Irrational response to irrational behaviour: The problem with turning to faith in times of tragedy

There are times when as a blogger in the atheist community you feel you just have to speak out.  In the aftermath of the slaughter of 26 in Connecticut last Friday, now is one of those times. My heart goes out to the families and friends of those who died in the face of such unimaginable horror.

Not surprisingly, the response to the massacre particularly on the internet, was to call for prayers for the families of the victims as people tried to grapple with the enormity of the tragedy and how to make sense out of the senseless. We atheists, when faced with these sudden rush of 'prayer warriors' in these awful moments find ourselves in an awkward position. Two years ago I reflected on this when I wrote about a similar type of tragedy in Barbados when six young ladies were killed as a result of the throwing of a Molotov cocktail into a clothing store. I titled that blog "When is the right time to criticize?" and I find myself asking that same question once again today.

The thing that bothers me after these tragedies is that there is an attempt by many in the faith world to shut down any view that runs counter to the idea that we all need to pray to God for comfort to the grieving. Quick dismissals of anybody who suggests that this afterlife is simply a product of wishful thinking. Just a suggestion that it might be a better approach to try to deal with the reality on reality's own terms leads to us being lambasted as being insensitive, uncaring, disrespectful and not allowing people to grieve in peace. We are often made to feel that we are not much better than the murderer ourselves, stripping mourning family members of their spiritual well being after they have already survived such a severe physical loss. We then get accused of having a personal agenda and for using this completely inappropriate time to get up on our 'soapboxes.'

In a way, I can understand these criticisms. When you are leaning on God for all you are worth, the last thing you want is to hear someone kicking over your support by saying that there is nothing other than a concept in your mind holding you up. But that is just the nature of life. Truth is truth and sometimes it is hard and cold and cruel. Trying to spruce it up in a fancy dress and coat may give you a warm feeling for a while but it doesn't change reality at its core. Ultimately you don't end up avoiding pain, you merely delay it and the deep scars can remain as open wounds for years and even decades to come.

But generally theists don't see the God belief that way, they will often tell you when it comes to things like God and the afterlife, they just NEED to believe it. It's the only way to face the darkest hours of their lives. People have admitted to me from time to time that they know that the beliefs they have are in all likelihood not true, but they just must believe them in order to get through life happy, healthy and content.

I have heard it in the media that the time to deal with the reality of having better gun control is now; the  time to deal with the reality of a mental health system that is not working is now; but the time to address the widespread irrational belief in a supernatural entity that makes people prone to embracing a delusion seems to be never.

What happened last week Friday was that an entirely irrational act was committed which led tragically to the death of 27. We can speculate as to what was behind the irrational act. In all likelihood a mental disorder of some sort or another. Whatever the cause, an irrational act is what it was and irrational acts come as a result of irrational thoughts and irrational thoughts can be traced back to irrational beliefs. No matter how we try to spin this one, it is the irrational that lies at the heart of this massacre. Somewhere along the line, something got in the way of human reasoning and lives were lost as a result. Logic suggests that the only way to deal with a problem of irrationality is to bring rationality.

Piling on the irrationality

But what do we do in times like this?  Well, we do exactly the opposite. We run headlong into the arms of anti- reason, anti-logic and anti-evidence. Meanwhile we jettison any ideas of using a method that is reality based. It's all about talk of children running about in heavenly puddles that we know are as real as the caramel rivers in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. What we are doing is piling on the irrational on top of the irrational. Somehow we believe that if we replace deadly irrational beliefs by irrational beliefs of the warm and fuzzy kind, one set will cancel out the other and we will be left with a saner and safer world. It's not going to work.

The reality is that when we keep piling up the irrational beliefs we end up digging ourselves into a deeper and deeper hole. Irrational beliefs whether in fairies, pixies, goblins, gods, angels or demons often lead to flawed reasoning and bad thinking habits. Once you get into the routine of holding something as true even if you have no evidence to support it, that behaviour can become an integral part of your life. You become sloppy in checking out facts and poor at second guessing yourself in all areas if what you believe 'feels right.' Once you make desirability of a belief one of the criteria you use for determining its truth you put yourself in trouble, if as a community or a country you actively encourage that attitude it can become thousands of times worse. You end up with a society who can be controlled and manipulated so long as you can push the right emotional buttons or sweeten the belief pot enough. This at the end of the day, is not going to give you a society that will learn to be progressive or deal with the real problems it faces head on.

Reason can be a great ally even in the most dire circumstance.  It's true that people speak of faith in the midst of stressful situations regularly, but when you listen to their stories carefully, it  becomes clear that it was their ability to put training into action and think through the steps they needed to take rationally that was often the key to survival or saving a life. These accounts tells me that rational behaviour in all situations is what we should be promoting, rather than the need to believe in the supernatural.

So, that is what scares me when I see the sprint into the arms of Jesus that I see now. I am puzzled by the notion of trying to find comfort in a God who either directly caused or passively allowed the action from which the afflicted now seek relief. If God's primary interest was the happiness of the families, the thing to do was to stop the massacre from happening in the first place, not just sit on the sidelines watching and then run out at the end with a heavenly tissue to wipe away a tear. It's a case of too little too late for God. Like having your star striker in a football (soccer) match scoring a wonder goal in the 89th minute that takes the team from being 6-0 down to 6-1. In those occasions celebrations of the losing team are muted. I don't see why God's supporters should be upset when I am not cheering about what he is desperately trying to do now, deep into injury time.

What I see in times like this is irrationality being advertised like the latest brand of iPhone. Everyone in or around the tragedy feels obliged to do the godvertising and get in on the magical thinking marketing. Grieving relatives, fortunate survivors, brave first responders, counsellors, news reporters and presidents all feel obliged to speak about faith in some form. Thoughts and prayers being offered up, spirits of dead ones looking down, snowflakes as signs from them that everything is alright 'up there.' I know that many of these people are probably nominally religious if religious at all. For them it's just like taking part in a ritual. Saying the things that you say in tragedies, just because that's the custom and culturally we are perhaps primed to find comfort in such empty platitudes.

Faith becomes part of thinking routine

For some people the harm may be minimal. When they go back to 'normal' life they'll forget about these heavenly sentiments and embrace the rational life fully once more. The same President Obama that mentioned last week that he knows that Jesus 'called the children home' and that they are safe in a heaven for which no evidence exists, will be asking in the months ahead for strong empirical evidence to support the assertion of those that are arguing that fire arms in the hands of teachers would make kindergarten schools safe. Politicians like Obama may be able to turn on and off their faith switch to suit differing situations, but the masses in the country don't have regulators in their minds that work quite as well. Many will remember these faith messages long after Adam Lanza is a forgotten name.

The message that will stick with them is that faith is something we all need and should all strive to have, particularly in times of tragedy. They will become convinced that there are many times in life when faith in the unseen should be valued above evidence and logic. Once they buy into this way of thinking can we really blame them if they choose to follow their faith which says that the world is 6000 years old and give it greater weight than the evidence that is readily available and tells us that the correct number is in the billions? It's easy to slip faith in at these opportune times, but once it gets out their in the water you can't just filter it out.

People who are better at keeping scientific thought separate from faith ideas may fare better, but a lot of them will reach back for faith when they have a personal 'Sandy Hook' to deal with in life. They'll remember all the heroes in that tragedy that held on to their bibles and beliefs and consider that they'll need to do the same thing if they are to get through as well. When the next national or global disaster  comes a calling, memories will be evoked of sacred memorials and make shift crosses from last time and everyone will turn back to God. This is the cycle. The house of logic and reason becomes like a sand castle on a Caribbean beach, beautifully made, constructed painstakingly with intricate detail when the tide is out and things are calm,  but the whole edifice gets swept away in seconds as soon as an emotional wave crashes ashore.

People are turning away from deities in their numbers, churches are becoming emptier and more and more people are declaring openly that they are atheists or have no religious affiliation.The last bastion of the religious is the 'mass tragedy.' It is the one time that priests and pastors hold the limelight. The time when they are given liberty to say almost whatever they want, because in the eyes of the influential people in society, there is no such thing as too much faith in the wake of a disaster.

Still, there are glimpses of  little changes.  At least it was refreshing to see religious leaders being called out for making the ludicrous argument that God didn't save six year olds because we had the gall to expel him from the classroom.  So, maybe things are looking up.

I am encouraged to see the  progress we are making in getting people to discover the new dawn that can come in the light of reason, but our advance will continue to be stifled if those same people don't have enough faith in the ability of reason to give guidance through the dark and desperate nights as well.

God's Plan?: Death of PM opens door for wife

It's a beautiful thing. To see someone who three months ago was devastated by tragedy now basking in triumph is enough to bring a tear to the eye of even the most hard-hearted observer. That was the story in Barbados last week. Mara Thompson, the widow of the late Prime Minister David Thompson, swept to victory in the by-election held in his former constituency. This means she takes over as Member of Parliament for the parish of St.John where her husband was revered for 23 years. It's jubilation not only for Mara but no doubt for many in the rural community that would have been gutted by the sudden loss of their popular leader. This photo from the Nation newspaper captures a bit of the mood.

In the opinions of most Barbadians it would have been a miracle had the result of the election been anything different given the history of voting patterns in this constituency as well as the emotions surrounding the government's choice of candidate. It's interesting though that when the word "miracle" is used in such contexts it is really shorthand for, " It ain't going to happen." Of course when we say it will take a miracle to heal a dying person, the faithful just use that as a cue to ramp up the prayers to make it happen.

According to scripture, earnest prayer from even a few faithful opposition supporters could have caused God to influence the minds of the electorate. God could have made his presence felt in the voting booth and guided constituents to vote according to His will rather than their own. That shouldn't have been hard since there aren't too many atheists in that area, most of the folks there will declare that they pray to God to direct them in all that they do. Of course the results went totally with all the statistical predictions. So, I suppose God doesn't intervene in elections, although Mara was at church two days later presumably to thank God for blessing her with a win. Oh well, I guess it's just more of God's mysterious ways, getting involved and not getting involved at the same time.

Anyway, seeing how things have unfolded since the PM's death, I am sure it won't be long before people point to the illness and death of the former Prime Minister as part of God's plan. It's clear that the opportunity that Mara now has would not have been there if David Thompson was still alive. Regardless of the abilities Mara possesses she would have remained in purely a supporting role to her husband. Suddenly she has the chance to make her own way. Who knows ? She may one day be in the position to become Prime Minister of the nation. However, to suggest that God deliberately made the prime minister his family and country suffer would seem callous in the extreme.

How often is life like this? One person's demise makes the way for another. Many great sportsmen got their first chance to play in a team due to a last minute injury to someone in the starting line up. Falls of gymnasts, hurdlers and ice skaters in Olympic competition have regularly handed gold medals to ecstatic rivals. Understudies in musicals have risen to the occasion due to throat infections of superstars. In all these occasions the beneficiaries have pointed to what they often refer to as "blessings in disguise" and regular credit God with setting up things to be the way that there are. But this way of thinking does open up a troubling "can of worms." If we accept that God made the way for us we must accept that he also deliberately created the obstacles for our competition. It really is a zero sum game. Sporting arenas and election polling stations make this obvious but it happens everywhere in life. Whenever you get that dream job there is someone out there with head in hands cursing under the breath at a missed opportunity. For every couple that get together there are others on the sideline wondering why they didn't manage to make the catch. Indeed, every blessing we have in life is a damning for someone else somewhere even if in most cases we can't see him or her.

People regularly point to the situations where things have worked out in their favour as proof that God is blessing them. However, these stories only serve to underline how inequitable is God's sharing. It's like saying someone is a great government representative because he gave ME a job even as hundreds remain unemployed. If God blessed everyone equally, blessings would effectively become non existent, because there would be nothing one person got that others didn't get. It wouldn't mean that everyone would end up equal but at least we would all start from the same point.

Well, atheists do not have this conundrum. We embrace the simple philosophy that "shit happens." When we take our lemons to make lemonade we don't thank God for denying us oranges. We recognise that from any terrible situation opportunities are inevitably created and it is natural for us to try to make use of the chances that come our way. We do this without the need to feel guilty about having to say thanks to God for slamming the door in another person's face.

So, good luck to you Mara. I can fully understand why you would call your victory in St. John "bitter sweet " but your story may one day become an inspiration. Throughout history there are so many who have used adversity to build something better than what was there before. It is this that keeps me going as an atheist when things are especially tough. There may be no God anymore to get me through but there is enough evidence from history to give me confidence that if I hang on and keep fighting, more often that not things will turn around.

Interview with Hitchens: The questions give you all the answers

It was a sad sight to see Christopher Hitchens a shadow of his former self on CNN a few nights ago. Yet, it was an inspiration to see a man leaning on reason rather than prayer to get him through his cancer. Ironically he seemed to be dealing with the issue of his mortality and possible death in the near future with indeed much grace and perhaps more peace than many who claim to be convinced that a world of eternal bliss lies before them. Maybe this is the advantage of living a life in reality, you can spend your life preparing for the moment that you will be no more. When your moment comes you have played the scenario in your mind many times and is not a time to paralyse you with fear. There is no feeling of, "Why me?" or "How does this fit into God's plan?" There is no deity to be angry at or disappointed in. You come to the conclusion that I am a part of nature and things in nature die, simple. I always find interviews like the one on AC 360 as fascinating for the questions asked as by the answers given. Many of the questions posed by Anderson Cooper spoke volumes. One or two really resonated with me.

"So you don't pray at all?" Anderson asked. I thought this was a truly remarkable question to ask a man that had dedicated his entire life to fiercely promoting reason and the elimination of the supernatural ideas. The author of " God is not Great." Did Cooper think that this was all a facade? It was as if he thought this was his great moment of investigative journalism. He could get Christopher to admit something at his darkest hour. Maybe an " Ok, ok you got me I do say an itsy bitsy prayer but only once or twice a month." I have played this question over and over in my head and the only conclusion I can come to is that Cooper thinks that Hitchens might be a closet theist. Well, if Hitchens is a theist, who among us can be atheist? There is of course the cliche that there are no atheists in foxholes. But Cooper's question suggests that he thinks there are no atheists. No atheists full-stop.

Yes, it must mean that he thinks everybody deep down knows there is a God there, it's just an attempt to deny. The books, the speeches, the debates, the blogs, all a cover, an atheist's attempt to convince himself by repetition. If you say "God is not Great" enough times maybe you'll start to believe it. This is all in spite of the fact that not only Hitchens, but several writers, bloggers and speakers are at pains in everything they say or publish to show step by step how they have reached their position by a rigorous process of logic. They don't just say we used reason and that's it. They always show the process, sometimes making it painstakingly simple. Even after that , the theist is inevitably invited to criticise the logic and point out any flaws that might have been overlooked. Invariably no logical objections are forthcoming. Yet, the theist continues to ask questions which clearly show that they don't think that the conclusion that the atheist says he came to is what his conclusion really was. But why would you go through the hard logic and reasoning process and then toss out the conclusion you come to? Unless of course, you really weren't interested in logic in the first place. That is the key, many persons of faith don't believe in using logic to reach such conclusions. They reason that if they don't atheists don't either. They think that atheists are just using logic to appear to bolster their preconceived beliefs, so they never bother to explore the atheists' arguments seriously. Talk about the man in the mirror.

This idea of emotional appeal came up also in the interview opening, when Cooper said. " Many are wondering if Hitchens' diagnosis would have changed his belief in God." Again a curious question, at least from an atheist's perspective. Why would an ailment that you are suffering from affect things you have discovered in the world through  reasoning ? It would be like someone asking you what was 2+2 when you were robust and healthy and getting the answer '4'. Then as you are on your death bed the same person comes up to you taunting you by saying , " So do you still think 2+2 = 4 now?"
Many theists really don't get the fact that for an atheist, you arrive at the conclusion 'there is no God' by the same process that you arrive at the conclusion that 2+2 =4. Emotion in no way factors into the decision. The only way you can expect illness to effect a person's belief in god is if you considered that emotion does or should play a part in making a judgement on reality. More and more the questions show that the general theist perspective is that questions about the reality of the universe cannot be studied without regard to emotional implications. That's the only conclusion I can come to. Of course in most debates believers never state that their beliefs are based on emotion even if they admit faith makes them happy. They always start out with the assertion that the belief is real. The other benefits come later and are a consequence of having faith, not the cause. When you analyse the questions Christian's ask and how they phrase them it's clear that they believe the opposite. I am now learning that the answers or the truth of what people think is really contained in the questions they ask. If you assess them you can really learn everything about what they think. You never actually need to ask them any questions. You just need to listen to how they question you.

Oh yes, believers, as amazing as it may seem atheists actually do sincerely believe what they profess. When I think about it that's a strange concept to grasp in a world where what you think and what you say rarely seem to coincide. One last comment on the interview.  The idea was presented  that surely at a time like this Hitch should be hedging his bet on whether there is a God or not. Yes, as much as I have heard all the many objections by atheists, Pascal's Wager does remain the apologetic of choice for many Christians. It is a weird thing that so many Christians say they would rather believe in a God and be wrong than not believe and be wrong. Surely that statement suggests they have some doubts. Are they saying they really don't KNOW that they redeemer liveth? Why would you have to bet on a horse that everybody already knows won the race? They really put themselves in Catch 22 situation with this type of reasoning or should I say Hitch 22.

My thoughts rather than prayers are with you Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of Barbados, David Thompson is ill and has been for some time. Understandably all over the country there is a feeling of concern and anxiety. I, as a fellow Barbadian, echo these sentiments and hope he has a speedy and complete recovery. What has been a bit alarming but not at all surprising is how our people have sought to help him and his family. Yes, it's a fervent appeal to the heavens for divine healing. You can read about the national healing service here and here. I shook my head almost after every sentence in these articles. Healing the PM through touching the mother? I am still trying to work through the logic. And what pray tell is a "spiritual parliament"?

I know there is much sincerity in this national show of solidarity for the PM but after the dust has settled, what is the lingering message? It is a strong statement, endorsed by the most respected minds in the land, that says prayer works and is a legitimate if not the best method to use to affect the outcome of an event. It says that we are better than some other nations because we respect God so much. It says that our dependence on the divine demonstrates the great compassion of our people to the world.

I think the repercussions of the propogation of these ideas is far greater than the short term solace and solidarity that coming together in prayer may bring. These ideas are a strike against reason, contamination in the well of rationality. People should be concerned about religion in the way that there are about nuclear power or the threat of oil spills. Yes it may give us the energy we want today , but the pollution that lingers in the environment could be in the long run far more debilitating.

So, prayers I will not offer you Mr. Thompson, but please accept my best wishes to you and your family at this challenging time.

My Journey from Faith

For many years doubt had chipped away at my religious beliefs, but 2007 was the year that my edifice of faith finally begun to collapse. It is also the year that will unfortunately long be remembered for a triple tragedy in Barbados. Three horrific accidents occurred between July and August of that year. The first one was the 'Crop Over Party Monarch' bus crash at Joe's River where a former classmate of mine was killed, there was another accident in St. Peter about a week later that took the life of a work colleague's family member and then there was the cave-in at Britton’s Hill where an entire family died. At such times inevitably people ask God why. I was no different.

I remember a story in the front page of the local newspaper where the mother of one of the cave-in victims (when his fate was unknown), spoke of how she had a strong faith that, in spite of what everyone was saying, her son was alive, as a mother she had a special connection . Her trust in God was strong, she had no doubts. Agonisingly it was not to be , her son’s body was found days later. Something interesting struck me, had that son been found alive, the media would have run with that story from a few days previous like a dog with a juicy bone. Preachers all over would have been proclaiming from the pulpit that this story demonstrated the power of faith, wondering how there could be possibly any doubters in God's power after this. The story would have been used to convert persons for years to come all over the Caribbean maybe even the wider world. But, the story didn’t have a happy ending and so that front page article was quickly forgotten. No one probably remembered that front page even the week after. Well, if a living son would have been a tick in the God box shouldn’t a dead son be an X against him?

However,it was during the telethon to raise funds for the families of the victims a few nights later that the light finally came on for me. I remember the host lamenting that it was so hard to understand why tragedies like these happen. I just looked at the television and casually remarked, “It’s only hard to understand if you assume there is a God.” I gasped as I realized what I said. But it was true , if there is no God, tragedies are more than understandable, indeed they should be expected to happen, and happen in a random and chaotic way with no rhyme or reason. That’s what we had with the tragedies before us. As far as my faith journey went, that was the beginning of the end. That off the cuff statement in front of the tv resonated in my head like a explosion for days after. Sure, I was strictly speaking for a long time an agnostic . I knew that it was not a certainty that God existed but that was the first moment that I truly stopped assuming God. I decided that as a good scientist, the best way to deal with this eye opening moment was to do a thought experiment. For one week I would go about my business assuming God did not exist, I would look at the world through a non believer’s eyes and see what I found. I simply would reset to God mode the week following. To this day, I never switched back.

That was an amazing week . The first thing that struck me was the number of times even in one day I was exposed either explicitly or implicitly to something that made the God assumption. Many of these things I had never noticed before. Even on my way to work , I saw , 'God Bless Fat Child', 'My Boss is a Jewish carpenter', 'No Jesus, No peace, know Jesus, know peace.' On the radio was the daily 'Road Runner' show with people being wished God’s blessings on their birthday, and testimonies on how God had let them see another year. I realized there was a co worker that always told me she was blessed. That day it just hit me completely differently. In the office I suddenly realized that there were members of staff with screen savers that had bible verses. There were at least a few that had bibles on their office desks. There were posters and flyers on cubicles and even the lunch room, speaking of the importance of knowing God and following God’s word. I turned on my computer and there were three e mails telling me how I was loved by Jesus and should be grateful for his blessings, which I should share with at least 10 others. All this I saw and heard and it was not yet 10:00 am. As I pondered these things in my heart the maid passed and said gently, “ God bless you son.” And so ended the first day. I had looked at the world and I was not so sure that it was good.

Later in the week I received a 'prayer freshener' , an air freshener with the Lord’s Prayer on it but I just couldn’t bring myself to put it up in my car. The radio call-ins were interspersed by people reading the bible to show what God’s word had to say about gay marriage, disciplining children or the war in Iraq. I was not listening to the gospel station but I heard 'You Raise Me Up', 'Good Bye World' and 'His Eye is on the Sparrow.'Strangely,I suddenly noticed people wearing crosses of all types. How on earth did I miss these things before. The point was clear. These things are all part and parcel of the tapestry of Barbados , so much a part of it you don’t even see them. Of course I haven’t even mentioned the churches of all shapes sizes and denominations that dot the landscape.

I went in to a store and I saw a mission statement posted which read; “We,accepting God’s help, will be courteous and polite to customers and provide the best possible shopping experience.” I was so tempted to ask the store owner how he would determine if his employees were accepting God’s help. Could refusing help from God affect ones promotion prospects? On top of all this I reflected on the fact that our anthem said that “the Lord has been the peoples’ guide for past 300 years.” Now I realized that I was not sure what that really meant, even though I had sung it many times, taking pride in being one of the few Barbadians that knows both verses of the anthem by heart. By the end of the week my mind was just overloaded with these sights, sounds and images. But for all these things the evidence actually presented to me for this God, that was clearly super evident to others, was nil. It just blew my mind away. All I could say by the end of the week was,“ Thank God it’s Friday!”

Soon after I realized that for a time I had to listen to the gospel station in order to hear cricket coverage. It suddenly seemed like an imposition. Why should a cricket fan be forced to listen to fundamentalist rantings during rain delays or drink breaks ? I think it was part strategy for proseltysing to a new captive market on that station and one evening I actually heard one of the presenters imply as much. Once again, before this period in my life I would never have given this even a second thought.

At this time I remember thinking that nothing was wrong with promoting a belief in God, but that is not what I saw. The messages didn't contain the word 'believe'. It was not God probably, might or maybe. It was always 'GOD IS'. He has done this , he wants us to do that and he’s upset if we don't do the third. But we don’t know for sure that 'God is.' Whether you are a believer or not you have to accept that God is not a certainty and when you make the statement 'God is....' you are making a statement of fact. The existence of God is not a fact.

During that week I asked myself so many times , how people could be so sure. Was I missing something? Before God can do anything he has to exist first. You have to at least have reasonable evidence, and if the evidence was so clear why didn’t anybody present it? But truth is, it was never ever asked for, everybody just rode the God assumption. To me it was like convicting someone of murder without evidence there had even been a death.