Alex Rosenberg, an advocate of scientism, recently debated William Lane Craig At Purdue, too bad I missed it, and it was in my own back yard. Tom Gilson of Christian Apologetics Alliance wrote an interesting examination of Rosenberg's book, The Atheist's Guide to Reality.
When
atheists try to define the mind as a mere physical object, the person
(or soul) is essentially reduced to electricity and everything he
or she thinks is actually illusory.
Gilson notes in his article, "Rosenberg says that science
proves our brains and our thoughts are purely physical, and thus we
have to give up thinking our thoughts are about anything." Rosenberg puts it in the question, "How can one clump of stuff anywhere in the universe be about some other clump of stuff anywhere else in the universe…?" He concludes, "Since there
are no thoughts about things, notions of purpose, plan, or design in the
mind are illusory…" (The Atheist’s Guide to Reality). But,
it doesn't end there, this strict physicalism goes on to dictate that
such thoughts as romance, love, justice, virtue, empathy, kindness,
morality, and reason, must also of necessity be mere illusion. That is to say,
when you tuck your baby girl in bed at night and tell her you love her
as you kiss her on the forehead, it is all just an illusion. You only
"think" that you love her, but alas, it is only a mirage. For Dawkins & Company, this is just the cold hard facts about life. And yet, which one of the new star-spangled pseudo-heroes actually have the courage to live like this?
The fact is, no one lives like this. No one can live like this. It
contradicts everything that it means to be human. I would even go so far to say that it even contradicts the Humanist Manifesto. The only way to embrace the richness of humanity is to recognize the creator's indelible imprint on his creation. There are certain areas where methodological science comes to a philosophical impasse, that is to say, the gateway closes in on itself, it locks itself in. And they say, religion impedes the progress of science...
