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Editor's Choice -- Ismaili Digest -- Why understanding materialism's connection atheism is so important
When you hear the words "material" what comes to mind? Material vs spiritual? How about "materialism?" Being focused on material things like wealth and status? Well, connected to the heart of atheism is another critically important meaning to "material" and "materialism" that is vital to understand. In the scientific world, "material" means physical; specifically matter and energy. And "materialism" is the idea that assumes matter and energy is all there is. In other words, materialism assumes there is nothing immaterial. These ideas infect almost all Western secular thinking and education and those who believe it are called "materialists." And here's why this is so critical to you, as an Ismaili. Since materialists assume there is nothing immaterial, they incredibly claim that human beings do not actually have minds (which is different from our brains) nor intellects nor consciousness! They even claim we do not have free will! Why? Because, if they accept such things, which are immaterial, might exist, they would have to also accept God might exist too. This is exactly what Richard Charles Lewontin (a world famous geneticist at Harvard) admitted in a 1997 "New York Review of Books" article where he said: "We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfil many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counterintuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door. The eminent Kant scholar Lewis Beck used to say that anyone who could believe in God could believe in anything. To appeal to an omnipotent deity is to allow that at any moment the regularities of nature may be ruptured, that miracles may happen." So while materialists mock people who believe in God (Whom believers do not consider absurd), materialists openly admit they will accept what they consider "patent absurdities!" We tend to think that scientists search for the truth, following the evidence wherever it leads. However, for materialists, no matter how eminent, materialism comes first and science comes second, no matter how absurdly they need to twist science to fit materialism. Note that Lewontin frankly admits science does not insist on materialism but, rather, materialists have arbitrarily decided to commit to materialism just to deny God. This is not the impartial, objective, unemotional, sober science we expect from scientists, but is, instead, a zealous, devout -- dare we say "religious" -- belief in materialism; that is, materialism is just an ideology masquerading as science. However, with simple and compelling evidence from their experiments, Nobel winning scientists, not bound by a "prior commitment to materialism," show without doubt that human beings have both material bodies and brains and immaterial intellects, minds, conspicuousness and free will. Such scientists, who know we are both material (physical) and immaterial beings, are called dualists and they are willing to leave the door open to God's existence because that's where their scientific evidence led them. The easy reading articles and podcasts below highlight their evidence and we strongly recommend all Ismailis read them. The absurdity of scientific materialism -- and its atheist world view -- will be self-evident. Stay safe, warm regards
Ismaili Digest |
