Posted on 07/15/2014 9:37:28 AM PDT by EternalVigilance
For some, “God doesn’t believe in atheists” is just a clever (nor not-so-clever) jab directed against the faithless in our culture. But based on the findings of secular researchers, the statement may not be so far from reality.
That is because multidisciplinary research is increasingly backing the idea that human beings are hard-wired to believe in God, according to Science 2.0 writer Nury Vittachi in an article titled, “Scientists discover that atheists might not exist, and that’s not a joke.”
“[A]theism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think,” Vittachi cites avowed atheist Graham Lawton as writing in New Scientist. “They point to studies showing, for example, that even people who claim to be committed atheists tacitly hold religious beliefs, such as the existence of an immortal soul.”
Even atheists hold to several tacitly religious concepts, including the existence of an immortal soul, according to Lawton. The article also cites another atheist researcher who demonstrated that all people engage in internal monologue, regardless of whether the person to whom their thoughts are directed is actually present.
Equally demonstrable is the intrinsic human tendency to believe in divine justice. Vittachi describes both religious and non-religious persons as possessing the innate sense that “If I commit a sin, it is not an isolated event but will have appropriate repercussions.” This sense of cosmic justice is credited for the popular belief in “karma.”
This idea, he writes, is played out on a number of differently levels—including narrative literature, where even atheist authors invariably write stories that “exist to establish that there exists a mechanism or a person—cosmic destiny, karma, God, fate, Mother Nature—to make sure the right thing happens to the right person.”
Even the staunchest nontheists are not exempted from such habits, according to the writer. “If a loved one dies, even many anti-religious people usually feel a need for a farewell ritual, complete with readings from old books and intoned declarations that are not unlike prayers,” Vittachi writes. “In war situations, commanders frequently comment that atheist soldiers pray far more than they think they do.”
According to the writer, atheists tend to exhibit the same sociological, psychological dependence on the intangible as religious folk do, even if the former reject the existence of anything supernatural. “Statistics show that the majority of people who stop being part of organized religious groups don’t become committed atheists, but retain a mental model in which ‘The Universe’ somehow has a purpose for humanity,” says Vittachi.
While Vittachi attempts to connect all these theistic proclivities to an evolutionary source, missing one key bit of evidence: it is the biblical Christian worldview, not the secular humanist worldview, which accurately predicts a human bent towards belief in God.
In Romans 1:18-23, the apostle Paul writes that “what can be known about God is plain to them”—that is, all men—and that “his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” He then goes so far as to state that all such people “knew God” (v. 21). The implication, thus, is that man innately assumes the existence of his Creator until he convinces himself to think otherwise.
This biblical teaching is not unique to Paul. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding,” echoing the same sentiment of other Old Testament passages. In essence, one cannot truly possess wisdom and knowledge if one denies the essential fact of existence: that the transcendent God is the ultimate measure of reality.
While Vittachi may be a few steps short of walking down the aisle at the next altar call, the findings he describes lead to one critical conclusion: perhaps it is atheists, not God, who truly do not exist.
Exactly.
There’s definitely no dead atheists.
The key was for Spock, Kirk et al to not believe in them. Then they disappeared. But not before Spock Kirk et al kicked their bwtts.
(That was a plot flaw, though. Why and how can you kick their bwtts after you know they're not really there?)
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Hey, atheists fight what they say they don’t believe in all the time.
Not surprising. Atheism is illogical anyway. The only way they could prove their belief is if they were God Himself, everywhere inside and outside the universe simultaneously. Agnostics are at least intelligent enough to admit they’re not sure. But the study indicates even agnostics are faking their uncertainty.
Kind of like Schrödinger’s cat?
There are degrees. Some people are simply fed up with all organized religions so claim to be atheists. Some are militant and annoying as they consider those who believe in god to be deluded. Others just mind their business. We’ll all die soon enough and find out for ourselves. Too bad everyone just can’t mind their own business. Especially Muslims.
Most atheists are simply believers who are angry with God.
I think humans are hard-wired to seek causality. We have a hard time dealing with randomness and will always try to find some explanation for what happens. That gives rise to all manner of superstitions — Lady Luck, curses, angry gods — that purport to trace the source of our fortunes and misfortunes.
But the existence of God is larger than that. It is simply absurd to believe that the vast intricacies of the universe are the products of chance.
I think that’s right.
bump
Interesting thought: if people are biologically religious, then the same rules on things like discrimination that apply other biologically (fill in the blank) groups must also apply to the religious/devout.
So homosexuals, for instance, can’t discriminate against the religious who refuse to bake gay wedding cakes, photograph gay wedding ceremonies, etc.
I always find it humorous how their belief, which they deny, finds expression in the words they use. Words like “creature,” and “hard-wired,” etc. :-)
“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
:-)
That’s the truth, this is about people’s guilt and the fear of being judged by God, scares the hell out of them and they are unwilling to change, so they will jut go into denial.
Love it, science to back me up on this now
I like your argument ... I can’t help that I won’t build this cake... I was born that way.
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