Stephen Hawking, popular British physicist and author, recently dismissed the notion of life after death (Time Magazine – May 30th, 2011 – p.5). He said, "I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers. That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."
My response: maybe rationalism is a fairy tale story for those people who are afraid to believe in God because he may hold us accountable for our lives, meaning that our choices have eternal consequences.
Mark
It’s an unfair generalisation to suggest that people who adhere to a rationalist (atheistic) worldview do so to avoid divine accountability.
Many rationalists are good natured, moralistic and altruistic people – they just don’t believe in a God that they can’t see with 5 physical senses.
We believe, we ‘see’ God, we ‘know’ God, not because of our own efforts or decisions – lest we have title to boast – but we have our faith purely through the divine will an action of God.
He did say “maybe”, and he would be right in suggesting that divine accountability is something many people try to avoid. So nothing wrong with Mark’s post there.
I think Mr. Hawking is wrong to limit human beings or at least the human mind to simply being like a computer. It is a weak analogy as is any created/creator illustration. But if its the best he’s got then in my opinion it brings his imagination and motives into question for either not seeing or refusing to see both the human spirit and soul – let alone their Creator.
Hi Richard. Good point. I was only giving a “maybe …” back, in response to his obvious ridicule of those with faith or belief in the after life. It’s like atheists who say belief in God is a wish fulfilment – people projecting what they want. The argument can be reversed on atheists. Ok for Hawkins to be a rationalist if he so choose, but mocking all who have faith in what even he cannot disprove, is quite illogical.
Mark – I understand how easy (read tempting) it is for us to ‘get drawn in’ when Hawkings (and others such as Dawkins) so condecendingly belittle us for having faith.
I don’t want too sound ‘super-spiritual’ but it is a very subtle weapon used (if this battle of worldviews is a spirtual battle) by the enemy to raise our ire, and then get us ‘to play the man and not the ball’ – just as Hawkings has done.
We then sink to the same level … I am speaking from my own experience of course. 🙂
In these things we need to be alert for the subtleties and the traps that put us on the wrong footing.
Anyway, my two cents.