The Courage to Think For Yourself, Philosophy/Religion: The Atheist Delusion. A Reply to Richard Dawkins www.dpl21.com

The Courage to Think For Yourself, philosophy/religion: The Atheist Delusion. www.dpl21.com:        Richard Dawkins wrote a book  under the title “The God Delusion.”  The book  is a sort of  atheistic manifesto. From the very be...

The Atheist Delusion. www.dpl21.com

       Richard Dawkins wrote a book  under the title “The God Delusion.”  The book  is a sort of  atheistic manifesto. From the very beginning, the author  attacks  the  God of the Bible, he uses very forceful   words:  God is  a capricious tyrant , vicious and revengeful,  blood thirsty , false  figment of the human mind .For Dawkins  religion is the source of all  evils in human history, provoking persecutions , religious wars hatred and  irrationality  in human life.  Religion as a prejudice should be a eradicated as soon as possible,  and in his view,  science will replace  religious obscurantism. By science  Dawkins means primarily  evolution  of the whole cosmos and also  of  all forms of life  which produce also human beings. The only reality  one must assume is matter in movement  and nothing else everything  is explained by  matter in the processes of evolution. One must ask where  is the source  of such  views. The first thing to notice is  that  according to Dawkins science is making believing in God   completely obsolete and an obstacle to  enlightened  and free atheistic mode  of living. This conviction ultimately is based  on naturalism and materialism. Nothing immaterial or spiritual  has a right to exist.

             Actually  it is simply false  to believe  that contemporary science  is  hostile to religion.

1.   The evidence from cosmology:  the big bang  accepted by all physicists  spells the origin of the universe , therefore  the cosmos is not eternal . Time and space all begin in the big blast of the beginning . Gradually  the universe developed  life, consciousness, self- awareness, intellect, all  characteristics  of human beings. 

2.   The evidence from physics: the cosmos  has been discovered as  precisely tuned for the future appearance of life and finally humans.  Even  the smallest changes in the balance of cosmic forces would make  appearance of life  and of course man absolutely impossible . Did the world know that we are coming ?

3.   The evidence from astronomy:  the privileged planet. Practically  innumerable  conditions  conspired   to  the production of our globe and it’s adaptation to the development  of life,  consciousness , knowledge , science  etc.

4.    The  evidence  from biochemistry : the complex molecular machine, a living organism.

5.   The evidence  from biological  information, DNA , RNA , the double helix and the origin of life.

6.   The evidence from consciousness: the mystery of the human mind .

7.   None of those points above , although scientifically verifiable, can be explained as  reasons for  modern atheism. Therefore the claim  that science  replaces  religious belief  is false. That means  a pure false  statement without  any reasonable justification. Science as such  is not only not inimical  to religion  but really  does not  make any  valid statement against religion, but, if it follows it’s own scientific methods it has nothing to say about the question of God’s existence. Why? Because  the object  of scientific inquiry is  the natural universe and it’s  orderly laws. Therefore an honest scientific position to the question of  religion is neutral. 

The position of atheism  is  based on false  understanding of the ability  and powers of the human mind  which is capable of philosophic  proves  for God’s existence. It  develops  in the philosophy of being , the arguments  from the First Cause, the Unmoved Mover , the Cosmic Intelligence and  the creator  of finite and limited beings .Creation  here means  giving existence  to entities which by themselves have no existence . They are  called into being, by the infinite power of the Omnipotent Creator.

    Atheism is based on the narrowly understood  theory of biological evolution necessarily distorts  the understanding of the nature of man. What is really man for an atheist?

(a) an accidental  conglomerate  of subatomic particles with a name ?

(b) A bundle of perceptions only (David Hume?)

(c) Is man a sophisticated computer ?

(d) Is man a product  of  chaotic forces of nature?

None of the above can be justified  and therefore atheism abolishes completely  the human being as human reducing him/her to  a speck of  self-aware dust of matter. Man therefore is reduced  to a thing  and he/she is no more a person.  Only humans  use their minds  to become  scientists, philosophers, teachers etc. Only humans  distinguish between heroes and villains. Only human beings distinguish those who have mental health and those who suffer mental disease or other disabilities. Only  within human societies do  we find  schools and libraries, hospitals and churches, prisons and cemeteries etc. Most importantly the human   drive to know  extends towards God,  towards  the Absolute.

          Atheism therefore does not acknowledge  the real nature of man at all. A man is obviously a person   and different from other forms of life  because he/she  has a spiritual center the  self,  which cannot be  reduced only to changes of matter. Self- awareness  , self-hood  and the knowledge of it’s own self-hood  characterizes man. Humans have  awareness  of  moral good and evil  and are  responsible in their  conscious acts  of choice between the two  for their moral growth or  decline. Human beings are  seekers for truth , and meaning of life and  their destiny  for eternity.  

If moral values  are  deprived  of any Divine authority  then they are man made , that is,  the very concept of good and evil , is replaced by words like progressive, creative, useful and such . Then  people  who are in some way considered  undesirable , of  different race , older people  can be considered  useless  by those who are in power  at the time. In such situation  the  dark side of human nature  and the sadistic side are free to develop and become  fashionable ideologies .  Atheism therefore  is convenient for all kind of persecutions,  and even  elimination of innocent people by the millions.  Atheism  cancels any  deeper meaning of human existence and therefore  leads to  despair as it is visible  in the writings of such existential thinkers like Jean Paul Sartre, Frederick Nietzsche, Albert Camus  and many others of the same bend of mind. The non-existence of God is simply  asserted by atheists, but by no means  in any  logical sense  proven. That is why  atheism is a delusion. Any questions, contact me at leszekfigurski14.@mail.com

Suggested Readings:

Adler, Mortimer, The Difference of Man and Difference  It Makes. (New York: Fordham University, 1993) or any edition

Gilson, Etienne, The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. (Indiana: University of Notre Dames Press , 1956) or any edition

Is Atheism A Religion? visit our page www.dpl21.com

Is Atheism a Religion?

        There is spreading conviction that  atheism is          a kind of religion. The question is by no means trivial and worth examining  whether there is any sense  in calling atheism a religion. An analysis  of  atheism and then  an analysis of religion  will provide a  reasonable answer to the question .

What is Atheism?

Atheism is a belief that  no  transcendent  Divine  reality of any kind  exists. All that exists is mater in movement  which is responsible for  the whole of knowable  reality. Atheists claim that existence of any kind of  god or  gods cannot be in any way  justified by experience or knowledge  and therefore is  unnecessary deviation of human interest. Some atheists add  that religion is not only  obsolete historically but it is  a positive source of evil because  in the name of god  persecutions  inquisitions , burning people  on stakes or even sacrificing  children to the divinity  are historical facts.  Believing in God  is therefore  something mankind has to leave behind. The real future of humanity  is guaranteed  by steady progress of science , technology and the conquest  of  cosmos.

What is Religion?

Religion is  a belief that  besides the visible universe  and it’s multiple forms of development  there exists  the real  fundamental , transcendent source and creator of  all  finite beings  and  the existence of this creator  explains  the fundamental questions  of the human mind: Why is there  a universe at all? Why not nothing rather than being?  Who or what  is man? What should man believe, what can he/she know, what should he do with his existence and what is his final destiny. The essence of religion is  it’s power  to answer  the questions  not only    of time but also of eternity. All genuine religion  has  definite answers to  what happens  after  physical death.  The crucial point  in religion is not only  that there must be  some  First Cause , First Mover, and  a Cosmic Mind  but most importantly  that there exists a Personal God and  a God  who  in some form or other  revealed  Himself and His intentions to humans . This is why the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity are  deserving the name religion. Of course  religion  make sense  only if  God really exists otherwise it is something  superfluous and  obstacle to the  progress  of  scientifically growing human  family,

                     From the above it is obvious  that atheism cannot be  in any rational way called religion of any kind. Why?. Because  it is a pure negation of any  personal transcendent  creator or redeemer . Nobody within his/her senses would pray to or worship  subatomic particles , the force of gravity or  the expanding  universe.

          However  human beings  fabricate  their own  idols that is  pseudo  gods  like progress, patriotism, the reign of , superior race  etc. For those idols millions upon millions of people die throughout history . There were  self proclaimed  gods, the Roman Caesars, The Japanese Emperor , father Stalin, the great leader Hitler who promised thousand years  of German domination of the world. Such ideologies  perhaps  could be  in a very  broad sense called religious  , since they demand  again and again a holocaust of millions of human lives. Religion  contains a living relationship between God and humans and in this relationship the position of humans  is creature-hood . Since  all humans are creatures  they    expect some sort of salvation from the   prison of  time , space  suffering  and death. For example  Christianity  offers  to the believer salvation into eternal life  offered freely  by  God  who became human and  through His salvific actions opened  the perspective and promise of eternal life  which  is  the  complete fulfilment of human  desires  of happiness.

          Atheism  is  the product of  a theory of knowledge  which limits  the capacity of the human mind  only to  the visible measurable and  somehow  discoverable by senses . This limitation of human knowing  must necessarily lead to  some form of skepticism and materialism. Therefore atheism by no means  can be called religion.

          

          Atheism does not answer any of the fundamental questions mentioned above. The claim  that science makes God obsolete  has no  scientific  or philosophical   justification. The  crucial question here  is  whether God exists or not because one part of the question can be true . If God exists then any  denial of His existence is  fatal to the meaning of human life and also to the very nature of  human beings. Atheism therefore has  an obligation to justify it’s position not only from scientific view point but also from the point of men’s existential situation. If all human values and all reality  is necessarily vanishing into the past  without any hope for eternity then of course   Sartre is right life  and human existence is meaningless and absurd. To come however to such conclusion one has to disregard the nature of the human mind and  it’s arguments on the philosophical and revelational level  for God’s existence.