Last night on The Factor a noted atheist argued that religion is a scam, and many Christians know it in their hearts. They just haven’t got the courage to admit it. He invited Christians to join the atheist cause since atheism is a fact, whereas religion is governed by people who specialize in hawking wishful thinking.
Your thoughts?
“Christians know in their hearts”? What is he talking about? Assuming naturalism i know of only one kind of “heart” and that is a biological organ which pumps blood around the body. I had no idea that the heart had the ability to know anything. Otherwise it sounds quite mystical and out of place coming from an atheist who is claiming to be objective and driven by the physical evidence into atheism. If he is talking about doubt…well everybody has doubts even for things that have very good grounding in reason. Thus I see no reason to reject something merely because of doubts. When i was an atheist i had doubts about my atheism; but i didn’t feel that i
ought to become a theist because of my doubts. It seems that people often use psychology in-order to inflame those doubts, but not with evidence, but rather by manipulating the fear of being wrong or being hoodwinked.
Given the nihilistic alternative (
and given that absolute naturalism is equally without proof), i think that it is healthy and practical to at least have a minimal belief that ones life has an objective meaning value and purpose. I see nothing wrong with faith when it respects its boundaries. It is true that religion could be false, Christianity itself says that all other religions are false (
in the context of divine revelation), and i have often come across aspects of a religion where i could see how it could be a human invention made to manipulate the masses. It is a known fact that religion can get away with alot of abuse by manipulating the human desire to be fulfilled. I can see this possibility in Catholic Christianity and its theology. Even though i want to believe that the Catholic faith is true, and even if it is a true faith with true revelation, its theology is as such that i can at the same time see how it could be used as a tool to deceive the poor in-order to support the rich and protect the oppressor. Nobody would have followed Karl Marx or be influenced by him if what he was saying didn’t in some way make sense or reflect reality in some manner. The most powerful errors have an element of truth to them; and they would have to, otherwise they would not survive or produce great followings. I respect the suspicion that religion is being used as a tool for evil; but whether Marx was correct to attack religion is a different question. Religion need not necessarily be violent or irrational. I do however agree that given the fret of irrational religion, people should sincerely and logically examine that which they have chosen to put their faith in, and be at least prepared to admit that their faith has no rational or evidential grounding if in fact they find it to be without such support.
But the same goes for atheism. While we perceive things that we distinguish as physical, it is a fallacy to say that one should believe that all is physical, since we have very little understanding of what really exists at the root of reality. We cannot positively know all of what reality is through physics, and neither can we scientifically claim that we know what reality is, and it is quite arrogant to assume that reality must merely consists of what we can see, define, or comprehend. The idea that reality must conform fully to our finite understanding, or that existence must be reduced to what we can see, is just a belief which has no basis in evidence; accept for a superficial immature observation that we can only see physical things. Suspicions that all is physical is nothing but a suspicion; and one must ignore or take for granted all other observations that we perceive in human experience in-order to fully appreciate that suspicion. I suspect that i have a soul, in fact it is evident to me that there are good logical reasons to think that i have an immaterial nonphysical aspect to my nature. I have rational evidence, and yet this is rejected for a mere suspicion or desire that all is physical.
I think there is a lot of hypocrisy in some so called intellectual atheists.
!
grrr 
I have to remember God wants them to accept His grace…