Atheism Automatically Justified? Part Two

Mr. Heath has just responded to a quote from an article about atheism:

if atheism is simply the absence of a belief in any gods, then the principle burden of proof lies solely with the theist. If the theist cannot demonstrate that their belief is reasonable and justified, then atheism is automatically credible and rational.

If I may, I would like to add something to Mr. Heath’s rebuttal.

First of all, we must define what we are talking about. By proving, do we mean scientific proof, or a looser proof (like legal proof)? If we mean scientific proof, then no, we cannot prove anything in our faith. Scientific proof requires us to recreate something in a controlled environment. Therefore, we cannot scientifically prove that dinosaurs ever existed (cannot recreate it), that Hitler ever existed (same problem), or any historical fact.

But is seems that this essay is calling for God to take part in a controlled experiment. Let us rewrite the statement to illustrate my point:

if no-Hitlerism is simply the absence of a belief in Hitler, then the principle burden of proof lies solely with the people who believe that Hitler existed. If they cannot demonstrate that their belief is reasonable and justified, then no-Hitlerism is automatically credible and rational.

Kinda silly, isn’t it? We cannot prove that Hitler existed to a scientific degree (once again, we cannot recreate his life in a controlled environment), so how do we prove it? Watch tape of his speeches? It could have been an actor, sort of like Big Brother in 1984. Speak to people who knew him or saw him? Ah, now we’re getting somewhere.

But the atheist will not take the word of a Christian that God exists, so they will not accept that degree of proof.

Secondly, you cannot prove a negative in this way. This is like arguing with a child who says, "Well, you’ve never seen Minnesota so it’s not there." Simply because your experiences have not pointed you to God does not mean he doesn’t exist. That is not logical.

Thirdly, atheism takes as much faith as does theism. Stephen Hawking admits that he has no idea what happened before the Big Bang. He theorizes that matter was so densely compacted that the laws of physics were negated. That is a mighty leap of faith, but he makes that leap simply (and solely) because he believes in the Big Bang and must explain pre-Bang conditions in some way.

Evolution is not a scientific fact. It is a mythology in that it is a set of beliefs designed to explain the origin of things. I do not mean mythology as "untrue" here — Christianity is a mythology also, but I believe it. We cannot recreate these events in a controlled environment, and so neither Creation nor Evolution have been proven to that degree. We must commit ourselves rather on the preponderance of the evidence, or legal proof.

Fourthly, since most philosophers and scientists in the history of the world have found sense in theism, I would say that the burden of proof is on the atheist. Plato found the belief in gods a good idea. So did Aristotle, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Jefferson, et cetera. Would the modern atheist call all of these men fools? I admit, there are some thinkers on the other side. I respect Hawking a great deal. As far as philosophers, they do have Marx, if they want him, and Nietzsche. Um, yeah.

And since it is impossible to prove a negative like, "There is no God," and since so many great men took this question so seriously, a wise man would entertain the possibility and give it some real thought.

-Paul Lytle, Primum Mobile Magazine

Errata: Since this was posted, it has been pointed out that Hawking did not say that the laws of physics break down before the Big Bang. I was incorrect on this point. Hawking says that relativity suggests that, but he does not say it himself. The point is still valid, however, especially since Hawking himself says that "we could never be quite sure that we had indeed found the correct theory, since theories can’t be proved" in A Brief History of Time. This is not to criticize Hawking, but to say that we all must take some things by faith, and that faith is not something to be ridiculed.

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