A is for Atheism

Atheism (a = non; theism = god) can be either a belief that no gods exist (strong atheism) or a disbelief in god/s (weak atheism, also called agnosticism).

Atheism comes out of a naturalistic worldview where the belief is that the physical world is all there is, was, or ever will be. This leads to a denial of the immaterial world regarding such things as thoughts or mind, etc. So how does one, who claims to be an atheist, account for the immaterial concepts that seem to exist, such as morals, thoughts, other minds, emotions, etc.?

I recently read a couple of blog posts (here and here) and in the first post, towards the end, this gentlemen makes such a claim. He says,

“But to be perfectly honest, I’m not an agnostic, because I don’t believe in a spiritual world or a world that is beyond human perception. I believe that matter exists, and that’s all. No Heaven. No Hell. No platonic forms. No ghosts or spirits or chakras or auras.

And most importantly, no God.

My ‘little white agnostic’ lie quieted my mother. She sat back satisfied, albeit a bit relieved. She relaxed and said, ‘Oh, okay,’ which, though ostensibly innocuous, subtextually meant, ‘Thank God my son isn’t a Satanist pedophile. At least he believes in something greater than himself.’

She was right about the latter. I do believe in something greater than myself - I just don’t think that thing is God.”

So I am curious as to what that “something greater is.” I am guessing that it must be a physical thing since he has already ruled out all possibilities that are beyond human perception. For me I find these claims quite interesting, not because I think they are silly or fallacious, but because I am not clear how one only thinks that matter is all that exists when there is abundance evidence to the contrary. The best thing for me to do will be to ask him, which I plan to do, and hopefully we will end up having a gracious and civil dialog.

The God Delusion

Dr. Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, is on his way to Tempe, Arizona. He will be giving a talk on his book Thursday evening on the Arizona State University (ASU) campus.

Where to begin…I am hoping to power through the remainder of his book this week, before he delivers his talk. I am curious as to what he has to say and the arguments that he presents in defending his position. From the little I have watched on YouTube and what I have read from his various short essays against religion, he seems extremely hostile and dogmatic, yet personable and charming. It takes a fairly unique individual to pull that off. However, as gracious or abrupt as he might be, his message is anything but harmless. He is quite aggressive in his stance against any religious group, but in particular against Roman Catholicism.

Anyway, I will be posting various videos of Dawkins or Dawkins related material, as well as my thoughts on The God Delusion as I make my way through it this week.

Enjoy the video (8:51):

How Would You Respond?

A person asks Dr. Richard Dawkins a rather good question which he side-steps and attempts to avoid. My question is, how would you respond to him once he provided this answer (or non-answer)?

Interviews with a Former Atheist

Dr. Antony Flew left Atheism in a public statement in December of 2005. As one of the main spokespersons for the Atheistic worldview in his philosophical writings during the 20th Century, it was quite a shock to their community that he would abandon his stance against a belief in God and leave that worldview. However, it didn’t take long before the Atheist spin-doctors were on full-tilt and making all kinds of excuses for his rejection of their views.

When this first took place I had spoken about it in my Sunday morning Adult class a couple of times and I believe we talked briefly about his move from non-belief in a Supernatural Being to a belief in one. One of the key elements in Dr. Flew’s shift in thought and belief stemmed from his friendship with Christian Philosopher Dr. Gary Habermas and their many public debates they held against one another on college campuses. Drs. Flew and Habermas became friends even though they differed greatly in their worldview and over time that friendship became a catalyst for helping Dr. Flew change.

I’m writing all this “old” news because I just stumbled upon 2 online video interviews between Lee Strobel and Dr. Antony Flew. The videos are extremely brief (a little too brief if you ask me), but they are well worth the watch. In one of the videos, Dr. Flew talks about how Dr. Michael Behe’s argument for Irreducible Complexity in microbiological organism shows that their must have been an Intelligent Designer who was the ultimate creator and that we did not arrive here via Evolution (”from the goo, through the zoo, to you” as the saying goes).

Unfortunately, Dr. Flew still appears to be holding on to Deism and hasn’t quite made the move to Theism yet. Hopefully he will continue thinking about the possibility of a Personal Being and see that, if we are to know anything of this Being, that He must act within the world and reveal Himself to us. Dr. Flew appears to be right on the edge of this discovery, yet, he pulls back at the last minute. However, you can see how very close he is to making that next connection in his thought process.

Video 1: An Interview With A Former Atheist: What Is God Like?
Video 2: An Interview With A Former Atheist: Why Did Your Beliefs Change?

I hope you enjoy them.