The proposition that some unseen god(s) exist that cannot be verified by objective evidence is a debate that cannot be won or lost. All we get instead is a never-ending clash of opinions and assertions based on claimed subjective experiences. That’s why I‘m increasingly disinterested in the whole god debate.
What is to me perhaps the most critical and objectionable issue with all (?) religions is that they hold that their claims cannot ever be questioned or doubted, that they must be accepted as asserted by some humans, on pain of death, condemnation or some other injurious penalty by those same humans. That denial of falsification or even questioning or doubt, creates the bedrock of totalitarianism, whether that totalitarianism be dressed in religious or some other secular political ideological clothes.
“Believe in me” as a demand, translates into “do what I say and don’t question me,” whether uttered by a priest or a politician. That is a main sustaining basis for religion, and some political ideologies: unquestioned control over other people. The “comfort value” of a theism as far as personal survival and imputing meaning and caring on an otherwise apparently indifferent universe are secondary to me to the need people have to control others.
One of the reasons for the heat and anger, even killing, that is associated with the theist/atheist arguments is less the claimed existence or non-existence of some god, than it is the attempt of some people to control others. Religion, as well as some secular political ideologies, share the same purpose, control others. Both of these human creations get quite testy when someone challenges them and their authority. On a macro-scale, it is the same as a school yard bully trying to force others to give him their lunch money. “Because I said so,” is a common issue.
The issue isn’t “god,” the issue is instead unquestioned human authority that purports or attempts to force others to comply with some set of human values and wishes.
Dennis
