Somehow I missed this when it went viral in the blogosphere. University of Houston professor, Ken Parsons, announced on his blog that he was giving up philosophic research into religion. He discussed his efforts to teach the case for theism:
I found the arguments so execrably awful and pointless that they bored and disgusted me.... I have to confess that I now regard “the case for theism” as a fraud and I can no longer take it seriously enough to present it to a class as a respectable philosophical position—no more than I could present intelligent design as a legitimate biological theory. BTW, in saying that I now consider the case for theism to be a fraud, I do not mean to charge that the people making that case are frauds who aim to fool us with claims they know to be empty. No, theistic philosophers and apologists are almost painfully earnest and honest; I don’t think there is a Bernie Madoff in the bunch. I just cannot take their arguments seriously any more, and if you cannot take something seriously, you should not try to devote serious academic attention to it.
Oh boy do I know how he feels. When I have discussions with non-Orthodox rabbinical colleagues about the case for theism, I find myself thinking the same kind of things. I simply can’t believe that otherwise bright and open people really believe in it. And the more complicated their arguments become, the less I find them to be compelling. Either there’s no logical consistency or there’s so much gobbledy-gook that I can’t get a handle on what they’re talking about. I can tell that THEY believe in it, I just can’t for the life of me understand how or why.
We evolved the susceptibility to believe in the supernatural. Even atheists who bet on sports games are sometimes superstitious.
ReplyDeleteWe have to fight our hard wiring when it comes to being logical about things like God.
I have repeatedly tried to get intelligent Christians to tell me why they believe in the divinity of Jesus. I have never gotten a comprehensible answer, although they have tried very hard.
ReplyDeleteI think belief is hard-wired into the brain -- either you believe or you don't. My family is Jewish-agnostic -- I find it interesting that my brother, his wife, and our sons are all in the same place. My mother became agnostic (after being raised Orthodox) at the end of her life too. Genetics?
Natalie A. Sera
If the case for theism is a fraud, then Judaism is a fraud.
ReplyDeleteSo why bother, unless you are some kind of racists who want to feel superior to the Goys?
Nietzschean
(oh, and if you are going to rely on that "tradition" Bullshit, save it. If theism is a fraud, then the tradition is a fraud)
Hey Anon, even Dawkins states that he is a traditional Christian....he likes Christmas times, carols, etc. Tradition is reality. It is based on a fraud, but tradition and believer exist.
ReplyDeleteAs for the comment on being racists, I can see by your comments that you seem to be racist towards Jews. All I can say is seek help.
Why do I need help?
ReplyDeleteYou give me everything I need to make my case.
And if you think Dawkins is a traditional Chritian, you have just shown how, in traditional Rabbinic tacttics, you can make anything mean anything you want.
YOU get some help and figure out why you are "Jewish".
Nietzschean
guess you hit a nerve there...
ReplyDeleteheh, my MA advisor was reformed and as a young man gave a talk; the response from one of the sr faculty was that "god isn't that complicated."
that's what burned away the last of my belief, the bullshit. when the really smart people had to go in the direction of "angels, pins, heads, etc" i just let it all go, all the woo. it's a fun game, and some even play for money, but it's not real.