Saturday, April 16, 2011

A Quote on Atheism

Check out this very interesting quote by C. S. Lewis on atheism:

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying that it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless--I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.--C.S. Lewis

5 comments:

  1. Good quote! I was listening to a debate with Sam Harris and I think a major problem with his "moral landscape" is that in that landscape there is no vast overruling justice. Though even godless people may generally "figure out" what is "good" for the well being of society (and even these "good" standards are arguable) there is no ultimate justice for those who do not act according to the "well-being" of society. People like Stalin, Mao Tse-tung and even ordinary terrorists have never been brought to human justice even though they "hurt society." If there is morality, there is a Moral Standard, and if there is justice, there must be a Judge! It's how we know a crooked stick is crooked!

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  2. Wow! C.S. Lewis was brilliant IMO... he had some great things to say! :)

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  3. @The Other Alice Absolutely! Atheists in particular don't seem to recognize that fact. BTW, I'm going to use that argument with an atheist I'm debating over twitter. Thanks for the info! :)

    @Miss S. Yeah, totally. Not thrilled with his fiction novels though. :D

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  4. Anything the world sees as a kind of morality comes from the Bible... no murder, the "golden rule", no lying, no adultery...
    It's all based on the Bible, whether folks realize it or not. :-D

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  5. Absolutely! Some people it is sooo hard to get them to see that, but it is the truth!
    Thanks for commenting.

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