Religious Debate Can Anyone Win?
Religious debate, can anyone win? Personally I think not. Last month, I agreed to an evolution vs. creationism debate at a local church. When it ended, I was angry, and the opposition was too. This experience has led me to outright refuse such debates. I’m not implying that we should not talk about it with friends, write about it or just plain mock religion from time to time.
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But when it comes to a full fledge debate, I say no. Many of my friends disagree.
Here is my recollection of the debate gone wrong.
“Well yeah, evolution is a theory, but so is creationism,” I said.
“No, G-d created everything, and the bible tells us how,” he smiled and seemed satisfied, the audience clapped.
“Well, the bible is not theory, and offers no scientific observation, yet is given as fact. But it is insufficient as proof of the existence of god.”
“We believe the bible is G-d’s, word. It is evidence of his existence, and it is written,” sorry can’t finish, basically it is written, blah, blah, blah.
“Yeah, well that’s not proof. Do you have substantial proof?” I did not expect an answer.
“I do. I know G-d exist, because I exist.”
“Oh, that works for me too, I said. I know evolution is true, because – I – exist.”
The man stood up, then walked off the stage. No kidding, he just walked off.
Up to this point it was a typical debate; with the typical creationist arguments. Essentially it was the same debate – different venue, different debaters.
At some point he said, “Faith trumps science.” This statement angered me. Later, at home I realized that he is 100 % correct. A creationist can offer anything as fact, proof, or evidence. Therefore, faith is all they need. Neither logic nor science can break through.
Because faith is irrational, such debates are illogical. Therefore, I will never agree to another debate.
Is God a Mathematician?
Let’s resist the desire to formulate such questions? When atheists do it, it’s misleading, and when believers do it, it implies that there is, without doubt, a god. I urge scientists not to use god or biblical language to explain natural phenomena.
Evolution speaks for itself. For me, it is the absence of certain patterns; the depth of diversity. Such that creatures may have no eyes, half an eye, one eye, two eyes, or antenna eyes. Where is the formula? By design, one would expect regularity, yet we don’t find it. Seems any creature is possible, and several are known to have odd genetic dispositions.
Without absolute faith in god or religion I am free to care about others, the environment, and most of all personal freedoms. This life is all there is, at the end no heaven waits. This view makes me responsible. The quality of human life is defined by society, economics, religion, politics, and to some degree geographical location. I do not attribute suffering to the ill effects of unseen forces. When you take god out, you begin to reason, and then you know that your actions may serve evil people. That you and you alone are in control of how you must live your life. There is no divine calculator, you must do the math.
Evil men pray to their gods, and then through politics, government, subjugation, or any other means set out to destroy lives. Today we attribute to god’s revenge natural disasters that destroy communities and kill thousands. This too is a fairy tale. We test nuclear weapons, and then, cry god, when that energy disperses itself in the form of an earthquake or tsunami. As the climate changes we refuse to resound, “It is I’ I am responsible.”
I often remind myself that some fish can fly and some humans can reason.
