From "David"
Subject: A RATIONALLY calm dismissal of atheism...

C.S. Lewis asks the atheist to explain himself on rational grounds. He argues thus:

(1) Why, he wonders, does man have a sense of Right and Wrong, even though he does not properly follow it?

(2) Why does anything exist to begin with?

(3) Is not atheism too simplistic to be true?

Note: the first part of this discussion appeared yesterday.

First, our sense of right and wrong is not a great mystery to anyone with an understanding of evolution and who has some knowledge of the behavior of other social animals, especially primates. Many animals that exist in social groups exhibit the early signs of a sense of right and wrong. What is "morality" other than the social rules we need in order to exist socially?

Second, the question of why anything exists to begin with is matched by the question of why "God" exists to begin with. The theist who asks questions like this is not really looking for an answer because the question itself is merely pushed back to a different point in a continuum: from the universe to the theist's god. If this question is supposed to be an argument against atheism, the corresponding question serves equally well as an argument against theism.

Finally, the concepts of "true" or "false" do not apply to atheism. Why? Because atheism is simply the disbelief in the existence of gods - and so long as some people disbelieve one might perhaps argue that atheism is "true," but not in the conventional sense. Rather, one should ask whether atheism is reasonable given what we know about the world - and it manifestly is reasonable. Theists have, at no point, produced an unambiguously successful argument demonstrating that any gods definitely exist.

But Lewis has here gently offered Christianity in so rational a light, without anger. He himself was a atheist. And now he has changed. There will be no jumping to conclusions, or quoting from the Bible for "proof" of an argument. He will surpise you.

What surprises me is that there are Christians who try to use C.S. Lewis as a "rational" defense of Christianity, given just how poor his arguments really are. He may indeed have been an atheist at one point himself, but since he doesn't seem to have converted to Christianity for rational reasons, I rather doubt that he was ever an atheist for rational reasons in the first place. This may have colored his understanding of atheism and led him to deliver such atrocious arguments in defense of his religion. It's a pity, really, because he ultimately did such a disservice to Christians.

Every atheist MUST read this work, as it will remind them that religion, whether for them true or not, is not easily dismissed as is commonly supposed. It has uncanny depth. C.S. Lewis has something to say, ladies and gentlemen. Every theist, every atheist, every deist must own this book.

Religion may not always be easy to dismiss, but that is not demonstrated in the works of C.S. Lewis. If Lewis' arguments were the best that could be provided in defense of religion generally or Christianity specifically, then dismissing either could be accomplished with little difficulty at all. I own numerous books by C.S. Lewis, none of which proved especially edifying after I had learned some real philosophy and theology - and learned about logical arguments in particular.

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