ATHEISM, PSYCHOLOGICAL SUICIDE, AND SOME OTHER BAD NEWS

Three studies at Boston University found that atheists acknowledge a Creator God before their conscious mind has a chance to kick in:

·       The findings "suggest that there is a deeply rooted natural tendency to view nature as designed," writes a research team led by Elisa Järnefelt of Newman University. They also provide evidence that, in the researchers' words, "religious non-belief is cognitively effortful." http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/richard-dawkins-take-heed-even-atheists-instinctively-believe-creator-says-study-1505712

How were these studies able to arrive at such surprising findings?

·       Researchers attempted to plug into the automatic or "default" human brain by showing subjects images of natural landscapes and things made by human beings, then requiring lightning-fast responses to the question on whether "any being purposefully made the thing in the picture," notes Pacific-Standard.

·       "Religious participants' baseline tendency to endorse nature as purposefully created was higher" than that of atheists, the study found. But non-religious participants "increasingly defaulted to understanding natural phenomena as purposefully made" when "they did not have time to censor their thinking," wrote the researchers.

·       The results suggest that "the tendency to construe both living and non-living nature as intentionally made derives from automatic cognitive processes, not just practiced explicit beliefs," the report concluded. The results were similar even among subjects from Finland, where atheism is not a controversial issue as it can be in the US.

This means that denying the existence of an intelligent Designer requires effort, but this denial is also a denial of themselves as well as their own intuitions. The Bible also claims that we have the truth about God but we suppress it:

·       For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20 ESV)

In light of this, the atheist is like someone trying to conceal an inflated ball under the water. However, it eventually pops to the surface and must again be suppressed. This mirrors our internal struggle when we try to suppress our awareness of God, and this has serious consequences. When our mind is fighting itself, there can be little peace or even clarity but an obsessive struggle - a costly auto-immune response.

Not only is the atheist at war with himself, but these findings also represent a blow to the naturalistic theory of evolution, which holds that our traits evolved because they confer on us a survival advantage. This would suggest that the belief in God also confers a survival advantage. However, atheists insist that belief in God is irrational and ruins everything. Some even advocate outlawing religion as one form of “child abuse.”

However, these experiments suggest that, on an intuitive level, they know better. While this is not child abuse, it might qualify as suicide.

Why then are they so opposed to God? They intuitively know that they are to be judged by Him:

·       Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:32)

They may suppress this awareness, but it is still present, perhaps re-emerging whenever they meet a Christian.

ATHEISM, FREETHINKERS, RELIGION, AND DISSONANCE

Is atheism a religion? The late atheist, Christopher Hitchens, had insisted that it isn’t:

·       The only position that leaves me with no cognitive dissonance is atheism. It is not a creed. Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is nothing more; but I want nothing more.

While Hitchens had insisted that atheism isn’t a “creed” or religion, everything he wrote following this denial proves that atheism does have a creed that:

·       Death puts an end to the hope of Paradise and the dread of hell”

·       This enables life to be lived with “far more intensity”

·       “There is nothing more” than our passing feelings.

To these unsubstantiated atheistic creeds, can be added many other beliefs: naturalism, materialism, secular humanism, evolution, and moral relativism… In fact, there was a time that atheists gladly accepted the designation of a “religion”:

•       BERTRAND RUSSELL: “The greatest danger in our day comes from new religions, communism and Nazism. To call these religions may perhaps be objectionable both to their friends and enemies, but in fact they have all the characteristics of religions…”

•       THE FIRST HUMANIST MANIFESTO (Paul Kurtz, 1933): “Humanism is a philosophical, religious, and moral point of view.”

•       JOHN DEWEY, WHO SIGNED THE MANIFESTO: “Here are all the elements for a religious faith that shall not be confined to sect, class or race…It remains to make it explicit and militant.”

•       THE US SUPREME COURT (Torasco v. Watkins – 1961): “Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others.”

Does atheism remove the “cognitive dissonance” as Hitchens had claimed? Certainly not! There are many things that atheism cannot explain – consciousness, freewill, fine-tuning of the universe, and origin of our elegant, immutable, universal laws of nature, life, DNA, and the countless examples of design.

As a result, I hear atheists speak in a way that shows they are locked in the jaws of dissonance. For example, while they have no basis to believe in freewill as materialists, they admit that they have to live as if they do have freewill – the height of dissonance. Besides, if we lack freewill, then none are truly guilty, and we should release our prisoners. However, I am not aware of any atheists who champion this cause.

On top of this, atheists arrogantly call themselves “freethinkers” as opposed to the rest of us. However, it seems to me that someone who believes that all of his thoughts are biochemically determined can hardly consider himself a “freethinker.” Perhaps my narrowness results from my not being a freethinker.

MY LETTER TO AN ATHEIST

Admittedly, the Bible is offensive in claiming that you don’t believe because you don’t want to. So I think that your response is very appropriate:

·       I simply don't find the evidence credible enough to be a Christian…Since we're talking about my own mental state here, you will simply have to accept it as true, unless you can actually SHOW me that I'm being delusional.

I do not have the ability to look into your heart, so please understand that I am not making a judgment against you personally, but here is the basis for my thinking.

Besides the Bible’s explanation for unbelief, many atheists have claimed that they do not believe simply because they don’t want to believe. For example, atheist and author of the Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, explained his rejection of the Christian faith:

·       I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning [and moral absolutes]; consequently assumed that it had none…We don’t know because we don’t want to know. It is our will that decides how and upon what subjects we shall use our intelligence. Those who detect no meaning in the world generally do so because, for one reason or another, it suits their books that the world should be meaningless. (“Ends and Mean”)

Of course, Huxley’s motives might not reflect the motives of most other atheists, but many have admitted something similar to this. Even I thought that I was searching for the truth about God, but I wasn’t. I was interested in God as long as He would validate me in the way I wanted.

From my present perspective, I am incredulous that all of the evidence, which surrounded me, would not have settled the issue of God’s existence. I now marvel at the indispensable systems that God has designed for the cell. It has been remarked that it’s machinery are more complex and interrelated than the machinery needed to run a city like NYC. Even the simplest cell requires a vast array of irreducibly complex systems – digestive, transportive, sensory, waste elimination, reproductive… And then we observe the wonder of the human being and our vast cognitive and perceptive machinery – not to mention consciousness and freewill. Just the function of the eye should be enough to astound us.

However, I had become dulled to the evidence and didn’t see it until God had opened my eyes.

However, He promises that if we seek we will find. I’d suggest that you pray and ask Him to change your heart and open your eyes so that you too can see the evidence.

ANSWERING ATHEISM

 

An atheist laid out this challenge on Facebook:

·       Why do people believe God is guiding and protecting them, yet children die across the world? Can someone religious please give me a legitimate reason as to why a child has to die?

Here is my response:

“Thanks for your challenging question. However, I must warn you from the start that my answer will not be a comprehensive one. However, even science cannot give us comprehensive answers. In fact, science cannot even give us comprehensive answers about the basics – What is time, space, matter, light, not to even mention the nature of sub-atomic particles? However, here are some basic assumptions to shed light on your question:

1.    God will not shield us from the implications of our freewill choices. In fact, we need to be cognizant of the fact that God will not always bail us out from our irresponsibility. One probationer had explained to me, “Now that I have a child, I am going to change and get a job.” He understood that he had to bear responsibility for his child’s welfare, just as God would have it.

2.    We go bad without sorrow and loss. We begin to take others for granted, if there are no consequences, namely death. We have seen scenes of people being found alive in the rubble, days after an earthquake. The family members are filled with hugs, tears, and gratefulness. But why don’t we experience this on a daily basis? We become jaded and need to be awaken by tragedy.

3.    The suffering and loss are preparation for our final destiny. Perhaps we will not appreciate the end of all pain unless we know what pain and destruction are like.

You mention your own sorrow and sense of unworthiness when you hear about others who suffer far more than you. This is a healthy response, because none of us are worthy. However, to walk around in a state of guilt and unworthiness leads to self-destruction. (We might even resort to masochism to reduce the guilt.)

God knows this and He addresses our guilt by first confirming that our feelings of unworthiness are revelatory, but that He has made provision for our guilt by dying for our sins. This is a sacrifice available to any who will come to Him acknowledging their need.”