Notice something interesting about the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings? Atheists are nowhere to be found. Every time there is a public gathering there is talk of God and divine mercy and spiritual healing. Even secular people like the poet Nikki Giovanni use language that is heavily drenched with religious symbolism and meaning.
The atheist writer Richard Dawkins has observed that according to the findings of modern science, the universe has all the properties of a system that is utterly devoid of meaning. The main characteristic of the universe is pitiless indifference. Dawkins further argues that we human beings are simply agglomerations of molecules, assembled into functional units over millennia of natural selection, and as for the soul--well, that's an illusion!
To no one's surprise, Dawkins has not been invited to speak to the grieving Virginia Tech community. What this tells me is that if it's difficult to know where God is when bad things happen, it is even more difficult for atheism to deal with the problem of evil. The reason is that in a purely materialist universe, immaterial things like good and evil and souls simply do not exist. For scientific atheists like Dawkins, Cho's shooting of all those people can be understood in this way--molecules acting upon molecules.
If this is the best that modern science has to offer us, I think we need something more than modern science.
Reader Comments ( Page 7 of 26)
91. Being an atheist does not automatically mean you are devoid of sympathy, empathy, grief, or compassion. It simply means that when you ask an atheist why something as insane as this massacre happenend the answer you get might not be answered with an equally insane response like it was God's will!!!! That's insane
joseph facciponte at 1:44AM on Apr 19th 2007
92. Oh yes. The best resource for learning to navigate the complex landscape of contemporary politics is the subjective opinion of a categorically partisan and conspicuously obscure comedian on YouTube.
It is unfair to assume that Al speaks for Conservative America? Probably.
Watchman at 2:10AM on Apr 19th 2007
93. Atheists don't seize upon tragedies as an opportunity to proselytise or at least try to wax superior to those who don't share our views. Since you, however, have thrown down the gauntlet,I'll put this to you:
Why do you need to be told how to behave or what the difference is between right and wrong? Are you that sick at heart, and devoid of moral fibre that you need a book of rules to guide you through life? I don't, and most people I know don't, and that includes almost all of the devout Christians I know. They - and I - know that moral behaviour is a set of axioms with no need to refer to scriptures. Do you think we do need to? If you do think that, why? Do you? Why/why not?
If I am tempted to take personal vengeance, or do damage to a person, I don't stop to think "hang on, what would Gandalf do?" or "What would Arthur Dent do?" I think "What are the consequences? Somebody is going to get hurt and to what end?". It's what decent human beings do irrespective of their religious beliefs.
In fact, freed from the quandaries that abstract ethics based on muddled and contradictory texts instil in people, I'd say that atheists actually tend to find it easier to be moral. We just don't need to wear badges saying "I'm an atheist" while we are doing so because we aren't trying to brainwash anyone.
Dave at 2:10AM on Apr 19th 2007
94. Ridiculous.
"well, that's an illusion!"
Why is that an illusion? Maybe in your apparently twisted perspective... and of course Dawkins was not invited to speak, this nation is a Christian nation in a large way, why would they invite an Atheist to speak to a largely EMOTIONAL Christian population? Your whole article is in fact, pointless as it goes without saying that people probably would NOT invite an Atheist...or a Muslim...or any other type of religion, OTHER than their own (Christian) to speak after an event like this.
Sean at 2:26AM on Apr 19th 2007
95. I know where one was: dead after a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Am I saying all Atheists are killers? Certainly not. As for the comments on "Where was God? Where were the Christians?"
Some were in the hospital, some were dying, some were praying, and God was receiving. Quite a few of these killers claim Atheism [though personally I think one must believe in something before he can hate it], and some believe in natural selection--which doesn't do them much good considering they naturally select themselves out of the equation. That doesn't make sense to me, but I suppose that's a bit off topic.
Regardless, it is true that the media will probably decide against interviewing an Atheist who will say, "They've gone to nowhere, where we all go," or something of the like, because during these times people want hope [I believe someone said something like this earlier]. But as for the Christian comments, people of all faiths have been interviewed.
And as for gun control: a weapon is a weapon. If the gun hadn't been available, this man was so determined to commit this crime that he would have found a way to pull it off. I do, however, think we should look into tougher laws, so I agree with that.
[I am also aware that this comment may not be as full as it should be, but if someone honestly wants me to explain myself then feel free to email me]. God bless the suffers of the VA Tech tragedy.
Brianne at 2:30AM on Apr 19th 2007
96. Dinesh,
To be fair, I think you are not only grossly mischaracterising modern science's contribution to human prosperity, but you are also doing little more than creating a strawman of Dawkins' views. You aren't doing much more than making a giant assumption as to Dawkins' view on this tragedy, and shooting it down. How building and refuting your own arguements even serve the dialogue?
And as for what Athiests are doing in the wake of this tragedy; I can't answer for all of them but I know a couple. They are crying over their losses, they are consoling loved ones, they are doing their best in order to move on and endure. In fact, that's what everyone is doing, Athiests, Jews, and Christians alike.
Pete at 2:31AM on Apr 19th 2007
97.
I think a despicable insinuation about atheists is made all too often by the right and this post does nothing but support that. Suggesting that atheists do not have moral values or human compassion compared to relgious values is what I am referring to, and that is absolutely not true. We all have families we love and friends we care for and it does not take some book to have those most basic of human emotions and moral values. The difference in our opinion is about the control we have over the universe and the events which transpire in our lives. Can we attribute them to God's will or to natural processes is the question, and I think those who believe in god, believe in him in hopes of grasping some kind of false control over things that we were never meant to have control over. Does that hope alone make it a correct assumption? Or just something to reducse our pain in times of loss?
I am not anti-faith, I see the merits of it, but if you want to stunt the progress of science in maintenance of that faith than you are the one who is mistaken. Science can be observed, proven, and recreated in the natural world, your faith cannot, and that science does more to make our existence less painful than your faith ever has. Leave science and your own faith seperate, that is all that I would ever wish from humanity, because science has the ability to heal the sick and heal the pains of humanity and your faith does not.
Peter at 2:40AM on Apr 19th 2007
98. Why would it be the atheists' responsibility to clean up after christians decide to slaughter innocents? Jesus told Cho to gun down defenseless youngsters, maybe jesus can make everyone happy about it.
zamboni at 3:22AM on Apr 19th 2007
99. "it is even more difficult for atheism to deal with the problem of evil."
Just because a church can tell you it's evil, doesn't mean it's solving the problem. People murdered each other long before Christianity was even thought of.
Nicodemus at 3:33AM on Apr 19th 2007
100. I have always believed in God and an afterlife, and shunned a scientific rebuttal to it. However, I don't think any of us have the total answer because our intelligence, compared to the creator of the universe, is miniscule to say the least. One common theme though of most religions is one or another version of the Golden Rule (karma is simply a more punitive statement of the Rule). We would get along a lot better in this country if we all followed it.
Phil at 4:39AM on Apr 19th 2007
101. Brianne lies:
" I know where one was: dead after a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Am I saying all Atheists are killers? Certainly not."
No, you're using a human tragedy to defame atheists, just like D'ouchbag.
Brian Westley at 5:36AM on Apr 19th 2007
102. Mr D'Souza, if this is the best that modern conservatives have to offer us, I think we need something more than modern conservatism.
Flashman at 6:02AM on Apr 19th 2007
103. Take a good look at him: you're staring at the face of American fascism.
Mark at 6:16AM on Apr 19th 2007
104. What, exactly, are atheists supposed to do about the Virginia Tech mess?
Are they supposed to behave like the professional religionists always do? Take advantage of the latest disaster as another pretext to re-issue a bunch of tedious and plainly fictional assertions about metaphysics and eschatology? Verbally assault the followers of all competing sects? Adverise their latest mass media products? Beg for more money?
D'Souza says: To no one's surprise, Dawkins has not been invited to speak to the grieving Virginia Tech community. And did someone invite you, D'Souza, you puny swine you, to help heal the spiritual wounds of the Virginia Tech community? Is that what you're doing here, helping the victims come to terms with their grief and loss? Or are you merely jumping on an opportunity for some more greasy self-promotion?
Seriously, what have any professional religionists done in regard to this crime that is worth a damn to anybody but themselves? Not a single thing, of course. Maybe they think their endless flow of fact-free self-serving blather is "helping"; it's not.
W. Kiernan at 6:18AM on Apr 19th 2007
105. just stupid, like an onion article, but real.
Alan Trewartha at 6:22AM on Apr 19th 2007