Unfortunately, the intellectual superiority
that Jesus displays in his exchanges with the Pharisee does not reflect the
dynamics that take place today in the debates between atheists and people of
faith. They argue about the existence of a Creator, so we shouldn’t be
surprised. The theologian Paul Tillich said:
“Anyone who gets into a debate about the
existence of God has stacked the cards in favor of the atheist.”
“Existence”
is a word we can comprehend, for it refers to reality, whereas we can’t figure
out God. The two words are forced in the same sentence all the time, but they
don’t belong together.
My husband, as I see it, is a believer at heart
and an atheist intellectually, so he can function as a bridge between our son
and I.
“Have you ever heard of the Aeropagite?” he
asked to our contemptuous son. He was a mysterious ancient mystic who, in his
attempt to define God, made use of what has been known by the philosophical
tradition as the ‘ via negativa’. According to him, no attributes as we know
them could be true of God, including the attribute of existence. Therefore, in
a very mystical sense, God does not even exists. By this he probably meant that
human mind cannot grasp anything concerning God, who is above and
beyond our cognitive sphere.”
“He certainly is,” I said, “but what people
of faith hold on to is the religious experience, which of course cannot be
grasped by someone who has never had such an experience. An atheist will talk
about faith like a blind man might talk of colors.”
“You are so arrogant!” our son exclaimed.
“Religious people always pretend to know something that we nonbelievers don’t
know. However, twenty-first century atheists are not as much against religion
as they are against belief without evidence, because such beliefs caused the
most tragic moments in history. For example, Hitler
killed millions of people on the basis of an unjustified belief, namely that
the Jews were an inferior race.”
“Evil was at the root of this false belief,”
I answered. “No one can deny that in the history of Christianity there have
been evil people also, but remember that the Church is a human creation. You
can’t condemn Christ for the wrong that was done in his name.”
“I’m not blaming religion only,” our son
replied, “but belief itself. I’m interested in truth and therefore in evidence.”
“Then what is your
opinion about Communism in Soviet Russia and China?” his father retorted. “This ideology was as dangerous as a belief and produced massive violence against innocent people. We can only
conclude that violent impulses are deeply rooted in human beings, just like their need to believe in something,
it doesn’t matter if it is a religion or an ideology. Both can be used to do either evil or good. If dogmas,
along with rational doctrines, can be used to arm people, then there is no claim that it should be responsible
for the evil of this world. Evil always finds a way to manifest itself.
