As i mentioned in my previous post about the "evolutionary tree of life", I've been debating a few atheists again this past week or so and come to pretty much the same realizations and road blocks I came across in previous months when I was more actively involved in the back and forth discussions.
One of the big "road blocks" is the strong desire to believe something even when the evidence says otherwise, or suggests otherwise. This of course is the exact same thing as what an atheist or evolutionists would probably say about a Christian who rejects Evolutionism. "You're blinded by your faith." Maybe, but these atheists (these ones at least) are equally blinded by theirs. They often attribute divine-like qualities to nature, imagining it leaping great hurdles and restrictions that they know full well are absolutely natural and proven scientifically and mathematically. But they insist that SOMEHOW nature overcame those apparent absolutes because it JUST HAS TO have happened that way no matter that we can't prove it. An example of that is how they so strongly believe that life had to have originated from non-living material and molecules despite the massively proven law of biogenesis (life only comes from life). They know this law better than most, but they believe in their heart of hearts that somehow this law was circumvented at some time in the past. This same kind of strong belief despite the evidences permeates much of their thinking (just like such kinds of thinking can often permeate a religious person's thought processes and rationality).
This is a very human mental handicap that most of us have. Really, it's an issue of pride and belief. We're certain that we're right and really hate to hear that we're not, or that we might not be. This is why things like religion and politics are such hugely heated and dangerous discussions. It's the EXACT same factors at play. Pride, belief, perspective, philosophical outlook, etc. Pretty much the very heart of who we are and what we believe is at stake in the debates so we take it all VERY personal. It's our foundational worldview that's being criticized and put to the test. Atheists are as guilty of being blinded by their faith as any religious person is, though they'll adamantly deny and reject this every time, as if this idea itself undermines their entire worldview (since they often seem themselves and intellectually superior to all others who do not share their worldview).
So even just saying, "Dude, you've got a worldview, a belief system," can often infuriate them even as they're powerfully representing EXACTLY how much of a worldview they really have. "I believe in nothing!..." Sorry, that's not true Mr Atheist. If you believed in nothing you would KNOW nothing and be entirely non-intellectual in the extreme. It's kind of like the argument over absolutes. "There is no such thing as an absolute!" Really? Are you absolutely certain about that?... See the logical flaw there?
ALL people have a worldview, glasses through which they see the world, the universe, themselves, mankind, and everything else. It permeates and dominates every thought they have. It's literally the core or heart of a person's self, a person's mind, a person's knowledge and experience. In many ways, the worldview is the foundation of who we are as people, and it exists in all of us. Everything we know and perceive is filtered through that worldview. The trick is trying our best to not let ourselves be blinded by it.
Who's more likely to be blinded by their worldview? Someone who knows they have one and knows what their own worldview is based upon, or a person who rejects that they have one at all? Food for thought. ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment