For a variety of reasons I rarely post on this sort of thing, but once in a blue moon I see something written that is so succinct that it warrants repeating.
It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I am a dyed-in-the-wool atheist. (I put “should†in emphasis because every once in a while someone who ought to know better surprises me with a wrong assumption about my beliefs.)
There is a project called “This I Believeâ€, which seems to be designed to demonstrate the importance of faith. As if faith were a good thing! Faith is a human failing. An psychological defect in the make up of our imperfect brains, caused as a unfortunate side effect of an important aspect of our humanity.
Our brains are wired to learn from second-hand sources, such as our parents. It’s a necessary survival adaptation that allows me to know that I do want to meet a tiger in the wild without actually having to experience it first hand. That, if anything, is the importance of “faith.†I do have faith that a tiger is dangerous and not something I wish to come upon unprepared in the wild.
Unfortunately, that important survival skill becomes a liability if the information imparted is crap. In computer terms that’s GIGO: Garbage Input, Garbage Output.
Is faith in crap a good thing if it is something that “…gets you through the night?†No, it isn’t. This I believe: “Faith is a failing. Faith is a logical shortcut prone to erroneous results.â€
Consequently I think the whole “This I Believe†project is intellectually bankrupt endeavor because it’s stated goal “…is not to persuade Americans to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, they hope to encourage people to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own.â€
As if respect of crap is any superior to faith in crap! We need to bring out the big guns to clear out the crap, not to learn to live with it.
Penn Jillette, half of the team of Penn & Teller and outspoken atheist frequently has some quotable words on the subject. My favorite has to be, “Read [the bible] because we need more atheists, and nothing will get you there faster than reading the damn bible.†(I can attest to this because I was only an agnostic until I read the bible from cover to cover, and often the people I encounter who supposedly believe in it have never actually read it except as passages here and there.)
He’s contributed an essay to the “This I Believe†project and squarely hits the nail on the head.
I believe that there is no God. I’m beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God. Not believing in God is easy — you can’t prove a negative, so there’s no work to do. You can’t prove that there isn’t an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word “elephant†includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?
So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The atheism part is easy.
But, this “This I Believe†thing seems to demand something more personal, some leap of faith that helps one see life’s big picture, some rules to live by. So, I’m saying, ‘This I believe: I believe there is no God.’
Read the whole essay here. It’s worth the read.
Maybe I’m just posting this today because I’m still annoyed at the Mormons in Taiwan.