Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Answering Bodie Hodge


I always find it telling that Christian activists post a bunch of questions for atheists on websites that don't allow us the opportunity to respond.  I'll address a recent set of questions from Bodie Hodge below.

"Are you tired of all the evil associated with the philosophy of atheism—Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and so on?"
False premise; atheism isn't a philosophy.

"Even if they claim to believe in the God of the Bible, they are not really living like a true Christ follower (who strives to follow God’s Word), are they?"
Sure they are.  If they say they think Christ is divine, they're a Christian.

"Do you feel conflicted about the fact that atheism has no basis in morality (i.e., no absolute right and wrong; no good, no bad?)"
If you mean "that atheism makes no claim about morality," then no.  It doesn't bother me that morality has nothing to do with belief in gods.

"Are you tired of the fact that atheism (which is based in materialism, a popular worldview today) has no basis for logic and reasoning?"
If you mean "that atheism makes no claim about logic and reason," then no.  It doesn't bother me that those things have nothing to do with belief in gods.  Materialism, by the way, is not part of the definition of atheism.

" Is it tough trying to get up every day thinking that truth, which is immaterial, really doesn’t exist? "
False premise; I believe in truth.

"Are you bothered by the fact that atheism cannot account for uniformity in nature (the basis by which we can do real science)? "
No, since it doesn't claim to.

"Why would everything explode from nothing and, by pure chance, form beautiful laws like E=MC2 or F=MA?"
False premises; the Big Bang wasn't an explosion from nothing, nor do things in nature happen by chance.

"Do you feel like you need a weekend to recoup, even though a weekend is really meaningless in an atheistic worldview—since animals, like bees, don’t take a day of rest or have a weekend?"
False premises.  Time off from work is certainly meaningful.

"So why should atheists?"
Why should any human?  Because it's nice not to have to work seven days a week.

"Why borrow a workweek and weekend that comes from the pages of Scriptures, which are despised by atheists?"
False premise; my employer didn't say anything about Scriptures when I was offered my schedule.

"And why look forward to time off for a holiday (i.e., holy day), when nothing is holy in an atheistic worldview?"
Because it's time off from work.

"Do you feel conflicted about proselytizing the faith of atheism, since if atheism were true then who cares about proselytizing?"
False premise; faith and proselytizing are religious concepts.

"Are you weary of looking for evidence that contradicts the Bible’s account of creation and finding none?
False premise; I'm not.

"Do the assumptions and inconsistencies of dating methods weigh on your conscience when they are misrepresented as fact?"
False premise; dating methods confirm one another.

"Where do you suppose those missing links have gone into hiding?"
Missing links from what to what?

"In fact, why would an atheist care to live one moment longer in a broken universe where one is merely rearranged pond scum and all you have to look forward to is . . . death, which can be around any corner? "
False premises; I'm a human being who looks forward to lots of things.

"I invite you to reconsider..."
I politely decline until such time as you can provide evidence to support the claims that you make in your invitation.






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