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My Dogma Ran Over My Karma
Five conversation-stopping myths behind the New Atheism and how dialogue can be restored.
Oct. 1, 2014
Regardless of 2), reason, as properly apprehended by the human brain, is a reliable and authoritative source of knowledge.
Nothing in this list is a simple rejection of anything—all are positive, specific claims about the way the universe is that as such, carries a burden of proof their advocates do not have the luxury of shirking. Most importantly, rejection of a belief in God and the Supernatural necessarily commits Atheists to each and every one of them.
Finally, we must consider whether skepticism is truly merited, and why. “How can I be wrong,” my friend asks, “when I say 'you haven't presented a compelling argument for your case'?”
Easily… He’s wrong because he’s never backed that claim with reasonable standards of proof, and neither has any other New Atheist. It’s pretty difficult to tell someone they don’t have a compelling case without having at least some idea of what one would actually look like. Nor are they in a position to claim that any evidence they have been shown is flawed until they’ve bothered to familiarize themselves with its content and learn whatever science or other knowledge is required for that (this may seem obvious, but in over 40 years I’ve never met an Atheist who was willing even read the scholarship I offered, much less attempt a proper response to it).
If New Atheists had relevant standards of proof it’s reasonable to expect they would've provided them by now, especially since such standards have been provided to them on countless occasions (my friend included). For instance, I’ve already pointed out Christianity teaches that the universe, and all physical laws governing it were created (Gen. 1:1) rendering it very likely that they are not past-eternal. As we saw, the existence of a t=0 event at which all physical reality can be said to have begun falls within the realm of physics and cosmology, and thus open to scientific inquiry. Evidence for one counts in favor of a creation event, and contrary evidence would be a strike against it. And the evidence for such an event is robust. Likewise, Christianity also claims that Jesus of Nazareth was born, lived in First Century Palestine for approximately 30 years, was crucified and entombed, and rose from the dead after three days.
These are historical claims that fall within the realm of archeology, history and text criticism. Evidence can be, and has been provided for them. Whether New Atheists accept this evidence or not is beside the point. They’ve been shown this evidence on many occasions, in personal testimony and scholarly works (several of which have been cited here2,3), and accompanied by proper standards of proof. If they want to dispute that evidence they’re welcome to. But if they expect to be taken seriously they need demonstrate that it can be legitimately disputed. If they cannot, or will not do that, then shouting “No evidence! No evidence!” is just vacuous noise. Global warming skeptics and Creationists have been doing this sort of thing for decades. Creationists in particular are a case in point. By the 90’s, when it had become clear that the “young earth” approach was going nowhere they rebranded themselves under the less obvious rubric of “Intelligent Design” and simply designated themselves as “skeptics of evolution.” If my friend’s argument flies then we’re obligated to take them seriously too. After all, how can they be wrong when they say that we “haven’t presented a compelling argument” for evolution… especially when they’re free to define compelling any way they please?9
Consider following analogy.10 Thomas, Richard and Stephen, are away for the week at a remote wilderness cabin. One morning they go for a walk and discover an intricately crafted crop circle in a nearby field. They had visited that field the previous evening and it had been undisturbed. Later that evening they’d seen some lights through the trees in the direction of that field, the road in hadn’t been travelled in days, and as far as they knew they were the only people within 30 miles. How did it get there? One explanation might be that a race of intelligent aliens exists and occasionally visits earth leaving such crop circles behind for some reason. Let’s call the claim that intelligent aliens exist our “theistic” explanation. Thomas believes they do, making him the “Theist,” Richard believes they do not (the “Atheist”), and Stephen is unsure (the “Agnostic”). Where does this leave them?
Clearly, Thomas has an explanation that accounts for everything they currently know, but Stephen can reasonably dispute it. True, the evidence can be explained by an alien visit so they may well exist. But there might be terrestrial explanations as well. If these are to be ruled out then certain standards of proof should be met. For instance, further investigation might reveal that the gas in their SUV was down to ¼ tank when it had been at ½ tank the day before. A previously unknown hiker or camper might show up on the road and report that they’d seen an SUV in the field last night. Closer examination of the crop circle might reveal tire tracks, or the vehicle itself might have grass or mud in the treads that hadn’t been there before. Any such discoveries would be compelling counter-evidence to Thomas’ case—namely, that one of the three had snuck out in the middle of the night and pulled a prank. This would not disprove Thomas’ theory, but it would weaken it leaving him in the position of having to bring more to the table than the crop circle itself.
Notice that Richard’s stance is different than Stephen’s. He isn’t claiming that the existence of aliens is questionable—he says they do not exist… period. But like it or not, the crop circle is an indisputable brute fact. Thomas has a viable explanation for it, he doesn’t. This leaves him with exactly three options;
- Concede Thomas’s case and accept that aliens exist.
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