I got into a nice little discussion with a guy in my biology lab. He knows I'm a pre-med student, and I'm big on science and all, and wanted to know if I believed in God. Turns out he's an Atheist himself, and didn't understand how someone can balance reason and science with faith and religion. I told him that from a truly scientific standpoint (a.k.a. skepticism), one can only go as far as agnosticism, and that Atheists assume too much.
As I see it, Atheism is just another religion. There is no evidence proving or disproving the existence of any god, so all religions take an irrational stance when they claim anything about theirs, or lack thereof (even Occam's razor is a matter of probability, not certainty, if you wanted to go there).
As I've said here before, I'm at peace with this. There are so many assumptions we take for granted every day, like the nature of cause and effect, concepts of good and evil, even the existence of things seen and unseen which are alleged to make the world work as it does (just think of the four fundamental forces). Logic, it seems, can tell you things about the world only after a set of initial assumptions, albeit some come more naturally than others.
Anyway, it turns out that he can admit he has no proof against God, as I have no proof of God, and that we accept our beliefs more on faith than anything else. For his part, he says he never really got into the fire and brimstone he heard from everyone around him (growing up in the bible belt), and didn't want to accept a religion he couldn't honestly believe in. It was, I think, the best explanation I've heard from any Atheist. It's a whole lot better that the tired old, "why is there suffering in the world," bit.
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4 comments:
i still think it's funny that everyone in that class thought you were an atheist, my awesomely skeptical hubby.
like the new look, too, btw.
I like the new look too, but I miss the cool skeleton hand thing.
But I agree with the suffering in the world. Get a new reason, already! ha
Atheists always get mad when I suggest that atheism is just another religion. My reasoning is exactly the same as yours, if not quite so thoroughly explored.
The best things in life make no sense - crying when you're happy, being sad when you get your way. Ultimately, you simply have to learn to appreciate that things are infinitely more complex than you are capable of comprehending. And here's my favorite contradiction - trying to comprehend the incomprehensible.
The better question for anyone of any faith is why they feel the way they do - what makes you compelled to believe?
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