A Defense of New Atheism: A Reply to Massimo Pigliucci

1. Cosmology should have evidence for a God who miraculously and supernaturally created the universe. It has none. No violations of physical law were required to produce the universe, its laws, or its existence rather than nonexistence. Furthermore, current cosmological theories strongly suggest that our universe is just one of an unlimited number of other universes in a “multiverse” that always existed, in which case there never was a creation (Linde 1986, 1994; Vilenkin 2006).

2. If God is responsible for the complex structure of the world, especially living things, we should see evidence for it in nature. We do not. Complex systems are observed to evolve from simpler ones and show none of the expected signs of design. Indeed, the universe looks as it should look in the absence of design. What is more, well established cosmological knowledge indicates that the universe began with maximum entropy, that is, total chaos with the absence of structure. Thus the universe bears no imprint of a creator.

3. We should see evidence for a God who has given humans immortal souls. We do not. All the empirical facts indicate that purely physical processes determine human memories, thoughts, and personalities. No nonphysical or immaterial powers of the mind can be found. No evidence exists for an afterlife.

4. We should be able to verify that a personal God interacts with humans by means of revelation as recorded in scriptures. We cannot. Miraculous interventions that are claimed in scriptures are contradicted by the lack of independent evidence that these miraculous events took place. In fact, physical (archeological) evidence now convincingly demonstrates that some of the most important biblical narratives, such as the Exodus, the conquests of Joshua, and the magnificent, unified empire of David and Solomon never occurred.

5. With billions of prayers being solicited every year, by now there should be some evidence for prayers being answered. There isn’t any. Careful scientific studies of the medical efficacy of prayer by several highly reputable research institutions have found none (Aviles 2001, Benson 2007, Sloan 2002).

6. If humanity is made in God’s image and is the reason he created the heavens and Earth, then the universe should be congenial to human life. It is not. Humans did not appear until the universe was already 13.8 billion years old. Furthermore, we are confined to a tiny speck of dust in a vast cosmos and unable to survive anywhere else within reach.

7. If God communicates directly with humans during religious experiences, then we should be able to verify that fact. We cannot. No claimed revelation has ever contained information that could not have been already in the head of the person making the claim.

8. If God is the source of morality and values then there should be evidence that revelations and religion are the source of a superior and unchanging morality and ethics. But history and anthropology show that morality and ethics have grown from social contact and the need to live in harmony. The moral pronouncements of religion have more often been an obstacle to improvement and even devout believers pick and choose for themselves what is good and what is bad. Hardly anyone accepts what were once religious teachings on the divine right of kings, the oppression of women, the conquest of infidels, slavery, the virtue of not bathing. Most Catholics now reject the Church’s teachings on contraception as they earlier rejected it’s teaching on sin as the cause of disease. Nonbelievers behave no less morally and, as some surveys indicate, arguably more morally than believers.

I will grant that Pigliucci is justifiably miffed by the statements made by a number of scientists that question the value of philosophy. Scientists as a whole are a hard-headed lot and can be skeptical, if not downright dismissive, of thinking that they see as vague and muddled – which, it is fair to say, is true of much of what passes for philosophy. But anti-philosophy statements are not unique to the new atheist movement, and it is disingenuous to link this viewpoint with New Atheism. And of course the best philosophers over the ages have been highly intelligent and clear-thinking. I personally have benefited greatly from my reading of philosophy and interactions with philosophers, such as Larry Laudan and Daniel Dennett, who, I have found, often know more about the nature of science than those scientists that criticize them.

I do not think New Atheism is at war with philosophy. Nor are its principles in conflict with philosophy. Theology is another matter. The principles of New Atheism, as I see them to have been elucidated in the new atheist literature, are:

1. We should seek the “end of faith” because it is at best worthless and at worst harmful to believe without evidence, and downright dangerous to believe despite the evidence.

2. Religious claims – whether about the world or about human morality and ethics—should be studied scientifically and not be given a free pass from criticism.

3. Religion should be studied scientifically and not be given a free pass from criticism.

4. Religion “poisons everything.”

5. There not only is no evidence for God, there is ample evidence against the existence of a God, such as the Judaic-Christian-Islamic God, who plays and important role in the universe and in human life.

6. Yet, the situation is not hopeless. Surveys indicate that the tide is turning against theism, especially among the young who are the future.

As long as believers continue to promote a faith that claims divine revelation as a source of knowledge, they encourage the extreme elements of that faith to commit any horrific act, convinced they are carrying out the will of God.

I am grateful for comments and suggestions from Aaron Closson, Jerry Coyne, Sam Harris, Bill Jefferys, Don McGee, Brent Meeker, Dirk van Niekerk, Anne O’Reilly, Christopher Savage, Jim Wyman, and Bob Zannelli.

Victor J. Stenger is Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the author of thirteen books including the 2007 New York Times bestseller God The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows that God Does Not Exist.