In a recent discussion I was told that
some atheists stand in the corner and demand evidence with folded
arms. I was told that we were afraid to really open our minds to the
possibility of God because we were afraid of what we might find. I was
led to believe that the person I was speaking with thought that my
position of not being convinced had a deeper meaning to it than simply....not being convinced.
If only it were that simple. But the
atheists desire for extraordinary claims to be backed up by proof is
not outrageous, nor is it emotional. When I was a devout Christian, I
believed that what I had been told was true. The fact remains that
only a few questions needed to be asked in order for me to discover
that the claims being made were entirely without evidence to back
them up. On the other hand, if I asked a science teacher why
evolution was true (something I did not believe at the time), I was
provided with almost literal mountains of this thing called “proof”.
What do I mean by mountains? According
to JSTOR, an online archive of over 1500 academic journals, there are
over 795,000 papers on evolution on record. I've read a small number
of these, after all, I'm only human. That's a lot of data. There are
31,000 pages of search results. Wow. Check out these titles:
Not that those are the most convincing
papers, but they are papers. Part of almost 800,000 mutually
supporting research pieces that fit one another to a T.
On the other side, provided by the
creationist Center for Science and Culture, there are 50
peer-reviewed papers about Intelligent Design. I didn't read all 50,
but the site offers a fantastic summary of each paper. (Honestly it's
a great site.) What did I learn from these? That really really smart
men don't understand things about evolution and published papers
saying so. There isn't a presentation of evidence. There is a
crossed-arm challenge that the evidence for evolution is lacking.
Where have we heard this before? Here's an example of the 50:
- A.C. McIntosh, “Evidence of design in bird feathers
and avian respiration,” International Journal of
Design & Nature and Ecodynamics, Vol. 4(2):154–169
(2009).
So basically they could have just
replaced their paper with a picture of themselves shrugging.
But, this isn't about Evolution vs ID.
This is about God vs no god. The one-sided debate between Evolution
and ID is just a surrogate, but a good example.
Why do atheists want evidence? Because
believers make some impressive claims. There is a God. He loves you.
He can forgive your sins. He can provide everlasting life. He is in
control. He created the universe. Those are claims that stake out a
position and leave little wiggle room. The claim that God exists is a
yes or no proposition. There isn't a grey area there. The claim that
God created the universe is similarly true or false with nothing in
between.
When presented with a claim like that
in any other context, the natural reaction is to desire proof. If I
told you I had found an abandoned treasure chest full of gold coins,
and that I would share it with you...at some point you're going to
want some of that gold in your own hands. Why? Because I made an
extraordinary claim that you stand to directly benefit from. It's
good news, in monetary form.
Well, we atheists want some of that
evidence. So tell me why you think God is real. So tell me why he
created the universe. Tell me how you know his son died for our sins,
and while you're at it...explain how that actually makes sense. The
problem that I come across is that believers can't do any of those
things.
When I speak to Christian and Muslim
friends of mine I always ask for proof. I hunger for proof. Evidence
is my drug of choice. What do I get instead? Personal experience and
sometimes some amazingly well-thought-out philosophy. But no
evidence. Of course my arms are folded and I sound snubbed. You
promised me Good News and can't back it up.
Invariably a Holy Book is brought up
as evidence. Well, a clever meme I saw the other day pointed out
accurately that the Holy Book in question is the Claim, not the
Evidence. To put this in another light: Darwin's Origin of Species is
not evidence. It is his claim about what he believed about the
natural world. Those 795,000 peer-reviewed papers are about evidence,
Origin is not.
And Holy Books are notoriously
inaccurate. The Bible has too many versions and endless
contradictions. The Documentary Hypothesis blows away the Old
Testament and Dr. Bart Ehrman's research destroys the New Testament.
Don't get me started on the Koran and it's documented 200 year oral
history before somebody wrote it down... These are not historical
documents.
To my theist friends: I love you. I
appreciate your concern for my eternal soul. I am even grateful that
you feel the need to pray for me. Please understand that my stance is
not related to emotional trauma, a bad experience, a
misunderstanding, denial or fear. I am unconvinced and will remain so
until the theistic world has more to offer me about the greatest
claims ever made by mankind.
