20140905_105859From a philosophical viewpoint, ours seems to be a radically different era than ever. Before, people everywhere seemed to over-spiritualize all things; ‘the storm that ruined my crops came from the gods’ or ‘the crops were abundant because the gods were satisfied with our sacrifice.’ But how that’s dramatically changed. Now, the reality of any spirituality is being denied. Where is agent Mulder when you need him? (I happen to be a huge X-Files fan). John Mayer’s song “Belief” agrees with most atheists and agnostics and even with me when the bridge says, “What puts a hundred thousand children in the sand? Belief can…belief can. What puts the folded flag inside his mother’s hand, Belief can…belief can.”

Belief is very strong and also very potent…just a little goes a long way (for either good or for evil). But I believe the problem is not belief. Rather it is the willingness to kill for your belief. True followers of the Jesus of scripture would never kill for their belief, though their belief may be very deep. We stand ready to die for our belief but never to kill for it. Christianity, Islam or atheism are all dangerous when you are ready to take a human life in the name of its spreading.

Fallen human nature is corroded but instead of seeing it, we point a swift finger at beliefs and religion. Many are for wiping out all beliefs. It’s Dawkin’s Utopia, a place where “science can finally move forward.” But I remain convinced that a world consisting only of atheists would have the same crime rate, the same amount of murders, the same amount of power-hungry dictators. The same evil human behavior.

Have people killed in the name of love? Family feuds have led to bloodshed over love…kingdoms have raged war over it…like belief, it is very potent. A little goes a long way for either good or bad. Should this disfigure our view of love? Should love be frowned upon? Outlawed? Have not awful things been done in the name of science? From the grotesque details of Unit 731 by the Japanese during World War II to the equally disturbing human experiments done by German doctors and scientists under the Nazi Regime? Should this disfigure our view of science? Should we frown upon science? Outlaw it?