For starters, I bet the title got your attention, and now
you may want to know who this comedian I speak of is and why is he the number
one atheist in the world. Secondly, you may want to know why I am resting my
case. Well, not so fast, I may have to clear up a thing or two to make my case,
although what I said in the title is not really wrong. Please be patient, I am not trying to leave
anyone hanging off a cliff, and I promise this is just a short blog post. At
first, it will seem as if I am getting sidetracked for a bit, but in the end
all will make sense. Pretend that we are going on a journey, and we will arrive
at our final destination, but we will have to make some stops along the way
before our arrival. The first stop will be at ideas or at an idea.
I think I have good idea for challenging atheists in the
world in their way of thinking. I have noticed one thing, many of the top atheists
have never studied theology, but they argue in that subject which is outside
their main field of study. I am not
saying that is true for all because there are some such as Dan Barker who has a
degree in religion, and was a pastor, although I am not sure if he actually
studied Theology. My point is that the
closest many of the top atheists have gone is in the study of Philosophy which
is not exactly the same thing, just in case you didn’t know. Now, I would
personally recommend that if atheists wanted to make a good case they should
have someone with the right training like Bart Ehrman on their side; however, I believe Dr.
Ehrman is an agnostic, and must be excluded. The arguing of theology by someone
that is not a theologian is a lot like me trying to teach biology when I have
only taken, at most, two courses in biology my entire life. Part of what I
believe based on some of my thoughts recently which are that atheist, many of
which are very nice and pleasant human beings whom I admire and respect like Richard
Dawkins, are not really atheist. But, if
atheists are not atheist, what are they? Well this is where this post heads to
another stop along our journey.
What I've noticed lately is that atheists are really Materialists
because many only seem to believe in what they can see or prove logically, so
the argument often is that if something does not make sense logically and is
not visible than it is obviously nonexistent. Please correct me if I am wrong,
at the bottom of this post there is a place for comments and debate where one
can post opinions on this post. The argument I have heard most is that if
something is beyond logic, or understanding, or not seen than it is not real. So,
why do I say that they are Materialists?
Well, to use a little bit of scientific apologetics for my reasoning, I will
share an article from back in May 2011 by Clara Moskowitz on SPACE.com titled: What's 96 Percent of the Universe Made Of?
Astronomers Don't Know. Moskowitz begins the article by saying: "All
the stars, planets and galaxies that can be seen today make up just 4 percent
of the universe. The other 96 percent is made of stuff astronomers can't see,
detect or even comprehend. These mysterious substances are called dark energy
and dark matter (m.space.com)." In my opinion, not even science is sure of much on this
subject, and what we see only accounts for 4% of the material world.
Consequently, I would not be so critical of what theology has been saying since
the beginning whether one can really understand it or not because as it is
there seems to be a whole lot we do not know. If you want to read the entire
article the link to it is just below.
Missing: 96 Percent of the Universe | Dark Matter & Dark Energy | The 4% Universe, Richard Panek
Materialism in my opinion is outdated, and general education
should include teaching Theology. These days we even have some clergy that have
not done theological studies. Based on what I said, it's no wonder many do not
want to stay affiliated to any denominations or the sort as we discovered in a
recent Pew Research Center study, but that is a subject for another post. Maybe
we even have to stop thinking that subjects like parapsychology are
pseudoscience. We may actually be on the edge of a new horizon in understanding
that we may have never envisioned we would ever reach and how quickly we
reached it in our civilization. I would love to see one day soon someone like William
"Bill" Maher invite some Theologians
to debate some of the top Atheists on his TV show. My suggestions for panelist would probably be persons like Bart Ehrman, Kathryn Tanner , Craig Evans, or Cardinal
Dolan. Perhaps Cardinal Sean O’Malley, or Fr. George Rutler could be some of
those guest invited along with some of those top Atheists. I'm not against Atheism;
we all have to believe according to our own honest understanding.
Now, why did I title this article: I Rest My Case; the Number One Atheist in the World is a Comedian. Well, I suppose I was trying to get your
attention. However, I will let you know who the top Materialists are, or I mean
Atheist. According to www.thebestschools.org, and by terms of celebrity status,
also determined by a Google search, the top
five most popular atheist are: Woody Allen, Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins,
Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris (http://www.thebestschools.org/blog/2011/12/01/50-top-atheists-in-the-world-today/).
Now, based on seriousness and celebrity status, not just the fact that they
deny that God exists, the top five atheists are: Peter Singer, Michael Martin,
Kai Nielsen, Quentin Smith, and Daniel Dennett (http://www.thebestschools.org/blog/2011/12/01/50-top-atheists-in-the-world-today/). Woody Allen has made me laugh tremendously
over most of my lifetime and he made the list, so technically I can say that
the number one atheist in the world is a comedian.
In closing, I hope you have enjoyed reading my post, and
that you found it, at least slightly, thought provoking. Blessings and until
next time!
References:
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