Sunday, October 16, 2011

Logical Reason #4: Evidence! Evidence! Evidence!

This reason dovetails with reason #3.  We have evidence from science that supports evolution, the laws of the universe, how species reproduce, the formation of mountains, the appearance of rainbows, weather patterns, the life and death of dinosaurs, etc.  Every day, new discoveries are made and more knowledge about our world is gained.  On the other hand, it seems to me that the evidence for religion was never there.  The arguments that theists often present as evidence are weak and emotionally-charged at best; totally ridiculous brainwashing at their worst.

I remember once, when I was in college (I'm embarrassed to admit), I had been at a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting talking about creation versus evolution.  I don't think they were arguing completely against evolution, but I remember being encouraged to "keep an open mind" and to remember that we really don't know the true nature and motives of god.  As a result of the discussion, I remember seriously considering that dinosaur bones and the fossil record might be the work of a (brace yourselves) humorous or (even worse) sneaky god who simply wanted to test our faith.  I know!!!  I can't believe my train of thought drove through that tunnel either.  It's embarrassing to admit, but a good reminder of how easily religion and the resulting group-think can influence a person's sensibilities.

I recently joined the Happy Atheist Forum where I am enjoying reading and occasionally taking part in discussions about everything from religion to parenting to scientific innovation.  Some theists regularly put in their two cents, only to be consistently schooled by the atheists.  I like to think that I can be somewhat objective since I've been on both sides of the argument.  It seems clear to me that atheists (myself included) want evidence and refuse to take things on blind faith.  The theists, even the well-spoken ones, continue to present the same arguments, which always come back (at some point) to faith.  I have to quote one of my fellow forum members here.  He wrote, "I often used to think that if god DID exist, then it was HIS failure that I didn't believe. I could never accept blind faith and refused to be ruled by it."  Why would any god make us scientific, knowledge-seeking beings, then expect us to go against our nature and believe without proof?  And for a god who could create the universe, it would've been so easy to put some indisputable, or at least less disputable proof.  Carl Sagan, in The God Hypothesis, gave the following ideas for some pretty convincing evidence: 1) God could've put some very important phrases into the good book that would've only made sense as human beings progressed.  "Ancient Babylonian science is the cosmology that is still enshrined in the book of Genesis.  Suppose instead the story was 'Don't forget, the sun is a star.'...You'll understand this later."  2)God could've embedded important parts of the bible elsewhere in the universe for scientists to discover later.  "God could have engraved the Ten Commandments on the Moon.  Large.  Ten km across per commandment."

While Sagan is clearly making light of this lack of obvious evidence, his point can't be mistaken.  If god made the world, why didn't he build evidence of himself into it so his existence couldn't be doubted?  Why didn't he sign his work of art?

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