Some Questions for Believers
November 4, 2014 at 2:48 pm
(This post was last modified: November 4, 2014 at 2:51 pm by Mudhammam.)
My brother recently composed a LONG essay on his Facebook raising many of the same issues against "atheism" that we hear Christians commonly pose here. I'm not going to paste the piece, as it would amount to a wall of text nobody would want to see (much less be able to make it through without losing their eyeballs in the back of their head), but many of the questions I issued in response are largely applicable to the disagreements we often confront here, and if any believer would like to consider some of them and respond, I would appreciate the further insights.
1. Why do you feel that Christians are the most stigmatized group in the world?
a. If I may ask in good faith, do you think it may have anything to do with their veneration for texts that declare such sentiments as the following? “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:15) “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” (Mark 9:42)
b. What has been the role of political Christianity, beginning in the fourth-century with the State church and its continuation throughout Christendom to the present day?
2. Aside from the question of whether or not there is evidence for supranatural beings, to what extent do you believe family and culture will effect how a person develops their views about theology?
a. Do you agree that it's far more likely that a person born in Pakistan will form opinions within a framework of Islam while a person born in suburban America will yield to some variation of the Christian faith?
b. To pose the question a slightly different way: do you believe that most people come to religious faith on philosophical or scientific grounds rather than as a consequence of “historical accident”?
3. Do you believe more people struggle against opposing emotional desires or “wishes” in converting to the Christian religion (or any other) or in rejecting the respective faith of their family and/or culture?
4. Do you believe that those who profess belief in an afterlife are less likely to “misbehave” or act “immoral” due to fear of Judgment Day?
a. What evidence is there to bear this out?
5. Recent polling data reveals the majority of Americans to believe in the literal existence of the devil (57%), Noah's flood (60%), the parting of the Red Sea by Moses (64%), theistic evolution (59%), and that Jesus rose from the dead (64%). (Moreover, polling in 2010 revealed that roughly 90% of the U.S. Congress profess Christian belief in one form or another.) In consideration of the aforementioned statistics, can any alleged tension between the sciences and religious groups be seriously dismissed as a “largely imaginary war”?
a. To what degree do you fault Christian churches for failing to educate their congregations on the value of methodological naturalism and thinking about questions from a scientific point of view?
7. What is the definition of “atheist fundamentalism”? Do you rather mean to suggest anti-theism? (On an additional note of clarification, do you differentiate between “atheism”and “naturalism”?)
a. Do disagree with Hitchens when he declares, “Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it”?
8. Do you believe that Jesus' message was primarily one of gentleness, peace, and love of mankind?
a. In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche writes, “Not their love of men but the impotence of their love of men keeps the Christians of today from—burning us.” Translator Walter Kauffman adds in a commentary note that put another way, Nietzsche is essentially saying, “If Christians were really passionately concerned for the salvation of their fellow men in the hereafter, they would still burn those whose heresies lead legions into eternal damnation.” Do you agree or disagree that his observation is not inconsistent with the attitude expressed towards certain people by Jesus' in Mark 9, and that scores have suffered as a result of a literal interpretation of such passages (of which the Bible as a whole is inundated with), INCLUDING other Christians?
9. If you define atheism as a “belief system," do you likewise think a-astrology is a system?
a. Do you not differentiate between anti-religious political ideologies or systems and atheism as a lack of belief in deities?
b. Do you not see the difference in atrocities committed by governments or people who hold an abysmal lack of regard for others and those who are additionally inspired by venerated figures and/or texts?
10. How do you define morality?
a. On what grounds do you deny that two parties form a sufficient basis for evaluating which actions will prove constructive or destructive to their respective being? (In other words, it is often implied that unless a third party—such as a deity—intervenes, humans will be unable to determine what it is they value and how they ought to behave as a result).
b. What is the definition of absolute value? (Some would argue that that is not merely precluded on physicalism, but on the understanding that it's a contradictio in adjecto).
1. Why do you feel that Christians are the most stigmatized group in the world?
a. If I may ask in good faith, do you think it may have anything to do with their veneration for texts that declare such sentiments as the following? “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:15) “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” (Mark 9:42)
b. What has been the role of political Christianity, beginning in the fourth-century with the State church and its continuation throughout Christendom to the present day?
2. Aside from the question of whether or not there is evidence for supranatural beings, to what extent do you believe family and culture will effect how a person develops their views about theology?
a. Do you agree that it's far more likely that a person born in Pakistan will form opinions within a framework of Islam while a person born in suburban America will yield to some variation of the Christian faith?
b. To pose the question a slightly different way: do you believe that most people come to religious faith on philosophical or scientific grounds rather than as a consequence of “historical accident”?
3. Do you believe more people struggle against opposing emotional desires or “wishes” in converting to the Christian religion (or any other) or in rejecting the respective faith of their family and/or culture?
4. Do you believe that those who profess belief in an afterlife are less likely to “misbehave” or act “immoral” due to fear of Judgment Day?
a. What evidence is there to bear this out?
5. Recent polling data reveals the majority of Americans to believe in the literal existence of the devil (57%), Noah's flood (60%), the parting of the Red Sea by Moses (64%), theistic evolution (59%), and that Jesus rose from the dead (64%). (Moreover, polling in 2010 revealed that roughly 90% of the U.S. Congress profess Christian belief in one form or another.) In consideration of the aforementioned statistics, can any alleged tension between the sciences and religious groups be seriously dismissed as a “largely imaginary war”?
a. To what degree do you fault Christian churches for failing to educate their congregations on the value of methodological naturalism and thinking about questions from a scientific point of view?
7. What is the definition of “atheist fundamentalism”? Do you rather mean to suggest anti-theism? (On an additional note of clarification, do you differentiate between “atheism”and “naturalism”?)
a. Do disagree with Hitchens when he declares, “Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it”?
8. Do you believe that Jesus' message was primarily one of gentleness, peace, and love of mankind?
a. In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche writes, “Not their love of men but the impotence of their love of men keeps the Christians of today from—burning us.” Translator Walter Kauffman adds in a commentary note that put another way, Nietzsche is essentially saying, “If Christians were really passionately concerned for the salvation of their fellow men in the hereafter, they would still burn those whose heresies lead legions into eternal damnation.” Do you agree or disagree that his observation is not inconsistent with the attitude expressed towards certain people by Jesus' in Mark 9, and that scores have suffered as a result of a literal interpretation of such passages (of which the Bible as a whole is inundated with), INCLUDING other Christians?
9. If you define atheism as a “belief system," do you likewise think a-astrology is a system?
a. Do you not differentiate between anti-religious political ideologies or systems and atheism as a lack of belief in deities?
b. Do you not see the difference in atrocities committed by governments or people who hold an abysmal lack of regard for others and those who are additionally inspired by venerated figures and/or texts?
10. How do you define morality?
a. On what grounds do you deny that two parties form a sufficient basis for evaluating which actions will prove constructive or destructive to their respective being? (In other words, it is often implied that unless a third party—such as a deity—intervenes, humans will be unable to determine what it is they value and how they ought to behave as a result).
b. What is the definition of absolute value? (Some would argue that that is not merely precluded on physicalism, but on the understanding that it's a contradictio in adjecto).
He who loves God cannot endeavour that God should love him in return - Baruch Spinoza
