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Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig – Why Atheistic Proselytizing is Misguided
On the question of whether God exists, only one thing is certain: there is no complete proof that the Almighty exists and there’s no complete proof either that “He” doesn’t. Of course, this hasn’t stopped either side from trying to convince the other. Throughout most of history, it was the religious “true believer” who attempted to proselytize the pagans and/or polytheists. More recently, though, atheist proponents have gone on the attack against religious belief. It is the latter that I want to address here.
Let’s start with a mental exercise. Mrs. Cohen has suffered for a long time from general pains in her body. Her doctors, having performed every conceivable exam, are stumped. There is no medical reason for her pain, but as Mrs. Cohen is otherwise a respected person and not prone to hyperbole nor a complainer in general, there’s no reason to believe that the pain is a figment of her imagination. With nothing left to offer, during her latest visit, the family doctor turns to Mrs. Cohen and says: “Here’s a new drug that just came on the market, precisely for your type of idiopathic pain. It has worked for 90% of the trial patients. It’s worth giving it a shot.”
Mrs. Cohen leaves the doctor’s office. On her way out, she bumps into an acquaintance, Mr. Levi who asks why she’s there. After relating her pain problem, Mr. Levi replies: “Let me give you some advice. Don’t believe the doctor. I had something similar a while back and the doc told me exactly the same thing about this new drug. Turns out it’s a placebo – doesn’t really do anything.”
What should we think about Mr. Levi? At best, misguided; at worst, malicious. Why? Because We do know that for many people placebos do work remarkably well, so why spoil the chance that it would help Mrs. Cohen too?
From here we return to the issue at hand. Almost every sentient human being suffers from some form of existential angst – an emotional pain. There are two related, primary reasons for this: 1- our eventual death; 2- the meaning(less) of life. As homo sapiens (thinking wo/man), we are blessed and cursed by our ability to think deeply and analytically about our world, as opposed to the rest of the animal kingdom that basically lives in the here and now without the ability for “philosophical” thought.
How to overcome such existential (psychological) pain – no less debilitating than physical pain? Where to find “meaning” in life?
There are two levels in which we can find or create such “meaning.” At the day-to-day level, by finding “meaning” in our work, or our interpersonal relationships, or some other project in which we can immerse ourselves (e.g., philanthropy). That’s adequate for when we are actively involved in such endeavors, but other times the angst can set in at any time.
Religion serves as a marvelous placebo – on both levels. First, many religions offer the promise of an afterlife, so that death is not “the end.” Second, with an all-mighty God (the Almighty), there is “someone” who infuses the entire universe with meaning – even if we cannot know exactly what such “meaning” involves. Believers can rest assured that despite their not knowing the underlying nature of the “Meaning of it All,” such Meaning does exist. Indeed, God’s response to Moses on Mount Sinai regarding His nature is intriguingly amorphous: “I will be what I will be.”
Why, then, should atheists want to pull the rug from under religious belief when it seems to be so essential for the psychological/spiritual health of most of humanity? Indeed, the fact that religion or other meta-supernatural forms of belief have been (and remain) so prevalent throughout world history is proof enough of its utility to most human beings.
Interestingly, atheists might be more “courageous,” given their ability and willingness to stare into the abyss and continue living with their “surety” that there’s no bottom. But courage in one person does not mean that it can be foisted on others (similarly, believers shouldn’t try to “convert” the unbeliever). Each manages to deal with this core question of existence in their own, quite different way.
To repeat, none of this is to say that God actually exists, that there’s really an “Afterlife,” or that in the final analysis, the universe has some sort of Meaning. It might well not have any of these; it might also have all of them. Both positions cannot be proven – and most probably never will be. But if “belief” in and of itself provides great comfort to myriads of humans, when there are no other effective forms of “medication” for existential angst, then let the believers be(lieve).
