Arrogant atheists can learn a lot from questioning believers
Re: “One delusion unites them all”, Have your Say, yesterday.
A Bangkok Atheist argues that all religion is fiction. I recently read a book by the late Norman Mailer – “On God: An Uncommon Conversation” – and discovered the renowned US author believed in God. That’s strange since one would have expected that, as a super-intellectual leftist, Mailer would have been an atheist.
He argues that atheists who are unwilling to explore alternative ideas can be just as arrogant as the religious fanatic.
Mailer also says that the “burden of proof” is on the shoulders of the atheists to explain how the world got started without a creator. In other words, how is it possible to make something out of nothing.
The atheist will respond by asking: Who created God? But since the believer believes in a supernatural power, he doesn’t owe us a scientific explanation.
Perhaps the best point Mailer makes is that religion shouldn’t be about answers but about questions, which encourage us to have an open mind and to explore different possibilities.
Eric Bahrt
Chiang Mai
