Leival Richards (24 April) paraphrases Richard Dawkins paraphrasing Albert Einstein (talk about an overextended supply line!) to the effect that primitive man was clueless as to cause and effect and thus invented the idea of a caring, loving God.
To understand how super-massive objects bend the path of light rays, read Albert Einstein's work. To learn how to harness the atom to produce enormous quantities of energy for peaceful (or bellicose) purposes, Einstein is your man. But when it comes to understanding what people believe about God, I must ask: how many in-depth interviews with "primitive men" did Mr. Einstein conduct (while simultaneously hypothesizing about the structure of the universe from his position at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University) before he reached his conclusions? Put another way, expertise in one field does not guarantee expertise (or even competence) in another. If you have toothache, do you visit a neurosurgeon? If you need a broken bone set, do you visit a dentist?
Mr. Richards takes issue with Intelligent Design, citing "dynamic climatic conditions and numerous extinctions" as two reasons (among others) proving there is no "omnipotent anthropomorphic engineer" for life on earth.
Once again, let's get a little perspective. If Mr. Richards were to pour honey instead of petrol
into the fuel tank of his automobile, his automobile would (predictably) cease to function in a short while. Would Mr. Richards then be justified in telling his auto mechanic "Because my car suffered a cataclysmic disaster, it is clear that no intelligence designed this car in the first place"? Of course not. Christians hold that God created a good world, but that we humans have freely chosen to sin, and that this sin affects not only our own lives but the functioning of the entire biosphere. Mr. Richards and anyone else interested in empirical, scientific arguments against blind evolution and in favor of intelligent design are referred to Michael Behe's book Darwin's Black Box and Michael Denton's book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis.
Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and the rest of the so-called "New Atheists"-whomever they may quote for backup, including the genius Albert Einstein-are no help to decent folks who are not Christians but who want justice in the world. Why? If we are but complex biochemical reactors brought into existence by blind chance and not by any higher creative and moral power (which most people call God, and some people-including Jesus Christ-call God the Father), then we are not accountable to anyone for our actions. Our actions can never be good or bad, because there is no moral standard higher than another man's opinion by which to judge them. How could there be, since there is no moral judge above human beings? In the atheistic materialist mindset, to say "Murder is wrong" is no more consequential than saying "I prefer emasi to incwancwa". Atheists might object to this equivalence, and that is good-because it is not true. Still, that is the logical conclusion of their beliefs. It is no good for them to appeal to "common human decency", because someone could simply say "That is your opinion; I really want to rob that bank, or torture cats for entertainment, or kidnap children for profit, and you cannot tell me I am in the wrong. That would only be your opinion, and my preferences are just as legitimate as yours."
Observant readers see where this leads: the only way to keep order in a society where this line of thinking were to take root would be overwhelming force. No appeal to higher moral law would be convincing-only the ability to handcuff and throw into jail men who knock down children for amusement will keep such a society even partially safe. And heaven save us of the folks who hold that law is no more significant that personal opinion come into power. Does Mr. Richards believe this would be a positive development away from our "primitive" past?
Thankfully, God and His moral code do exist. I gently suggest Mr. Richards read two more books: More Than A Carpenter by Josh McDowell, which explains how the New Testament tells the truth about Jesus Christ's divine nature, His life on earth, and His claims on our lives; and Honey From The Rock by Roy Schoeman, which describes how some Jewish people-including some previously devout atheists-became Christians through the direct intervention of God Almighty. Not only will Mr. Richards find a suitable basis for a moral code to let him and the rest of us live safe and free lives, he may (hopefully) came to know the One who made him and can give him eternal life and joy.
Rudy Poglitsh
rpoglitsh@live.com
more letters at http://letterstotheTOS.blogspot.com
