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.

        

The Courage to Think For Yourself, philosophy/religion: Existence of God and the Meaning of Human Life. ww...

The Courage to Think For Yourself, philosophy/religion: Existence of God and the Meaning of Human Life. ww...: Generally speaking the question would be whether God is real or is it some sort of projection of   the human mind. Did God make us or d...

Existence of God and the Meaning of Human Life. www.DPL21.com

Generally speaking the question would be whether God is real or is it some sort of projection of  the human mind. Did God make us or did we make God? . There are many  who negate  God’s existence and declare themselves to be atheists  and not only that  but they believe  that faith in God is simply a sort of mental  retardation,  a kind of a  belief  perhaps accepted in the past by many cultures through many centuries, but in itself  something   deep down irrational.  Within the context of our modern times  it may cause some sort of surprise why talk about such a question at all. Don’t we know it is all over, in other words, did not   science prove that God does not exist? . How about evolution  and so on. Is it really important to ask such a question?.  Of course, for other forms of life on this globe,  such a question does not even come into  existence , but with man it does. Man is blessed or cursed with the ability the inner desire to ask questions. It’s obvious for anyone who observes little children  to see that. A  child  three  or four years old  always asks  questions:  why ?, why this?, why that?, why should I?  and so on why, why….. why. This is the  awakening of the mind in the child. According to Aristotle, all man by  nature want to know. Human beings feel that   there is something lacking in them. They are reaching out towards understanding , explanation, knowledge . Every day we ask many questions which are  relatively unimportant. They are not  really touching very essential aspects of human existence. However when  things happen all of a sudden  such as for example  death of someone who is very close to you,  your parent, your husband, your lover, your friend,  you experience some sort of   emptiness. There was a presence, a warm human living meaningful presence ,  and now it’s   gone. Also other crisis happening in life  may cause this  jolt  to some sort of deeper search and asking.  Terminal sickness: when you get a verdict: “Well, after all tests done - the doctor will tell you - well, you have probably a month or  maximum three  months to live.”

       The famous  story  written by  Leo Tolstoy, The Death Of Ivan Ilyich,  portrays a man who is living a normal life,  whatever normal may mean and this normal naturally differs with different people in different times, different cultures and so on. But Ivan Ilyich is a  happy, important  judge, very satisfied     with himself and then  some strange thing happened to him, he gets sick and no one, not even doctors  know what is wrong with him. The great judge  is now left with his loneliness. He is rejected  and  barely tolerated even by his wife and daughter.  The first time in his life he asks  the question :

 What  is going on with me?

What will happen when I die?

 This is a moment of deep reflection. The fact  is that our lives  are  fragile. We are for a short time  on this globe. We are thrown into existence as  the existentialists  like to  say and before we know we get old and  face the same thing; the end of  life.  As we  already said one may  live some years and  never  honestly  face such   questions,  but somehow one is   interested  in the meaning of   existence.

 

Is  there  any meaning?

What is this meaning ?

How come I am here?

Where am I going?

Is life worth living at all?

 

So the meaning of life is the central question of any serious  search for truth and there can be many  answers. The meaning of life is some sort of puzzle. Life  is a maze: you are walking in different small corridors of time and space, but you really don’t know which corridor is leading somewhere, or are you simply walking around and moving nowhere.

Does life  lead anywhere?

          Another answer to the question is that  life is  a game. Being a game, life forces one to stick to some rules and simply enjoy the game for the sake of playing.

Some say   that life is an adventure,  full of surprises, some tragic and some not so tragic. It  is and should be treated as an adventure only. Others  would say that  life is learning experience, but life is short, my learning is interrupted to soon  by death.

For religious people life is a blessing , a  free gift   given by  the Creator, and therefore life must be lived in the presence of the Divine, a personal development towards God in love.

 There are also pessimistic answers. For Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre and  many others life is uninteresting adventure, a sort of accident  which somehow happens  to you, but  senseless and absurd. Albert Camus in " Myth of Sisyphus" presents life as a constant senseless repetitious effort leading ultimately nowhere at all.  Sisyphus was punished by the gods to push a rock to the top of a mountain, but when the rock was already  at the top it  was falling down again and again and Sisyphus  had to push it up again and again. His effort was completely  useless. According to Camus this is  the image of human life.

           Some philosophies of life  for example Buddhism  present   life as suffering and the purpose of life is  getting rid of this suffering. 

           Other answers are also very popular. Many  would say that the meaning of  life  are my children, my family, my career,  making money, getting rich or having as much pleasure as possible, being famous, having powers over  others… The majority live by such standards. Anyone who has even some knowledge of history, knows very well how powerful  is the desire for power. All  the great Caesars of Rome, the conquerors like  Alexander the Great , Napoleon,  Hitler,  Stalin and so many others hungry  for power gradually turned into tyrants  and  murdered millions upon millions of people.

           The search for meaning remains  a perennial concern  central to human existence.  Man lives a short time, his knowledge is extremely limited , his  time runs out  fast and he/she  disappears from the scene. Man is aware of his/her mortality and  the shortness of life  makes him/her ask the question about eternity.  Time carries man towards eternity waiting for everyone. Martin Heidegger defines man very simply: “…being unto to death.”          

In  Buddhist writings  human life is  compared to a candle. The flame symbolizes life, but if  it is blown  out,  the flame is gone, nothing remains. 

An atheist, or deterministic materialist, or universal evolutionist, a skeptic or a  pantheist must accept this  blowing out of the little flame of the human candle: nothingness  for all eternity.  There is no flicker of life anymore. 

The question of God’s existence appears here in all sharpness: on one hand  there must be some meaning in this life: God waiting for humans after physical death. On the other hand  death and complete nothingness.   In the context of God’s existence in theistic religions like Judaism, Christianity, Islam  God is the first source of all reality which is not Him.  God wanted humans to exist and He has an  eternal purpose towards which everyone should make his/her efforts. After death the body will be buried or burnet,  but  the spiritual element in man “ the inner me” shall enter  eternal life. This is the very  center of the teaching of Christ: that every man and every woman  once born is destined to eternal life. Therefore it is a message of absolute optimism because the gift of eternal life is freely given, nobody can deserve it. Every life has  some meaning for eternity. 

  The other belief   is negative. There is no God, there is no spirit, there is nothing but matter in movement . Whatever we value in this life, whatever we love here, whatever is important for us , whatever happens to us is some manifestation of matter only.  

            For materialists, nihilists and  atheists, all reality is nothing else but  movement of the subatomic particles of matter, gradually growing into complexity,   producing at a point some forms of life, then   producing more  complex organisms and in  the process of evolution somehow man appeared. In this  context a human being  is nothing  but somewhat  higher developed primate and shall  pass away. Why? because all things are matter in movement and this movement here means transition into nothingness. The highest raptures of love or pleasures, the highest joy of discovery of a scientists, all  prayers of believers, all the great monuments of  “the great  people”  are nothing  but matter in movement.  If this is true   what is the meaning of  being a bundle of   small parts of  matter in movement?.  According to atheism  those facts have to be accepted in the brief moments of life  here on earth persons  somehow have to cope and make the” best” of it. 

            Every day  thousands  of people around the globe die. Every second , every minute , every hour there is   constant dying all over. After Albert  Einstein, Max Planck, Erwin Schrodinger, Stephen Hawking and others,  we know that in modern physics the question what really is  matter is  by no means and easy question, because the subatomic particles behave in a very mysterious way sometimes as waves, sometimes as particles. That there was a beginning in physical terms of the world (big bang) is a fact known today.  So matter  is not eternal , and there is no eternal universe, but  all is in the process of transition. Today we are alive tomorrow we are gone and other generations after us shall be thrown into existence. They will go through the same  rigmarole and  disappear. Others will come  and so on   until there will be the end of the universe  in  thermal death final  entropy of all energies.

           Meantime we are living in an expanding universe.  
                 
            Does God exist?, or  are we completely   alone moving into nothingness?

            The awareness of  eternity, the necessity of dying are meaningful if God exists. For a believer  this meaning will never pass away because  life is meaningful for eternity. The only nly thing for the   theist or a believer is to know  more and more about the Source of all reality, the Divine .   On the other hand, for the atheist  the question is  also   urgent . Since for him/her  there is no God he/she must somehow fabricate  manmade meaning . Next in the context of morality , in the dimension of good and evil and moral responsibility  again the problem of God’s existence becomes of central importance.

We cannot impose our beliefs  on others, but we are obligated to  analyze and to see what  evidence there may be  one  side or  the other.

   We must have the courage to  objectively analyze the problem, and accept only strict evidence.  We must be  logical  and follow wherever  the argument leads. Therefore this kind of thinking and analysis requires in anyone who tries it to have  the courage to think for him/herself.  Courage , why?.  Does thinking require courage? Yes it does  if you really follow  honestly and seriously the question.  The answer to the question does God exist or not is  the most important  for human life. And that is why it requires  courage. It may lead to  a conclusion which will be very unpleasant and even  terrifying , to a conclusion, which one never expected  to be so decisive  molding the whole person and  existence , the  whole life. There is no other way. There is one life only and therefore each person must do the search alone or it will never be done.  

     Leszek Figurski                                                              
                                                                                                           Suggested Readings

Choron, Jacques,  DEATH OF MODERN MAN,  (A brilliant investigation of man's fear of death and his search for purpose and meaning in life) Collier Books, New York:1964

F.C. Copleston,  AQUINAS, Penguin Books, London, England: 1955

Collins, Francis, THE LANGUAGE OF GOD, ( Scientist presents evidence for belief) Free Press,, A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. ,New York:10020