PROBLEM WITH BELIEVING THINGS ON FAITH
THIS LETTER WAS SENT TO THE STAR TRIBUNE ON SATURDAY APRIL 7, 2007 IN RESPONSE TO E.J. DIONNE'S COLUMN, THE PROBLEM WITH THE NEO-ATHEISTS. THE THREE PARAGRAPHS ABOUT THE PROOFS FOR GOD'S EXISTENCE HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THIS POST. THEY WOULD HAVE MADE THE LETTER TOO LONG TO HAVE MUCH CHANCE OF BEING PRINTED.
E.J. Dionne, Jr., in his "The Problem With The Neo-Atheists in
Saturday's STAR TRIBUNE states that the problem is our "dogmatic
insistence" that "religion is primarily destructive."
This problem threatens whenever you start believing things on
faith and without proof. For without the aid of reason, you are left
with no means of evaluating your belief and you are as likely to end
up with Nazism, Jim Jones, and the Taliban as something benign and
harmless. Thus it is no wonder the 9/11 has been described as the
ultimate faith based action.
Many contemporary theologians have given up on attempts to prove God's existence. But for those who still believe that the old arguments are valid and that believing in God thus not involve any of the problems that result from believing without proof, a little background is in order.
The old cosmological that there must be a God to explain how the universe came to exist, assumes that everything that exists must have a cause. But this means that God would require a Super God to explain how He or She came to exist, and the Super God would require a Super Super God... and so on ad infinitum with never any explanation of how the whole series came to exist.
The argument from design fails for the same reason since the argument that the universe is so complex and intricate that it must have a designer would mean that anything complex and intricate enough to be the Designer of the universe would require a Super Designer to design Him or Her and the Super Designer would require a Super Super Designer... and so on ad infinitum.
Furthermore, once you have abandoned reason as a tool for
evaluating your beliefs and start believing that some person or
religion has control over whether you spend eternity in agony or
ecstasy, you will do anything to retain their favor. Thus Voltaire
said that "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you
commit atrocities." Blais Pascal wrote "Men never do evil so
completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious
conviction." And James Weinrich states "We will always have good men
doing good things and evil men doing evil things. But to make good
men do evil things, it takes religion."
It is therefore no accident that it is religion that has fought
tooth and nail against women's reproductive freedom, as well as their
equal rights in general, and equal rights for Gay People. Christian
ministers used to quote the BIBLE to justify slavery.
Robert Halfhill
125 Oak Grove, Apt 41
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55403-4308
Phone: 612-870-8026
Email: rhalfhill@juno.com
http://halfhillviews.greatnow.com (SITE NOW BANNED ON AOL)
*Write AOL to complain, here: aolaccessibility@aol.com, or call 1-
888-212-5537.
http://RedLavenderInsurgent.blogspot.com
E.J. Dionne, Jr., in his "The Problem With The Neo-Atheists in
Saturday's STAR TRIBUNE states that the problem is our "dogmatic
insistence" that "religion is primarily destructive."
This problem threatens whenever you start believing things on
faith and without proof. For without the aid of reason, you are left
with no means of evaluating your belief and you are as likely to end
up with Nazism, Jim Jones, and the Taliban as something benign and
harmless. Thus it is no wonder the 9/11 has been described as the
ultimate faith based action.
Many contemporary theologians have given up on attempts to prove God's existence. But for those who still believe that the old arguments are valid and that believing in God thus not involve any of the problems that result from believing without proof, a little background is in order.
The old cosmological that there must be a God to explain how the universe came to exist, assumes that everything that exists must have a cause. But this means that God would require a Super God to explain how He or She came to exist, and the Super God would require a Super Super God... and so on ad infinitum with never any explanation of how the whole series came to exist.
The argument from design fails for the same reason since the argument that the universe is so complex and intricate that it must have a designer would mean that anything complex and intricate enough to be the Designer of the universe would require a Super Designer to design Him or Her and the Super Designer would require a Super Super Designer... and so on ad infinitum.
Furthermore, once you have abandoned reason as a tool for
evaluating your beliefs and start believing that some person or
religion has control over whether you spend eternity in agony or
ecstasy, you will do anything to retain their favor. Thus Voltaire
said that "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you
commit atrocities." Blais Pascal wrote "Men never do evil so
completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious
conviction." And James Weinrich states "We will always have good men
doing good things and evil men doing evil things. But to make good
men do evil things, it takes religion."
It is therefore no accident that it is religion that has fought
tooth and nail against women's reproductive freedom, as well as their
equal rights in general, and equal rights for Gay People. Christian
ministers used to quote the BIBLE to justify slavery.
Robert Halfhill
125 Oak Grove, Apt 41
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55403-4308
Phone: 612-870-8026
Email: rhalfhill@juno.com
http://halfhillviews.greatnow.com (SITE NOW BANNED ON AOL)
*Write AOL to complain, here: aolaccessibility@aol.com, or call 1-
888-212-5537.
http://RedLavenderInsurgent.blogspot.com
posted by Robert Halfhill at 9:25 PM
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