Atheism: Denying the Undeniable, Part 1

For a while now, I have been having an email exchange with a fellow who calls himself "yasir". He is a Muslim and he is trying desperately to convert my lost soul to Islam, Allah, and the Qu'ran. Just today I received an article from him entitled Atheism: Denying the Undeniable

This shit is worse than Mormonism! I am going to include bits and pieces from the article and then comment about it. My comments will appear italicised.

Atheists might assert that they don’t acknowledge the existence of God, but the view of some Christians and all Muslims is that at some level even the confirmed Atheist affirms God’s presence. The innate but neglected awareness of God typically surfaces in Atheist consciousness only in times of severe stress, as exemplified by the World War II quote “There are no Atheists in a fox-hole.”

Some Christians and all Muslims assert that even atheists believe in god on some deep level. Yes, just like all believers really are atheists at heart. Who are these people to claim that they know what is in someone elses heart? I say "goddamnit" or "Oh my god," sometimes when I am stressed, but that doesn't mean I believe in god.

Undeniably there are times -- whether during the agonizing days of a lingering illness, the seemingly eternal moments of a violent and humiliating mugging, or the split second of anticipating the impact of an imminent car crash -- when all mankind recognize the reality of human fragility and the lack of human control over destiny. Who does a person beseech for help in such circumstances other than The Creator? Such moments of desperation should remind every person, from the religious scholar to the professed Atheist, of the dependence of mankind upon a reality far greater than our own meager human selves.

I'm not even sure how to word what I am thinking. Why is it that "god", according to believers, reminds people that he is in control by making our lives go to hell? Sure, there are some things in the world that are beyond our control, but that doesn't mean that god is orchestrating it all. If I jump off a cliff, I can't stop gravity from pulling me to the ground, but I CAN choose to not jump. I can't prevent a driver in another car from slamming into me, but I can chose to not ride in a car. I can't prevent an illness from making me sick, but I can improve my health by eating right and taking care of my body. I am not "dependent" on god for anything. A belief in god doesn't pay my bills, doesn't put food on the table, and doesn't cause or prevent bad things from happening. Similarly, a non-belief in god doesn't cause those things either.

In such moments of distress, when all human efforts have failed and no element of material existence can be foreseen to provide comfort or rescue, Whom else will a person instinctively call upon? In such moments of trial, how many stress-induced appeals are made to God, complete with promises of lifelong fidelity?

I am sure that in many cases, people do call upon god in such times. BUT that doesn't make him real. A car crash is a car crash. It happens to believers and non-believers alike. What is the difference then? To an atheist, none. In the mind of a believer, a car wreck is a trial of faith for believers or a wakeup call for atheists. How about you just call it what it is and leave your imaginary friend out of it? Again I ask, why do you believe that god reminds us of his awesome power by using it to make our lives miserable?

No doubt, the day of greatest affliction will be the Day of Judgement, and a person would be unfortunate to be in the position of acknowledging the existence of God for the first time on that day.

Wow, so you are telling me that your merciful god will make everyones life hellishly miserable on judgement day and their only crime is that they failed to acknowledge his awesomeness? This is not a god I will ever worship. This god is a tyrant. I visited the sick; I helped the needy. But fuck all of that! I didn't grovel at his feet and kiss his ass up one side and down the other and for that, I am hell bound. Your "merciful" god sucks.

The thoughtful Atheist, full of skepticism but fearful of the possibility of the existence of God and a Day of Judgement, may wish to consider the ‘prayer of the skeptic,’ as follows: “O Lord--if there is a Lord, Save my soul--if I have a soul.”

Hey they finally got something right! "Thoughtful". Atheists think and therefore do not believe. Believers who think, don't stay believers for very long. As far as the "save me" prayer, I've tried it and nothing, absolutely nothing, happened. Secondly, I am not "fearful" that there might be a god. It is a myth and I am no more afraid of your god than you are of Zeus. BTW, have you ever noticed how similar the names "Zeus" and "Jesus" are? Just an observation. But I'm sure that it has nothing, whatsoever, to do with mythology.

In the face of skepticism blocking belief, how can a person go wrong with the above prayer? Should Atheists remain upon disbelief, they will be no worse off than before; should belief follow a sincere appeal, Thomas Jefferson had the following to say: “If you find reason to believe there is a God, a consciousness that you are acting under His eye, and that He approves you, will be a vast additional incitement; if that there be a future state, the hope of a happy existence in that increases the appetite to deserve it…”

How can a person go wrong with the above prayer? They can't go right or wrong... they are just words. I gave "god" a real, sincere chance and, as expected, nothing. Other than the threat of going to hell, I have no reason to believe. And since hell is just a made up place, I have no reason to believe in that either.

The suggestion can be made that if an individual doesn’t see the evidence of God in the magnificence of His creation, they would be well advised to take another look. Worthy of contemplation is the fact that even the lowest elements of God’s creation, though perhaps ordinary works in His terms, are miracles in ours. Take the example of as tiny an animal as a spider. Does anybody really believe that such an extraordinarily intricate creature evolved from primordial soup?

Yes, they do. And the reason they do is because of this little thing called "evidence". Atheists marvel at the awesomeness of this world too, but they don't see a designer. There is no doubt that the world is truly an incredible place and the diversity and complexity of life is mind boggling. It would be easy for the uneducated mind to invent a god, a designer. But the evidence for a designer just isn't there. Oh sure, religion will come up with it's pathetic attempts to refute evolution, and even claim that "more and more scientists are starting to doubt evolution" but this is all propaganda, wishful thinking, and mis-information. The scientific community views evolution as a fact just as much as the fact that atoms are the basic components of all the elements.

And yet, mankind elevates itself to the heights of arrogance. A moment’s reflection should incline human hearts to humility. Look at a building and a person thinks of the architect, at a sculpture and a person instantly comprehends an artist. But examine the elegant intricacies of creation, from the complexity and balance of nuclear particle physics to the uncharted vastness of space, and a person conceives of…nothing? Surrounded by a world of synchronous complexities, we as mankind cannot even assemble the wing of a gnat. And yet the entire World and all the Universe exists in a state of perfect orchestration as a product of random accidents which molded cosmic chaos into balanced perfection? Some vote chance, others, creation.

The mere fact that this author has claimed that scientists believe it all happened by pure chance is a statement of his own ignorance. He is trying to refute evolution without even knowing what it is. It was not random chance, and evolutionists do not claim that it was. Besides, if they are going to argue that complexity necessitates a designer, shouldn't the designer also need to have a designer? Their god is allegedly the ultimate in complexity but where is his designer? So if they are going to use the argument from complexity, they should apply it to themselves as well.

Arrogance? So now it is arrogance to look at evidence and use that evidence to determine your belief? Let me ask you this: Do you enjoy being able to use email to send me your "god" crap? Do you enjoy being able to climb into a car and travel at speeds 50 times faster than traveling on foot? Do you enjoy being able to board an aircraft and travel to the other side of the earth in less than a day? Do you enjoy being able to summon water from the walls of your home with just a twist of your wrist? Do you enjoy being able to have your home illuminated in bright light without a fire even in the middle of the darkest night? If so, THANK AN ARROGANT SCIENTIST! You live in more luxury and comfort than the richest man in the world 200 years ago and you have nothing but science to thank for it. What progress has religion made besides more violence, more ignorance, and more suppression of the human mind?

Denying the undeniable. What a statement. It is undeniable that the sky is blue. It is undeniable that sugar tastes good. That a god exists... that is very deniable!