Have we killed God?

One of the most polarizing questions floating around these days is about whether or not modern science has disproven God. We hear it all the time, and the answers received, along with the reasoning behind them, are vastly varied. Whether they are “no”, “yes”, or “I don’t know”, people always seem to have a differing opinion from the rest on the matter. There is no consensus, even amongst those of the same belief in God’s existence (of lack thereof).

First of all, it might be important to note what exactly I’m talking about here. When I say “God”, I’m talking strictly about the Christian God, the deity from the Bible (and, perhaps, any other deities from similar molds). There are, of course, endless other possible gods and deities from all the possible religions and faiths out there; some of them may be applicable in this post, others may not.

Unsurprisingly, this being a society made up primarily of believers (with atheists, agnostics and the likes forming a lowly 15–20% of demographics, according to most surveys), the usual answer one will get is that, no, science has not truly challenged or denied the existence of God. After all, how can it? We’re talking about a being that cannot be seen, felt, heard, smelled, observed or tested in any way. Science cannot measure what doesn’t physically exist.

However, even if something cannot be seen or tested, that doesn’t not mean we cannot “prove” its existence. When something cannot directly be tested, the next step is to try and observe its effects on the world around it. Take black holes, for example. You know, those cosmic bodies so unimaginably dense that even light (which travels at over 290,000 miles per second) cannot escape? We cannot measure them in any way; instead, we observe what black holes do to the astral formations around themselves. This is how we know they exist, and even how we can begin to theorize just what they might be like.

This very same example can be used to try and prove, or disprove, the existence of God. If we can indirectly measure the characteristics, effects and behavior of an object by observing how it affects the world, then logically, this is how we can make a case for God and his power: by searching for his influence in the innumerable processes that make the world work as it does.

And so, we have searched for his influence in the world around us, for many, many years, applying all of our not-inconsiderable knowledge, expertise and logic skills. And what have we found?

You tell me.

It’s becoming increasingly evident that God has no role in the natural processes of our world, and that if he does, it is laughably negligible – at best. The winds blow; tides come in and out; clouds float by; the sun shines; people are born, grow, and die; atoms split and fuse, out there in the cosmos, and down here on Earth, in human-operated laboratories. Yet, in none of these things do we see the slightest hint of any sort of divine influence, of a snap of God’s omnipotent fingers leading to some inexplicable, godly occurrence. Everything can be readily explained, and what we do not yet know, we always, invariably, end up discovering the answer to, whether sooner or later, whether intentionally or by complete accident.

Everything we study, everything we develop, everything we know, tells us exactly how it works, and how it’s come to be, if one knows where to look (and what to look for). There is no magical source behind it all, there is no holy influence guiding the processes of phenomena such as evolution. There is no trace, whatsoever, of any size, shape or form, of anything that we cannot explain, and the mysteries that we have yet to elucidate, we are beginning to understand faster than ever.

We have thrown God out of the picture entirely. Just 150 years ago, Darwin effectively killed God – not by proving his inexistence per se, but simply by demonstrating how, even if he did exist, he had less power and control over the development of the world, and the processes that govern it, than any other human. In fact, he is far less influential than even the most pathetic of humans, or even animals; their effects on our world can at least be seen or measured. His can’t.

And what logic tells us, is that if something both isn’t physical, and doesn’t have any effect on the world, then it simply isn’t there. And even God isn’t superior to logic – for logic is indisputable. Hence the saying, “You can’t dispute logic”.

Yet, you (Christians, or other theists, reading this) may well argue that even if we (and science) had demonstrated how God had no real role of power in our world and in guiding everything that happens, from supernovas to the death of ants, that merely showing how God isn’t all-powerful doesn’t necessarily lead to him not existing, period. (After all, we humans are certainly not omnipotent, yet we do exist, right?) That is a fallacy as well. Remember your own Scripture(s): the God of the Bible is perfect, particularly in his omniscience and omnipotence. And yet, we’ve concluded that God has no discernible influence in our world, at all.

This goes directly against the image of God being perfect and all-powerful. If he obviously isn’t doing anything to or for our world, then this logically leads us to conclude that he simply isn’t all-powerful. But – the Bible, His True Word, says he is!

You see where this leads us. The only logical result is that the Bible’s characterization of God as all-powerful fails. And (logically) if one facet of the supposedly perfect God is a failure, then the rest have to be as well, for we’ve just shown how he is not perfect.

Some may even argue that perhaps God is all-powerful, the Bible’s description of him is accurate, but that he simply chooses not to use his powers. But then, with him (and his magical fingers) being at the helm of our world, that would mean our world would cease to function, even to exist. This once again leads us to conclude: he is using his powers. But we’ve shown there are no traces of him using his powers. Ergo, he’s not using his powers. Ergo, Bible (Perfect Word) is false. Ergo, everything is false. And so forth.

To argue that science is blind to God’s existence, that we simply cannot know, is a non-argument. It’s nothing but a pathetic excuse to try and explain things that so obviously do not make a shred of sense, to the point where it makes us wonder how any thinking humans can place an ounce of credence in them. When you are asked why you choose to believe in God rather than in the Easter Bunny, of fairies, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, any argument you give can only ever be a fallacy. There simply aren’t any good ones out there. If there were, they would’ve been found by now, they would’ve been spread around, people would’ve heard the word, and the entire world would believe in God, and nothing else.

But then, perhaps I’m just being naive here. After all, there are plenty of flawless arguments against the existence of God, and yet religion and blind faith are marching on without hindrance, and the few who reject such shackles of mind-control are ridiculed, laughed at and victimized, simply for their daring to follow the evidence, apply human-inherent reason, logic and critical thinking skills, and to realize that … “Your fairy tales, myths and delusions just don’t make no sense!”.

I certainly welcome a debate concerning my thoughts here. They are, after all, only my opinion, founded upon what I’ve seen, known and learned throughout my life experience.

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