Argument from Personal Experience
Several years ago, I was a big festival, listening to an amazing group. Everyone around me was singing along - as was I. The atmosphere was electric, and I was overcome by an immense feeling of euphoria and connectedness. It was as if time had stopped, and I was completely immersed in the moment, and the people around me. If there was a heaven, it would be like that moment, where nothing else mattered but the experience.
I was stone cold sober at the Glastonbury Festival listening to R.E.M.
Understandably I don’t hold much truck with the “I believe in God because I had this amazing personal experience“. I’m sure that people do have amazing personal experiences that they just cannot explain. But, I fail to see why God is such a brilliant explanation.
I’ve never told a religious person about my Glastonbury experience, as I’m pretty certain that they’d tell me that it wasn’t the same. That it wasn’t as good as their God experience. Maybe they’re right - it’s a little difficult to tell. But, I think that would unfairly denigrates my experience.
Experience is everything. And intense experiences that you remember for years are one of the things that life is made of. Just because you are a reasonable and rational human being, doesn’t mean you can’t have remarkable, and unexplainable experiences. But, as you know, that doesn’t make them anything other than utterly human.
Image by Napalm filled tires
Popularity: 13% [?]
Pascal’s Wager Rebuttal is Inspiring
Pascal’s wager is a famous defence of theism. When I was about fourteen I thought it was a very profound theological statement, which I’ll paraphrase in the way I first heard it
If it’s true that God exists, then if you believe, once you’re dead you will end up in heaven and if you don’t believe then you will end up in hell. If on the other, God does not exist, it doesn’t matter whether you believe or not.
You’ve thus got nothing to lose and everything to gain by believing, therefore you should believe in God.
Now, there are one or two flaws in this argument. But my favourite rebuttal is that if God doesn’t exist and you only have one life, then you have lost everything if you waste it trying for life after death.
Actually, what I like is the point that you only have one life, and you shouldn’t waste it. Do what’s really important to you, fulfils you and makes you deeply happy. Dream as many dreams as there is time for, and live as many as you can.
One of my dreams is to travel to exotic countries. I have a really, really long list of all the places I want to go to. It starts with Outer Mongolia, and ends with Timbuktu, and almost every time I hear of a place, I want to go there.
Given that I’ve only got a five or six decades left in front of me, I should really get cracking on these travelling dreams. One of the places on my list is the Pyramids in Egypt. I’m saving up, and making plans to go this September.
How are you planning on making your dreams come true?
Image by jaqian
Popularity: 11% [?]
A Little Light Reading: Rational Christianity Edition
Being a fan of reason and rational thought, I’ll probably check in on the opposition at new site Rational Christianity from time to time. If you have any interest in Christian apologetics you might want to sneak a peek.
In other news:
- Loneliness plays factor in god belief @ The Information Paradox - this shouldn’t really come as a great surprise, If you’re busy hanging out with lots of friends you have less time to worry about religion. I am hoping that I never become so lonely that I need to believe that my imaginary friends are real though
- Alpha male @ New Humanist - founded at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, the Alpha Course bills itself as “an opportunity to explore the meaning of life” and can be found at churches of all denominations up and down the country. But what is it really like?
- What’s So Bad About Religion? @ An Apostate’s Chapel - well, where shall we begin? A great exploration of some reasons why dogmatic religion, like opium, isn’t a harmless pastime
Popularity: 12% [?]
