ATHEISM: A Giant Leap of Faith | Part 13

Signs in Creation

• DNA

This amazing four-letter encrypted language (A, T, C, G), which contains the information for all life forms, weighs around a quarter of a kilogram in each human body. Yet it is packed so tightly that, when unraveled, the DNA in one human body can stretch from the earth to the sun and back hundreds of times. This massive amount of encrypted information, which would require millions of pages of text for each cell, is transformed by precise instructions to flesh, blood, organs, hormones and enzymes. Throughout the history of mankind, information only comes from intelligence. The extremely complex encrypted language in the cells of every living organism requires supreme intelligence. Furthermore, random changes to any computer code will degrade the code, not produce new code. Similarly, random changes in the DNA (by supposedly random mutations) cannot create new information or new kinds of organisms.

• Senses

Science tells us that our senses are limited: e.g. infrared light cannot be seen and ultrasound cannot be heard, etc. Moreover, some things which we “see”  do not materially exist, such as rainbows and mirages. Nonetheless, some want to subject the existence of the Creator to our limited senses and observation.

• Ethics and Morality

Science can tell us how poison kills, but it cannot explain why poisoning a man for money is wrong.

1. S. Lewis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis) tells us that we are moral creatures with a code of ethics that does not have a source in biology and materialistic science. Rather, its source is a supernatural Law-giver, who is the source of all goodness and virtue.

For the other perspective, I invite you to read the views of leading atheists on rape, incest, bestiality, eugenics, accountability for actions, etc. (See Part 6), or listen to their convoluted implausible explanations on how values evolve from chemicals. The German philosopher Immanuel Kant believed that some truths cannot be arrived at through evidence but through morality. This was evident to the founders of the USA who stated in their Declaration of Independence: “We find these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” This is not a truth that is justified by material evidence, yet it is a truth that nobody can justifiably dispute, except possibly people like Darwin and his followers (see Part 5). Humanity follows an objective moral code. Lying, murder, rape and theft are universally considered immoral; charity, truth, altruism and kindness are universally considered moral. Without a common moral reference, how can people interact socially, work together, trade, communicate, agree on rights and responsibilities, etc.?   How can we judge anyone’s compliance, success or failure with relative subjective moral structures? Materialism cannot explain the existence of a common objective human moral code, nor can it explain its source.

• Self-Awareness and Consciousness

How can 1.3 kilograms of nerve cells conjure up a seamless and endless kaleidoscope of sensations, thoughts, memories and emotions? Why is it a different kaleidoscope for each individual person experiencing the same physical trigger? Electro-chemical brain signals can never fully describe the sensation of pain, the experience of color, our inner thoughts, etc. While we can measure when we are having a conscious brain activity, all attempts have failed to explain materialistically the hard problem of consciousness —e.g. first-person facts. Consciousness cannot be articulated scientifically because science deals only with third-party facts. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwkw85fRWtI) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-kpRLpl7qE) While the brain activity for people in love may show a similar brain pattern, each person’s feeling towards their spouse is uniquely theirs. Even if you try to articulate how you feel, you cannot share your exact experience.  Others will try to relate through their own subjective first-hand experiences. (ibid) It is pure reductionism of our humanity to consider this self-awareness and subjective experience to be a purely physical electro-chemical process. What does it feel like, the love you have for your child? Is it simply a slightly different neuro-firing from eating chocolate? If consciousness is no more than neuron firings in the brain, then how do we know we have brains? Our whole world is nested in consciousness. Nothing happens outside our consciousness. No mind has ever been observed outside consciousness; without consciousness we are denying our minds. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwkw85fRWtI) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-kpRLpl7qE) According to Dr. Robert Nelson, Professor of Public Policy at the University at Maryland: Consciousness has no physical presence in the world; the images and thoughts in our consciousness have no measurable dimensions. Yet, our nonphysical thoughts somehow mysteriously guide the actions of our physical human bodies. This is no more scientifically explicable than the mysterious ability of nonphysical mathematical constructions to determine the workings of a separate physical world. (https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/existence-of-god-rational-arguments-mathematics-human-consciousness-a7739841.html, Third Section) Consciousness is what gives life to our physical makeup. This includes thoughts and feelings, rational insights and subjective first person experiences: what it’s like to be me and to experience something from my unique perspective. After the age of seven, almost every material cell in your body has changed: Your physical components have changed, but you are still you. The essence of who we are is beyond the physical. Even after someone dies and all his physical parts are gone, his essence remains in the minds of those who know him. We are living proof of the metaphysical. Even if we deny consciousness we are still ourselves and everything that makes us human.

• Purpose of Life

The 18th century German philosopher, Emmanuel Kant believed that the goal of humanity is to achieve perfect happiness and complete virtue. To achieve this goal, Kant reasoned, an afterlife must exist, and God is needed to provide this afterlife. If there is no purpose to this life, what’s the difference between the life of Hitler and that of Martin Luther King? Why does a human life have any more significance than the existence of a scarecrow?

Did you think that We had created you in play (without any purpose) and that you would not be brought back to Us? (Quran 23:115)

Is it logical to assume that the Creator would fail to address our spiritual needs and the need to know our purpose in life, after He gave us the means to satisfy every need created in us (food to satisfy hunger, water to satisfy thirst, clothes to address cold, sexual needs for reproduction purposes, etc.)? Is it conceivable that the Creator Who created a purpose for every part of our bodies —the eyes for sight, the ears for hearing, etc.— would not have a purpose in mind for us as a whole? Of course not! Our Creator provided a manual to explain our purpose and provide directions for an optimal life on Earth and beyond.  We do ourselves a great disservice if we ignore our manual, squander this precious resource, and choose instead to wander around aimlessly through this life. If you wake up and find yourself on an airplane and you don’t know how you got there or where you are going, you’ll do your best to find out. It would be very strange indeed to forget this basic concern and just worry about getting the best seat for the journey. Some say that you can set your own purpose. For example you may decide that you want to leave the world a better place. Denying a purpose for our entire existence, yet saying we have a personal purpose, is self-delusion. It is like saying: “Let’s pretend to have a purpose.” Why would we want to leave the world a better place, if we believe the whole world is pointless? Woody Allen describes this self-delusion clearly in an interview on the meaning of life. (https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2015/05/16/woody-allen-irrational-man-cannes-film-festival/27432809/) It is pure reductionism to consider the human being a transient materialistic phenomenon,  merely a biological robot with electro-chemical brain signals. Such a materialistic view ignores Man’s spiritual aspect, his purpose, his intellect, his morality and his consciousness; it strips away his central role in this universe. This results in misery, depression, delusions and confusion. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yVPS8XBoBE) Describing a book as paper and ink completely misses its essence, its ideas, its significance, its morals, its message and the beauty of its meanings. According to Alexis Carrel, the French surgeon and biologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1912, this materialistic viewpoint has resulted in the loss of our humanity: We have applied to man concepts belonging to the mechanical world. We have neglected thought, moral suffering, sacrifice, beauty, and peace. We have treated the individual as a chemical substance, a machine, or part of a machine. We have amputated his moral, esthetic and religious functions. We have also ignored certain aspects of his physiological activities…. Our present weakness comes both from our lack of appreciation for individuality and from our ignorance of the human being’s constitution. (https://www.pdfdrive.com/alexis-carrel-man-the-unknown-e42598438.html,  p. 142)

…To be continued in Part 14