Atheists' Objections to Evidence for God's Existence, Part 2

In this second article in a series, I continue to consider the objections atheists offer to the idea that there is evidence for God’s existence.

Faith in God is claimed by atheists to be the holding on to ignorant, childish or even vulgar superstitions. In his December 12, 2014 Salon.com article, “Religion’s smart people problem: The shaky intellectual foundations of absolute faith,” author John G. Messerly points out that really smart people rarely believe in God. Messerly claims that only 14% of professional philosophers and an even smaller 7% of scientists believe in God, though he fails to address the question of why he regards such people as smarter than others, or if intelligence correlates with common sense. Indeed, in her three-part series for the Skeptic website, “Why Smart Doesn’t Guarantee Rational” (July, 2015), Barbara Drescher, professor of quantitative and cognitive psychology, writes, “It (i.e.: intelligence) is an important component of rational thought, too. But it is not the same thing as rationality and, without rationality we don’t make the kinds of choices that solve real problems.” Intelligence isn’t the same as rationality. To be sure, really smart people can do really stupid things and come to really stupid conclusions.

Nevertheless, Messerly concludes that there are simply no reasons to believe in God, and those who do, do so without evidence. Apparently, simply stating this makes it so, since Messerly never bothers to address the evidence believers present for God’s existence. Messerly writes, “Religion may help us in the way that whisky helps a drunk, but we don’t want to go through life drunk. If religious beliefs are just vulgar superstitions, then we are basing our lives on delusions, and who would want to do that? Why is all this important?,” Messerly asks, eager to explain why it’s necessary that humanity abandon faith in God. “Because human beings need their childhood to end;” he answers, “they need to face life with all its bleakness and beauty, its lust and its love, its war and its peace. They need to make the world better. No one else will.” Here, I’m forced to wonder in what world Messerly resides. To suggest that religious believers, especially those of the Judeo-Christian tradition, fail to face the world as it is, or have failed to contribute to making it better, is a remarkably obtuse statement, considering the history of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It may be useful for atheists to redact history to the point where everything the Judeo-Christian tradition contributed over the course of the centuries was torture, violence, intolerance and terror, but the historical record as it stands won’t allow this conclusion. Starting with an objective moral code that emphasizes both the intrinsic dignity of the person and the social nature of human life, Jews and Christians have introduced hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, and charities that serve the poor, as well as taken the lead in abolishing the horrors of the coliseum, slavery, illiteracy, etc… But, all of this and so much more is dismissed out of hand, or twisted in a way that they represent only another opportunity for religion to oppress the masses.

Another common strategy for atheists arguing the horrors of faith is to reduce all religions to the common denominator of belief in God or gods. Whether one is a member of the Judeo-Christian tradition, or a believer in Zeus and the gods of Olympus, makes no matter. One is simply as ridiculous as the other. Also, whether a religious tradition has contributed much to the advancement of human progress and education, or employs its doctrines and mores to oppress certain members of society depending on creed, gender, social status, etc. …, matters not. All religions are equally morally corrupt and the propagandists of moral horrors and human backwardness. Finally, whether one’s religious tradition has made historical gains in moral refinement and adaptation, or contributed to the moral progress of the human community, matters not. All religions are corrupt and bear the responsibility for every immoral act ever committed by any member of any era. In fact, the supposed moral progress religion has contributed to society (the elevation of individual rights, the Civil Rights movement, labor reform, etc …) can’t legitimately be credited to religion at all, but is the result of humanity maturing away from faith and toward a more humanistic philosophy. This is all rubbish, of course, but it’s useful rubbish for those whose agenda is to discredit all people of faith, regardless of their tradition and the contributions of their tradition. All religion is corrupt, and all religions equally so. All people of faith are delusional and must be encouraged to “leave their childhood” and abandon such “vulgar superstitions.”

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.