Speaking as an atheist, I’ve participated in many debates, usually with Christian leaders. Below are some of the points I have made. I hope it will be instructive to those of you who engage in religious discussions. Feel free to use or modify any of my comments.
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Basically, an atheist is simply someone without a belief in any gods. I can’t prove there are no gods. I just find no credible evidence for them, which is also why I don’t believe in astrology or alien abduction by UFOs. Suppose I tell you that the universe was really created just thirty minutes ago and a supernatural being planted false memories in all of you. You can’t show I’m wrong, but wouldn’t you want evidence before believing it? The burden of proof is on those who assert a belief, not on those who don’t accept it.
I understand the appeal of religion. Fear of death can lead to a longing for an afterlife, where we can be united forever with loved ones in eternal bliss. But it’s important to distinguish between the world as we know it and the world as we’d like it to be. Many individuals believe they’ve had personal experiences with gods, and that can be comforting. But there are over 7,000 gods people believe in; Do believers investigate all the world religions and select the one with the most reasonable faith? I think not. As it turns out, there’s a remarkable coincidence. The overwhelming majority simply choose the religion of their parents.
Religious beliefs are learned, not discovered. I learned to believe in the biblical god—Yahweh, not Jesus. Why? Because I was born into a Jewish family. Had I been born into a Christian family, I’d likely have believed Jesus is Lord. Most Asians are Buddhists, people from India are largely Hindu, Saudi Arabians are Muslim, and in the United States the majority are Christian. Religious belief is based more on geography than theology. With all the conflicting faith beliefs in the world, they can’t all be right. But they can all be wrong.
Countless scientific discoveries have transformed god beliefs. Most people no longer attribute natural phenomena such as eclipses, earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods to supernatural causes. There will always be unanswered questions, but scientific gaps are not evidence for a “god of the gaps.” In science, we build from the wisdom of previous generations, and science changes in light of new evidence. Science relies on experimentation and logical deductions. It thrives on disagreements and a willingness to question assumptions critically. When scientists don’t have an answer, they say, “I don’t know” and continue to search for evidence until a consensus is reached. That’s why science works the same way throughout the world, including in countries with very different god beliefs.
We should discard horrendous biblical views written in a pre-scientific era when democracy was nonexistent and kings ruled by divine right. “True believers” (whether in astrology, psychics, tarot cards, or religion) look for and focus on information that supports their beliefs while overlooking or downplaying contradictory evidence. This is known as confirmation bias, and it includes claims of miracles by zealous believers.
Scientific evidence and human rights advances have forced many religious believers to modify or reinterpret their ancient beliefs. For instance, our universe is approximately 13.8 billion years old, and Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago. Humans have been around for only 200,000 years. If there is a creator, it seems to care more for bacteria, which have been around for 3.5 billion years. This creator also cares more for cockroaches, which were on Earth more than 300 million years before humans. To put all this on a more understandable scale, if we represented the universe as a twenty-four-hour day, then humans would appear only in the last two-and-a-half seconds. I think it’s sheer ego to believe that the entire universe was created for our benefit. Such origin stories are what we might expect from a scientifically ignorant culture. “In the beginning” sounds a lot like “Once upon a time.”
Most religious believers recognize how intellectually feeble faith is when applied to anything other than their god. Faith can’t move mountains, but religious faith is capable of leading people to believe in something so strongly that in extreme cases they are prepared to kill and die for it.
Now, I know most Christians are skeptical of other religions (as am I) and even skeptical of other kinds of Christians. For instance, how about this Christian resurrection story? After Jesus died but before he went to Heaven, he stopped in the United States in Missouri. The information was chiseled on gold plates in Egyptian hieroglyphics and buried in Palmyra, New York. In 1827, an angel named Moroni led a man named Joseph Smith to the gold plates and a magic stone that enabled Smith to translate the plates into English. When Jesus returns, he will again go to Missouri. How do we know all this? Because it’s in the Book of Mormon, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the fastest-growing Christian religions. Christians who don’t believe this resurrection story should understand why I don’t believe theirs.
But perhaps evidence was not that important. Christianity began as a doomsday cult with emphasis on the end times. The synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) all say that the current generation would not pass before Jesus returns. Well, it’s been about 2,000 years since that was written, and something apparently went wrong. So, Christians began to realize that their story did not sound very credible, which is why they actively discouraged reason and doubt.
John’s Gospel, the last written after previous generations had passed away, says: “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet still believe.”
Martin Luther said: “Whoever wants to be a Christian, should tear the eyes out of his reason.”
And in Romans 14, blind faith is a requirement: “He who doubts is damned.”
Why is it so horrible to doubt? Because if people approached religion with the same kind of doubt and skepticism as scientists do in their work, there would be very few religious believers.
Here’s what third-century Christian apologist Tertullian said about the resurrection: “The Son of God died. Just because it is absurd it is to be believed. And he was buried and rose again. It is certain, because it is impossible.” If that makes any sense to you, please explain.
Scientist Carl Sagan said, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Claims about God, and certainly claims about the resurrection, are extraordinary, but I have yet to hear good evidence.
And so far, why hasn’t one of the competing theories about gods produced a consensus? God remains as mysterious today as thousands of years ago despite countless theological and philosophical arguments and wars, including wars between different Christian sects. If God’s mission was to have religious believers fight endlessly over specific meanings in their ambiguous and contradictory holy books, then God can say, “Mission accomplished.”
I don’t think we should give credit to a deity for our accomplishments or blame satanic forces when we behave badly. We should take personal responsibility for our actions. We don’t have to believe in a certain type of god, or in any gods, to be kind and compassionate to our fellow human beings. Our deeds are more important than our creeds. Because we can’t prove that anything lies beyond, I think we should focus on improving conditions here on Earth. We may differ about a future life, but atheists, Christians, and others can work together on mutual concerns that matter in this life, such as human rights, racial discrimination, the environment, poverty, peace, and other social justice issues.
My purpose here is not to convert my Christian opponent, or any of you in the audience, to atheism. Each of us must find a path that enables us to live healthy and productive lives while helping our fellow human beings. My purpose is to encourage you to think critically. It has been said that philosophy is examining questions that may never be answered, and religion is finding answers that may never be questioned. But one of the best ways to learn is through questioning, looking for evidence, and hearing many sides of an issue. I encourage all of you to continue to read and study the Bible. It is an important part of Western culture regardless of your god beliefs. (In fact, prolific science writer Isaac Asimov said, “Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”)
Here are some questions I’ve asked opponents during debates when I had the opportunity:
How would your behavior toward other people change if you stopped believing in a god who judges your actions?
Which is more important, belief or behavior?
What is the purpose of eternal torture?
Do you believe that the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust just moved from one furnace to another?
If you have free will in Heaven, can you sin there and go to Hell? If you don’t have free will in Heaven, will it really be you or a robot?
If you don’t understand why God acts as he does and if he is so mysterious and beyond human comprehension, how can you make any claims about him or his existence?
Does God change his mind because of a prayer based on something he didn’t think of or anticipate?
If God allowed 50,000 children to die of starvation today, why should he listen to your prayers?
There have been countless natural explanations that have replaced supernatural ones. Can you give an example where people once thought something was natural and have now learned that it has a supernatural explanation?
I typically end my debate by thanking the audience for listening to me and for ignoring the words of the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 6:14: “Believers must not commune with unbelievers. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, light with darkness, believers with infidels?”
For those who want to watch some of my debates, you can find them at https://www.herbsilverman.com/videos.html.
Speaking as an atheist, I’ve participated in many debates, usually with Christian leaders. Below are some of the points I have made. I hope it will be instructive to those of you who engage in religious discussions. Feel free to use or modify any of my comments. * * * Basically, an atheist is simply …