Thursday, June 26, 2014
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
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
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.
Monday, June 9, 2014
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...
Friday, June 6, 2014
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Suggested Readings
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