt it extremely difficult to believe that "a god" doesn't exist period (full stop).
The older I get, the more I experience, and the more humanity gets a handle on the sheer complexity of life and our universe- the more difficult it becomes for me to consider it all coming from nothingness.

And there is really only 1 reason (that I can see) why someone would dedicate their whole life to proving that there is no God- and that is because they can't stand the thought of a God existing that would/could allow all of the pain/suffering/sickness and violence in this world to happen.
But the problem is in the person's perception of God, not in God Himself.

First of all, allow me to make a point.
For arguments' sake, let's just borrow a quote from Richard Dawkins, a devout and militant Atheist, to paint a picture of why an Atheist wouldn't want to believe in the existence of a deity:
“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

Alright...if God really were that way, then I could fully understand why Richard Dawkins wouldn't want to have anything to do with Him. In fact I would be 100% in agreement with his stance.
However, His perception of God is completely flawed, based off of His lack of understanding of the Biblical text. Atheism can refer to any deity, not just that of the Biblical God- but being that the Bible is one of the most fought over books in the world (with Atheists and religions alike), it is fitting that it be used for this example.
If you are 100% Atheist however, then God's character really shouldn't even come in to play. I will explain:
I think that most people that you would encounter would agree that Adolf Hitler was a very evil, sadistic, megalomaniacal, genocidal etc.. man- yet with that knowledge, just wishing that he never existed would never change the very real fact that he did.

You can't just choose to believe that someone or something didn't exist, simply off the basis that you don't like the idea of them having existed. You have to accept that Hitler existed just as equally as you would accept that he was an evil mass-murderer.

Allow me to borrow another quote, but this time from C.S. Lewis, a once devout Atheist who became a Christian: "I was at that time living like many atheists; in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with him for creating a world. Why should creatures have the burden of existence forced on them without their consent?"

If an Atheist asks you why you believe that God exists, of course feel free to provide the answer (the best you know how)- but why not also respond with asking them what would make them believe that God doesn't exist.

I can understand why people would question the character of God, and I can understand how people could grapple with the existence of a God who doesn't fit their ideal character- but I can't understand how it would be possible to just completely write off the possibility of the existence of a deity without ulterior motives behind it.

It's interesting to note that even Richard Dawkins, being one of the world's most widely known and self described militant Atheists has, as of recently admitted that he is instead Agnostic. He admits that he can't prove that God doesn't exist, but yet he does say: "I certainly don't believe in a God who answers prayers, forgives sins, listens to misfortunes, cares about your sins, cares about your sex life, makes you survive death, performs miracles - that is most certainly a God I don't believe in. Einstein's God, which simply means the laws of nature which are so deeply mysterious that they inspire a feeling of reverence - I believe in that, but I wouldn't call it God."

To be fair, he did also say: 'On a scale of seven, where one means I know he exists, and seven I know he doesn't, I call myself a six.'

So for him it doesn't come down to a matter of God not existing- but merely him "Dawkins" wishing that God didn't exist based off of his misconception of what God's character would be if He did.

I didn't write this to answer the question of how I believe that God exists. I didn't even write this to defend God's Character (although I would love to discuss both of those matters with anyone who would be willing and open).
I do however wish to break down that wall of misunderstanding with Atheists so that it will be possible to deal with the root of the problem.
If you ask the right question, you have a much higher chance of finding the right answer.











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