Atheists are Delusional
I came across the website of some philosopher named James Spiegel, who has written a book called The Making of an Atheist. The opening paragraph on his web page caught my attention:
Sigmund Freud famously dismissed belief in God as a psychological projection caused by wishful thinking. Today many of the “new atheists”—including Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens—make a similar claim, insisting that believers are delusional. Faith is a kind of cognitive disease, according to them.
Too bad he threw that last phrase (“according to them”) in there. That tells us that this guy thinks there is actually something incorrect about the idea that theism is delusional.
Christian apologists, from Dinesh D’Souza to Ravi Zacharias, have been quick to respond to the new atheists, revealing holes in their arguments and showing why theistic belief, and the Christian worldview in particular, is reasonable.
Seriously? Dinesh D’Souza? Is that the strongest card in Spiegel’s book?
In fact, the evidence for God is overwhelming, confirming the Apostle Paul’s point in Romans 1 that the reality of God is “clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20, NIV).
In other words, just look around! How could all of this have come from nothing?
That is a problem isn’t it? It’s a good thing God just didn’t appear out of nothing, then, isn’t it?
So if the evidence for God is so plain to see, then why are there atheists?
The same reason there are still monkeys.
In other words, the premise of his question is wrong (Have you stopped beating your wife yet, Mr. Spiegel?).
That is the question that prompted The Making of an Atheist.
I can think of a question to prompt my next book: The Making of a Wife Beater. If you want to know who it is about, you’ll have to buy my book.
The answer I propose turns the tables on the new atheists, as I show that unbelief is a psychological projection, a cognitive disorder arising from willful resistance to the evidence for God. In short, it is atheists who are the delusional ones.
Yes. We are willfully resisting the evidence of non-evidence as evidence.
Unlike Dawkins and his ilk, I give an account as to how the delusion occurs, showing that atheistic rejection of God is precipitated by immoral indulgences…
Haven’t you heard? The American Association of Immoral Indulgences is just like AARP. As soon as you become an atheist (or turn 50), you get a membership application in the mail.
…usually combined with some deep psychological disturbances…
Such as reading the Bible.
…such as a broken relationship with one’s father.
This guy is basing his whole thesis on debunked Freudian fairy tales?
I also show how atheists suffer from what I call “paradigm-induced blindness,” as their worldview inhibits their ability to recognize the reality of God manifest in creation.
He’s right. You really have to be careful that your worldview doesn’t interfere with your ability to see evidence.
Anyway, since the new atheists are bold enough to trumpet their claim that theists are delusional, it seems appropriate that someone should be willing to propose that the opposite is true.
That would be completely appropriate, if someone could actually support such a claim.