Atheistic Propositions that are Self-defeating

Atheistic Propositions that are Self-defeating

Based on this video: http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=5be6fa5ba77dbfd7d4a1

A self-defeating proposition is a proposition that is self-contradictory; if it’s true then it’s false. So a self-defeating proposition violates the law of non-contradiction which is one of the fundamental laws of logic. A few obvious examples could be if I write “I can’t write a word in English” or if I say “my parents never had kids”. Let’s see how we can provide some easy responses to some common self-defeating atheistic propositions that are very popular in our so called modern world and which we as theists often come across in our preaching.

1. There is no truth <– is that proposition true?

2. You can’t know the truth <– do you know that proposition to be true?

3. All truth is relative <– is that a relative truth?

4. It’s true for you, but not for me <– is that true for everybody?

5. No one has the truth <– how do you have that truth?

6. Everything is meaningless <– what do you mean by that?

7. You ought not judge <– isn’t that a judgment?

8. You should doubt everything <– should I doubt that proposition?

9. There is no truth in religion, only in science <– is that a scientific truth? (no it can’t be proven in a lab. It’s a philosophical, metaphysical assumption).

See the video for more detailed explanations of the above self-defeating statements.

We might add these statements also:

10. You should think for yourself <– then I shoudn’t listen to you, right?

11. You shouldn’t force your beliefs on others <– then why do you force this belief on me?

Theism, Atheism and Child Abuse

Theism, Atheism and Child Abuse

- Authored by Ajita Krishna Dasa 

Atheists often argue that atheism is the default position, because everyone is born as an atheist (e.g. without knowledge of God). They argue that religion is something artificial which is imposed on us from family, society etc. as we grow up. Richard Dawkins uses this argument in his book “The God Delusion”, and he goes so far as to call it child abuse if children are called Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus etc. 

But are atheists justified in postulating that we are all born atheists and that atheism is therefore the default position and that religion is something artificial which is imposed on us from family, society etc? In order to provide evidence for this belief atheists would have to demonstrate that humans do not have an inborn religious or spiritual nature or that there’s no reason to believe that they have. Can they do that? I have never seen any scientific or logical evidence to support their claim. In fact I’ve seen a lot of evidence that supports the opposite e.g. the idea that humans can not be reduced to matter alone, but that they appear to have a religious or spiritual nature. There is, for example, strong evidence for such things as reincarnation and out of body experiences. And last year a new book came out which argues from a neuroscientific perspective that human beings must have a soul. The book is called “The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist Case for Existence of the Soul”. It’s written by Ph.d. Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary. I invite you to investigate the scientific aspect of this discussion for yourself. 

If we take a closer look at the human nature it’s quite clear that humans in general have a strong urge towards something divine. This becomes evident when we look at human behavior throughout history. We will thus observe the urge towards something divine in every culture and society. Also considering the above mentioned science it seems to me that this urge towards the divine is best explained as evidence that religiosity is an intrinsic part of our human nature. 

Now, consider the fact that many of our inborn abilities has to trained and nourished systematically in order to develop properly. Take for example our ability to learn language, mathematics or musical skills. These abilities have to be trained and nourished carefully. Otherwise they will not develop properly. Parents who denies their children the opportunity to develop these inborn abilities are actually abusing their children and they will, obviously, be considered evil by most people. 

Now, as we have seen, there seems to be absolute no reason why we should think that humans do not have an inborn religious nature and there seems to many reasons why we should think they have. If humans actually have a religious nature the atheistic argument that religion is something artificial imposed on us becomes useless. 

In fact, in such a scenario atheism would be something artificial imposed on us from outside, and religiosity would be the default position and therefore something that has to be systematically and carefully trained and nourished so that it will develop properly. In fact, in such a scenario, it would be at least as much child abuse to stigmatize a child as irreligious and not to let it develop it’s inborn religious nature as it is now considered child abuse to deny a child the opportunity to develop it’s inborn abilities to learn things like language, mathematics and musical skills. 

As theists we know from Gods revelation, personal experience, science and philosophy that we in fact do all have an inborn religious and spiritual nature and that this is indeed the most important part of our human nature. Therefore we also know that it is in fact an extreme form of child abuse not to train and nourish that inborn religious nature in our children. A person who hasn’t developed his or her inborn religious nature has no possibility to see the world as it is – namely as the product of divine design and given to us as a gift from God. Such a person will be left to suffer with no objective value, purpose or meaning in life and thus with no hope of becoming really happy. But not only that. Such a person will also be morally crippled because without knowledge of God one can’t know universal moral rules but only cling to moral relativism and subjectivism. Therefore atheism is dangerous both for the individual and society in general and as believers in God we should therefore not just sit idly and look on while the atheists dictates what is good and bad for our children and how they should or should not be educated.