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All of us look at our world and wish a few things didn’t exist. For example, most sane people agree there should be no hunger or war. We’d love to live in a world without cancer. But our world contains the things many of us do not like.
Even atheist Thomas Nagel wishes the world didn’t contain something, or Someone….
Thomas Nagel has been teaching philosophy and law at NYU for a long time. He’s written a number of books and even more articles on topics ranging from ethics and morality to law and justice. One of his favorite subjects to address is religion, specifically, why he doesn’t think it’s a good thing. And that goes for the idea of God, as well.
In his book The Last Word, Dr. Nagel wrote:
In speaking of the fear of religion, I don’t mean to refer to the entirely reasonable hostility toward certain established religions…in virtue of their objectionable moral doctrines, social policies, and political influence. Nor am I referring to the association of many religious beliefs with superstition and the acceptance of evident empirical falsehoods. I am talking about something much deeper – namely the fear of religious itself…. I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and naturally, hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that.
Wow, that’s quite an admission! Most atheists – who love to proclaim their affinity for thought and reason – are unwilling to concede such a startling bias.
Unfortunately for Dr. Nagel, God does exist; the atheist will just have to get used to disappointment.
Resource’s Origin:
Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000, Page 50.
Topics Illustrated Include:
Apologetics
Atheism
Beliefs
Bias
Christianity
Complain
Desire
Fear
God’s Existence
Philosophy
Religion
Universe
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
