The Skeptical Christian

Since my previous blog entry did not refer to any books in particular, perhaps, it should have been posted in my other more general blog Where the Sidewalks End. However, the content was inspired some years ago by an issue of Skeptic Magazine with the title "The God Question," published sometime in the 1990s. At least, the editors of Skeptic Magazine approached the topic as a "question." Nevertheless, the same arguments come out every few years in bestsellers. Most recently, one could look at Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion or Christopher Hitchens's God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. For a punchy four-part critique of Hitchens see biblical scholar J. Edmund Anderson's blog Resurrected Orthodoxy. As Dr. Anderson suggests, one needs only a little knowledge of church history and biblical scholarship to find that the portrait of religion that the Dawkins and Hitchens paint is cartoonish.

Now, I can empathize with the Dawkins and Hitchens of the world. In my youth and much to the frustration of my parents, I enjoyed inviting Latter Day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses into our home to debate. The JWs were especially eager to engage me in debates concerning evolution and creation and returned for more. Further, I seemed to have an innate animosity toward organized religion. It seems that I imbibed the messages of popular Canadian culture at a young age.

To my surprise and out of the ordinary course of things, I was born-again in my first year of University. The ordinary course of things is that Christians lose their faith in college when they are confronted with "hard questions" that challenge their received tradition. On the other hand, I was quickly disillusioned of my notion that the University was a higher place of learning. In my orientation and first week of classes, I discovered that my fellow students were not concerned with "hard questions" but hard liquor.

Further, I discovered that my chosen field of Psychology was the wrong discipline to develop what I saw as a fundamental question with respect to understanding human beings. "Is there a spirit realm, do gods exist or do most human beings suffer from a delusion?" At the time, this hypothesis was open ended. Further, I wondered, if there are no gods, then has belief in a spirit realm served some positive evolutionary function? These questions still seem quite simple to me and relevant to Psychology but Psychology being a rather "young" science is trying very hard to play with the big boys like the physicists and biologists. So, the human being is reduced to numbers. Methodology is reduced to quantifiable questionnaires rather than probing questions.

While I learned some fascinating information about human development and sense perception (N.B. both these topics could fall under biology), I found that the films I viewed in my film courses and the novels I read in my literature course offered more insight into human nature than my psychology textbooks. Further, I noticed that the more I read the Bible (that backward, primitive book full of archaic rules and bizarre tales), the better I understood the literature I was reading. Whether it was Franz Kafka, Margaret Atwood or Stephen King, biblical literacy was not a hinderance to my intellectual life but an advantage. Further, I discovered that the biblical authors were not afraid to ask the "hard questions" about human existence and even encouraged the moderate consumption of hard liquor. So, once again out of the ordinary course of things, my faith in Christ led me to enjoy the occasional beer with my fellow students.

If only Qohelet had thought to write Ecclesiastes in the form of a survey. On a scale of one to ten (one being gathering stones and ten being scattering stones) which best describes your current state. Do the same with the following pairs: loving:hating, living:dying, silent:speaking. . . Instead, what did he write?

"A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is mist, a chasing after the wind." Ecclesiastes 2:24-26

Do Atheists Form Communes?

I believe it is safe to say that materialists tend to accept the basic claims of Evolutionary Theory. Are there any who don't? Is it possible to be an atheist and reject evolutionary theory? Further, I think many of us are familiar with the basic claim that a world shed of archaic, primitive and backward belief in a spirit realm would be a better place. The planet earth would be more peaceful because religion and violence are irrevocably linked. Our collective health will improve because we won't waste our time on prayer and our money on tithing. Instead, we can spend our money and energy on finding cures through scientific research.

Let us, for the sake of argument, grant the basic assumption that there is no spirit realm. There is no god. There are no gods, angels or demons. Let us also grant the basic claims of Evolutionary Theory.

Okay, now I am for this blog entry an atheist who also accepts the basic claims of theory of evolution. Wow! I feel better already. Anyway, do I now promote my new world view with as much vigor as those religious types? Will the truth set the world free? Hold on a moment.

Given that human beings evolved, why is it that homo religious outnumbers homo atheist? Is there some evolutionary benefit to believing in a spirit realm? That is, if there once were "pre-theistic" human beings, then what happened to them? Did the more violent theistic human beings wipe them out? We don't know. All we know is that "theist" human beings have dominated and continue to dominate.

Now, as an atheist (for the sake of this blog entry) and a human being, I find myself (for entirely instinctive reasons) concerned for the survival of human beings. However, given the record, I suggest that it might be detrimental to the survival of human beings to know the truth about the material nature of the universe. That is, we atheists don't seem to have a good survival rate.

Moreover, what evidence do we have that we can educate people out of their religion, anyway? Given that our "pre-theist" ancestors didn't fair so well for the sake of the human race, perhaps, we atheists ought to keep quiet. Perhaps, atheism is a quick road to extinction. Therefore, let's not be too hasty in our proselytism.

Instead, we can test our hypothesis. I suggest that in the "spirit" of scientific research and the good of humanity that atheists put their claims to the test. We can take a page from homo religious and gather ourselves together in an attempt to form a utopian community like the Puritans, the Benedictines or the Branch Davidians. We can find a plot of land or someone can donate an island to us. I am sure I could find a wealthy theist who would pay to have all atheists shipped to an island. On our island, we can demonstrate living together in atheistic harmony. In the unfortunate event that someone develops theistic tendencies, we can peacefully return them to their own kind (not burn them like those theists). Alternatively, we can ask them to volunteer to argue with us to see if indeed they can be returned to the fold. Once the world sees how well we get along, how advanced our technology is and how healthy we are surely our kind will grow in number.

Now, as I imbibe the spirit and once again become a theist, I can't wait to see what atheists have to say when they no longer have to waste their energies on those of us who are under the god delusion. I hope it's pithy.

Good luck, atheists.