Member-only story
The Pointless Debate About Origins.
I’ve been following the debate between atheists and theists on this platform for a while. I even contributed occasionally, in comments and in a post of my own. The latest, a long, closely argued piece by Benjamin Cain, took apart the arguments put forward in a previous essay (which I have not read) by a Rabbi.
I confess I did not read Cain’s article in full either, just skimmed, taking in the major points. It soon became apparent that these posturings are a pointless waste of time: a hobby for those who enjoy trying to prove that black is white or that water is capable of flowing uphill.
It seems to me that whether you believe in a creation myth or Stephen Hawking’s scientific explanation of the universe is immaterial to the here and now. To use a couple of tired old cliches, it is what it is and we are where we are. What matters is how we behave towards our fellow humans, including making sure that we do as little damage as possible to the environment so that those who come after us can enjoy it just as much as we do.
If you need to believe in an external intelligence who decrees how we should behave — and punishes you severely if you don’t — in order for you to ‘do the right thing’, or even to comprehend what the right thing might be, that’s fine by me. And maybe it is because of religious indoctrination as a child that I know…