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The Burden of Proof: Faith, not God is the Problem
There are two ways to take your question, Harley:
"why is this god/ no god thing so emotional ?" [sic]
First, how many people are traumatized as Children, circumcised, have their clitorises removed and labia sewn up, are scared into thinking that they will burn in hell for masturbation, sex, looking at another man or woman, how many people are killed each year for those same reasons, and why would this not be an emotional topic?
But of course, such things, while said to be done in the name of a non-existent god are really done because people's mindless acceptance of evil based on faith. You can't blame a god that doesn't exist - it's people and their twisted minds that are to blame.
Second, why do enlightened freethinkers get themselves so worked up over a non-existent being? I myself find the frothing at the mouth type atheists who want all mention of God, all religious festivals, and all vestiges of religion such as "In God We Trust" on our coins to be removed from the public square often to be distracted, petulant, silly, obsessed and beside the point. Perhaps not Objectivists, but certainly among leftists we find people who think the war on terror is a false issue but they will go to no end to have "under God" removed from the pledge of allegiance.
(Indeed, the only semi-redeeming quality of the pledge is that the "under God" does at least imply that the state is subject to a higher moral law. The pledge itself is un-American, a secular oath designed by a socialist, and an oath which, until WWII, was recited not with one's hand on one's heart, but using the same salute with which Nazis said "Heil Hitler!")
More people were killed in the 20th Century by godless Communists than in any way related to religion or God. But there is one thing that religious killers and Communists have in common - unswerving faith. Faith is the enemy. Without faith, God as a vengeful killer withers on the vine. No book in the mid of the fray, written for the already converted, like The God Delusion or god is not Great is going to convert the faithful. (Even though they may be great reads.) Just as no scientifically trained rational thinker is going to convert to Mormonism, no matter how many clean-shaven pretty little blond boys hand them pamphlets on the street corner.
The war will be won not by a frontal attack on God, but by teaching children to think. Teachers and parents must teach the rules of logic, induction, and the scientific method to children. I was raised as a Catholic, but also to believe in the scientific method and I understood the principle of the burden of proof. By 13 I was a deist, by 16 I no longer believed in God in any form. This was an easy and obvious transition for me that took just a few days of serious thought when I was presented with the appropriate arguments. I am not emotionally anti-God - that would be as sensible as being emotionally enraged at the tooth fairy or the Harry Potter novels.
Luke's minister made a ridiculous claim, the burden of proof was on him and he deserved to be ridiculed for the nonsense he spouted. But a general attitude of hatred toward a non-existent God, as opposed to a patient advocacy of reason will will not win the battle.
Ted Keer
(Edited by Ted Keer
on 7/11, 6:34pm)
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You cannot explain God with matter or chemistry or physics. You must experience Him.
Yes, it was an intentional allusion to Frank Herbert.