On the Absurdity of Atheism
“…but the universe is not intelligently designed, then you’re saying the universe just naturally came into existence, continues existence, through natural laws of nature, through physics, thermodynamics, the laws of gravity and energy, produced you, eventually, and then through you produced this book that proves that it has no natural intelligent design” (Stephen Colbert, concerning Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion).
This quote summarizes my views on the ridiculous implications of atheistic thought. Basically, people who reject God are left without an adequate explanation for their own existence and experience. Their vain attempts to construct a coherent worldview upon the ash and debris of a meaningless universe–which happens to be spiraling toward inevitable destruction, by the way–are completely illogical.
The way I see it, four necessary absurdities follow from the acceptance of a purely naturalistic paradigm.
- Everything is Mechanical: Because the world is only composed of matter (that which can be seen, measured, weighed, physically manipulated by other matter, etc…), it follows that everything, human consciousness included, must be reducible to purely physical processes.
- Consciousness is an Illusion: Since everything is mechanical, including my own self-awareness, it follows that my immediate perception of thought being nonphysical is a delusion. Moreover, the entity called “I” does not truly exist on its own, but is rather the faded reflection of spinning cogs and whirling gears. Thus, consciousness is a side-effect of sorts, a hangover from matter if you will, arising only once the machine has already been set upon its future course.
- Freewill does not Exist: Obviously, if consciousness arises as a kind of a byproduct from matter in motion, it follows that I do not determine any of my actions. Instead, heredity, the environment, and so on and so forth, hammer down on me like a hand upon a keyboard, and being the obedient machine that I am, I spit out predetermined outputs. The only place left for “will” is in the realm of enigmatic epiphenomenon: things which are purely material, or at least based solely on the material, but somehow not reducible to the material, even though they are material.
- All Knowledge and Conviction has no Reality: If the mind is merely matter, and our knowledge and convictions are the predetermined byproduct of physical forces, there is no reason to suppose that our knowledge and convictions are true; indeed, under such circumstances, there is no reason at all. As a consequence, it is impossible to know whether or not atheism is, quote-unquote, “true.”
Some might object at this point, saying that my logic is flawed, though I do not know how it possibly could be. My response, if atheism (defined as the rejection of the supernatural) were true, would be to merely rearrange the logic gates in the objector’s brain, such that the input of my statements would result in the output of his recognition of their truth. It would take exactly one inverter to do so.
