Save Room for Doubt

I would like to pass on an important question that was asked during a recent conference where a strident voice of American atheism was speaking. The question posed to the speaker by someone in the audience was, "Given that there are about 8000 languages spoken on the planet, and that knowing even 1% of them would require mastering about 80 languages, what percentage of what there is to know do you think you know"? The speaker laughed and then answered, "Maybe 15 to 20 percent". The follow up question was, "Do you think it is possible for God to exist outside of your knowledge"? There was complete silence for a long time. If the speaker said, "Yes, it is possible", then she wouldn't be an atheist she would be an agnostic. If the speaker said, "No, of course not", then she would appear unbelievably arrogant. After a long pause she simply said, "No", quickly followed by, "Next question", ignoring the person in the audience.

 

I wonder about atheists and whether our society has reached the point where people don't consider faith because they are so busy being entertained. Do people distract themselves from the questions that really matter in order to have a great time where they are? At least skeptics search for answers. God tells us that when we seek we shall find, and he doesn't want us to refuse to use the minds that He gave us; on either side of the faith issue. In faith and in life it's important to be as honest with ourselves as possible, it's important to think about (and celebrate) whether God exists and not just allow ourselves to be continually distracted by the little things that entertain us.

 

It's not just Christians that experience doubt; Buddhists, vegetarians, and even atheists experience doubt at times. There are people who so strongly refuse to acknowledge doubt that their faith is really blind. There are also those who refuse to believe even though the evidence clearly leads most folks to conclude that someone set off the initial big bang. It's important to honestly seek to discover whether God exists, and to understand what it means for our lives and our relationship with our God. We should be aware of the big issues, like death and life after death, and we should give ourselves time to think about the hard issues, to investigate, and ask questions. I believe our lives depend on the answers.