Like most people I believe God exists, yet I’m a skeptic too. I guess you could say I’m an agnostic theist. I believe He exists, but I don’t know that He does, but then again I don’t know that the earth revolves around the sun. I believe it does, because that’s what I’ve been taught & I see no reason to think it’s not true. Now you might respond ‘well of course the earth revolves around the sun. that’s obvious’. Yes, as far as we’re concerned, it’s definitely obvious, but we don’t actually know that it’s true & oddly enough there are still people today who say the earth is flat & the sun revolves around it & science is lying & deceiving us.
I’m dumbfounded why anyone today would believe the earth is flat, with all the evidence that it’s round, but if I’m being honest I don’t actually know if it is or it isn’t. I don’t really know anything, other than facts like 2+2=4. I know that’s true because I can demonstrate it to be true. There’s 0% chance that 2+2 does not equal 4. I can prove this is a fact & so I know it’s true. I can’t do that with the earth, unless I could go into outer space & turn around & actually look at the earth, or get in a plane & actually fly all the way around it, but I’d also have to know that at no point did the plane turn. I’d have to be able to demonstrate with 100% certainty that I actually flew around the planet, thus proving that it is round. Now we’ve done that, you say. Yes, we have. That is, as far as I know we have. I don’t actually know that we have, for I wasn’t there. I didn’t personally observe it, so (just being brutally honest here) I don’t actually know, for a fact, that the earth is round, but since I have no reason to believe it’s flat, other than there’s a tiny minority that still claim it is, I have no reason to doubt that it’s round.
I’m quite certain it’s round. I’m simply dealing in actual reality & I wish theists & atheists would do the same, for problems with both sides are plain & obvious to me, for I’ve listened to both sides. I’ve heard their arguments, for & against the existence or non-existence of God & I understand why both sides feel the way they do, yet Bill Maher recently said that anyone who actually believes in God is delusional. What? Are you kidding me Bill? Here’s an intelligent educated man & he makes a ridiculous statement like that. Even the atheist on his show that day said ‘no, that’s simply not true. they’re not delusional at all’ to which Bill said ‘what do you mean? of course they are’ & so the argument went. It was hilarious. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The atheist was dealing in reality & Bill was dealing in his delusions. He was becoming the same kind of fundamentalist that he hates. Fundamentalist christians who say things like atheism is stupid. Anybody who’s an atheist is an idiot, etc. No, they’re not. There’s reasons why they’re atheists, just as there’s reasons why there are theists. Why some atheists & some theists can’t understand this simply boggles my mind.
So let me demonstrate for some of you atheists out there the plain & simple problems with atheism. Problems that I’ve never heard any atheist adequately deal with, for you can’t really deal with them, so you simply ignore them or deny them, just like theists do with their problems & yes, let me also demonstrate for some of you theists out there the plain & simple problems with theism. This isn’t an issue of whether or not the earth is round. We can know if it is or isn’t, assuming we can go out into space & look at it, which we claim we’ve done, or simply fly around it, which we also claim we’ve done. If we have, then it’s round. If we haven’t, then we don’t really know, do we. That was my point, initially, but the problem with God should be obvious. That is, as far as I know, it’s impossible to demonstrate whether or not He exists & thus no one can actually know if He does or doesn’t, which is why Bill’s statement was, well, delusional. Sorry Bill. I enjoy your show, but you’re not thinking critically here. You apparently want/need to be right on this, so you’re now resorting to a bad argument, in defense of your belief in atheism (& yes, I purposely chose the word belief. if that bothers you, tough. deal with it)
The problem with Atheism: If atheism is true then how do you explain the universe? How do you explain life forming on a dead rock (earth)? How do you explain conscious, our belief that some actions are right or wrong, our ability to use logic & reason? Why does anything exist at all? For what purpose does the universe exist? Why are we here & what happens to us when we die? If atheism is true, then how do you address these issues? The honest atheist (in my opinion) says “I don’t know” & I respect those atheists greatly. I respect anybody that says “I don’t know”, hence my initial points in this article ; )
I don’t believe atheism is true because atheism makes no sense to me. It leaves me with nothing & I’m left with 2 options. Either the universe is eternal (which in my mind is not possible) or it came into existence from nothing, which would mean it had no cause, which defies logic. How could something come into existence from nothing with no cause? It can’t. Every effect has to have a cause. That’s just simple logic & as far as I’m concerned it’s irrefutable logic. Some atheists are now claiming that it’s entirely possible that the universe came into existence from nothing, that nothing existed. Atheists used to say something like ‘we atheists don’t believe the universe came from nothing. it’s you theists who believe that. you believe God created the universe from nothing & we reject that silly belief. it’s silly to believe that God created everything from nothing. besides, where then did God come from? If everything comes from something then it logically follows that God had to come from something, so where did God come from, so why add God to the equation? Why not just stop at the universe & claim we don’t know?”
Now those last 3 words I agree with. We don’t know. That’s true. We don’t know. Theists & atheists don’t know. Some claim they know & maybe they do, but I don’t know that they do, nor do I believe they do. Is it possible that there’s an atheist or a theist out there that actually knows? Of course it’s possible. How could I know that no atheist & no theists actually knows? How could I know that? I don’t, but that reality doesn’t change the fact that I don’t believe that any of them know. I’m quite certain that none of them know, for I don’t know how they could know. Are you following? If you are, I’m impressed, for even my head is spinning a little right now as I type these words – lol
Many theists say “I know God exists”. I’ve heard some atheists say “There is no God” or “God does not exist” to which I almost always respond to these self-proclaiming know-it-alls with “HOW DO YOU KNOW???!!!!!” The honest ones respond back with something like this “well I don’t actually “know” but I’m convinced that I’m right & for me the issue is settled”. Well cool. That’s fine. It’s pretty settled for me too. I’m fairly certain that God exists. I have some doubts, but not many. I’m quite convinced that (most likely) He does & I see no reason to not believe that He does, for (for me) it makes more sense that He does than He doesn’t. All the atheists reading this (& some agnostics too) would like an explanation for why I feel that way. Okay. I’ll try : )
God makes sense to me. God answers the question “Where did everything come from” Oh no! I’m going with the God of the Gaps argument. Oh no!!! Stay with me. If you want to argue that my argument is simply God of the Gaps & is a poor argument, then I would like you to offer me one alternative that actually makes sense; that actually answers the question “where did the universe come from?’ and ‘where did life come from?’ How did life form on earth? If you have an alternative to “God did it” then please provide me with that one alternative, but good luck with that for I claim no alternatives exist. Think about it. If atheism is true, then once upon a time (sorry, couldn’t resist) the earth was nothing but a dead rock floating in space & then life formed. Wait… WHAT??? HUH??? How? Oh we know how, they respond, to which I respond ‘You KNOW???’ Really? You KNOW how life formed & you KNOW that it formed from NOTHING??? You KNOW that the earth was once nothing but a ROCK & then LIFE FORMED??? You KNOW THIS??? Tell me something. Now be honest. Does that actually make sense to you? I’m serious. Think about it. It actually makes more sense to you that life formed ON ITS OWN on a dead rock? That’s what you KNOW happened, or is that what you BELIEVE happened? No wonder atheists hate the word “believe” & claim that they don’t have any beliefs, which is complete & utter baloney. Of course you have beliefs. EVERYBODY has beliefs & NOBODY KNOWS, as far as I know, that is ; )
If you don’t see some of the obvious problems with atheism, then I can’t help you, yet I’ll concede, because I try to deal in reality, that atheism COULD BE TRUE. You could be wrong about how life formed & how the universe came to be, or that it’s eternal & atheism could still be true. Heck, I believe it’s possible that atheism is true & there could still be life after death. How about that? Have you ever heard a theist say something like that before? You know why I say/admit that? Cause I don’t have an axe to grind. I don’t HAVE to be right. In fact I have no problem with the reality that I could be wrong, for I recognize that that’s entirely possible & that knowledge has helped bring me some peace. Coming to the cold dark reality that I don’t KNOW ANYTHING but those things that are FACTS freed me from my need to be right. People who HAVE to be right can never deal with any argument or evidence that suggests they could be wrong, for it would shatter their worldview, & we can’t have that now, can we. So I was shocked when Bill said what he said. Is his worldview that important to him? Does Bill HAVE to be right? Why does he not recognize the reality that God might exist & atheism could be wrong & therefore there’s nothing delusional about belief in God? Actually, this argument needs much more explanation than I’ve given here. I can already hear the atheists comebacks & rebuttals.
Yes, I already know what you’re saying in response (like ‘well Scott, by that logic then there’s nothing delusional about believing in unicorns or faeries or the flying spaghetti monster, etc.’ see, I know what you’re saying – heh heh heh), but my point is quit being so close-minded like those fundamentalist christians that you so despise. If you despise close-minded people, especially christians, then why are YOU being so close-minded? I’m open. Well, at least I try to be. I acknowledge that I could be wrong about anything that I believe, for I recognize that I don’t know that what I beleive is true & thus I could be wrong. Big whoop. This really wasn’t all that hard to figure out. I could be wrong. Atheism could be true. If it is, oh well. What am I gonna do about it, if it’s true? Bitch? Sure, I could bitch, but if atheism is true, then it’s true & I’d rather face it then bitch about it. Ah… then again… it’s kinda fun to bitch sometimes… isn’t it ; )
The problem with God: There’s so much more I could say, but the problem with God is WHY there’s atheists. Namely, how can God exist? For God to exist, that means that He’s “always” existed. It’s kinda the same problem with an eternally existing universe, yet oddly enough I see atheists don’t have a problem with an eternally existing universe; just an eternally existing God. Think about that one for a bit. Let me know when you get it : )
So if God has always existed (& we’re defining God as an eternally existing being, who’s also all-powerful & all-knowing, which creates more problems than I can possibly explain here – lol) than that means that God has ALREADY existed for an infinite amount of time. How? That is, how is that possible? For if God has already existed for an infinite amount of time, does that mean that He’s NOW existed for MORE than an infinite amount of time? WHAT? HUH? Do you see the problem? Of course we christians have a clever way around this one. We say that since God “created” time, that therefore “before” time existed there was just God, so the time problem doesn’t apply. I’ve actually heard this argument also used by atheists for what existed before the universe. I’ve heard them say something to the effect of ‘if time didn’t exist before the universe existed, then whether or not anything else existed prior to it &/or whether anything else caused it, is irrelevant & that the moment before the universe came into existence could effectively be infinity’. Hmmm…. well….
See, at least with God we have an answer. The atheist is really left with “who knows”, but aren’t we kinda left with “who knows” when it comes to explaining God? For if God is all-knowing & all-powerful, then shouldn’t everything be perfect, but it’s not perfect, so God then chose to make it as it is, for He knew it would be what it is, for He’s always known it & thus what He created He created knowing what it would be & therefore how are we at fault for anything, since God made it the way He made it & there’s nothing we could do about it, since He’s all-knowing. Meaning He KNEW that I’d write this article, BEFORE HE CREATED THE UNIVERSE! Whoa! (lol) Then can I say that it was God’s WILL that I write this article & that you’d read it? Well, what about the holocaust then? What about tsunami’s? Heck, what about murder, rape, mutilation, torture, & WHAT ABOUT DEATH & HELL??? Is everything His will? If it’s not, then that would mean that an all-powerful, all-knowing being allowed something to happen that He didn’t want to happen, which makes me ask WHY? The only honest answer that we theists have is “I don’t know”. Trying to explain God should leave your head spinning, if you’re honest.
We also have the free will argument, which I embrace, but I recognize the clear problems there too. Believe it or not, some christians don’t believe we have free will. I believe we do, but it’s limited. Yes, I believe that we humans have a limited free will bestowed on us by God & He “allows” us to make our own decisions & that all decisions have consequences & that we are responsible for our actions. The fact that He “knows” what decisions we’ll make, cause He’s all-knowing just creates more problems. Yikes! Yet that’s what I believe & I also believe that God is sovereign & nothing happens without Him allowing it to happen, which opens up all kinds of problems again. I know. I get it. Why do you think I refer to myself as an agnostic theist? It’s because there’s no easy way to explain God. He’s a logical nightmare, but so is atheism & I don’t get why so many atheists & theists refuse to acknowledge this reality. It’s reality people. Try dealing with it.
Okay, I know I’ve probably ticked some of you atheists off with at least one of my arguments above, namely the comparison of God & Unicorns, so let me explain that a little in closing. I’m sure there’s some people who “believe” in unicorns. Heck, I actually believe they exist somewhere, but I don’t “really” believe in them. It’s more of a “I’d like it to be true & since it’s possible, it’s fun to believe they actually do”. Cause you know… wouldn’t it be cool if Unicorns actually did exist? Sure it would, but the reason almost nobody actually believes in Unicorns is simple. There’s no REASON to believe they actually exist & if Bill said anyone who believes Unicorns exist are delusional I wouldn’t argue that point with him. Now you’re saying the reason you don’t believe in God is the exact same, namely you see no reason to believe & I’m sure that’s how Bill would respond back to me, but you’re missing the point. If there was a “reason” to believe Unicorns existed, then people would believe Unicorns exist. Thus if anyone does believe in them, then they obviously have a reason why they believe. The fact is, you believe atheism is true because you have a reason to believe it’s true. There’s a reason why you have no belief in a god of any kind. If you didn’t have a reason, you wouldn’t be an atheist. Why then do BILLIONS of people on this planet BELIEVE GOD EXISTS? It’s simple. There are REASONS to believe He exists. Those reasons aren’t convincing to everyone, which is why everyone doesn’t believe God exists. That’s the reason some are agnostic & some are atheists, cause they have reasons. If BILLIONS of people believed Unicorns existed, then I would seriously question that maybe unicorns do in fact exist, for why do so many believe in them. Many believe in Ghosts & UFO’S, so I don’t say they don’t exist. Quite the contrary, I kinda think they do, for I have a hard time believing that ALL claimed encounters with them are lies/scams/frauds/hoaxes.
Do you see my point? To dismiss belief in God as delusional is silly. It’s a bad argument. I’ve listed a few “reasons” why I believe in God. You have your reasons why you don’t & clearly my reasons don’t cut it for you. That’s fine. I accept your reasons for your belief in atheism (sorry, lack of belief in theism) ; ) & acknowledge you could be right. Why not then give us theists the same respect? Oh yeah, cause some of us theists are close-minded jerks. Got it.
lightmane321 