10 Reasons Why I am an Atheist: #10

Instead of writing on a new topic every day, the next several posts will be a series on the same topic. I recently came across a list from an atheist web site (www.piperpost.net) of 10 reasons why the author is an atheist. I will go through theses reasons one by one, examining their assumptions and discussing my thoughts on them. For each one, I will list the assumptions behind them, and give one of the following verdicts: False Assumption (if the reason is based on a false assumption about God/Christianity), Logical Fallacy (if the reason depends on a logical fallacy), or Compelling Reason (if it is a compelling reason that should be examined more carefully). For brevity I will assume the arguments are against Christian theism rather than deal with every form of theism.

I'll start with #10: "The creative activities of the various gods are faulty, to say the least! Evolution explains deformed, disfigured and brain-damaged babies; religion has no explanation!"

ASSUMPTIONS:
1. Evolution is essentially true, or at least is the best theory we have.
2. Theism is inconsistent with evolution.
3. God would not create "deformed, disfigured and brain-damaged babies."

VERDICT:
False Assumptions

DISCUSSION:
Personally, I agree with assumption #1, that Evolution is, at the very least, the best theory we have. I also am a Christian and believe that God created animals and humans through the process of evolution. I see absolutely no contradiction in that. In my opinion, a careful reading of Genesis, along with an understanding of the original language and context, is remarkably consistent with what science has shown.

But even if I am wrong about that, the 3rd assumption is not true. There's nothing in the Bible that suggests God would not create "deformed, brain-damaged babies." Rather, it says God has a purpose for everything, and some things that may appear "bad" to some people are actually blessings in disguise. I recently had the pleasure of spending time with a toddler with Downs Syndrome. She was one of the happiest, most beautiful children I have ever seen. Some may call it a "defect", but from what I know of people who have Downs Syndrome and other genetic disorders, I think they are closer than the rest of us to what a loving God would want people to be like. People who look down on them are the ones with the bigger defects.

posted by Matt @ 12:42 AM