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Tuesday, 13 March 2007 15:43 |
| | Dr. John Henderson |
By JOHN NORTH
HENDERSONVILLE ó Dr. John Henderson of Asheville addressed ìGodís Nonexistenceî during a Feb. 6 lecture at UNC Ashevilleís Kellogg Center.
Henderson based his Great Quotes series talk on the quote, ìThe concept of God is a human invention.î About 40 people attended the lecture, which was followed by a moderated discussion and question-and-answer period. The series is sponsored by the UNCA Philosophy Department and the Institute for Applied Philosophy.
Henderson,
Buncombe Countyís medical examiner, has served in the U.S. Air Force
and authored two books that focus on what he says are the harmful
effects of religion.
He began by asking, ìHow many in the audience believe in God?î
About half of the audience members raised their hands as a number of people asked, ìWhat do you mean by ëGod?íî
With a chuckle,
Henderson said he meant ìthe God of Abraham. The one of the Jewish-Christian-Muslim religion ó all-knowing and all-powerful. The
personal God that supposedly 90 percent of Americans believe in.î
He then asked, ìHow many of you believe in a personal God who is judgmental?
No hands were raised, prompting Henderson to quickly note, ìI didnít think you did, but the majority of Americans do.î
Next, Henderson asked, ìHow many of you believe in life after death?î
Again, there were no upstretched hands, as the doctor asserted, ìThatís what I thought.î
He then
reiterated that ìthe Jewish-Christian-Muslim God is the one Iím talking
about tonight ... There are 10,000 active religions in the world today.
Every one of them has a different god.î
Generally
speaking, faith ìbasically is a belief in something that cannot be
proved,î Henderson said. ìI have faith ó that Iím going to wake up in
the morning.î However, he clarified that ìthe faith Iím talking about
this evening is the belief that there is a God.î
At that point,
he praised the lecture series attendees, noting, ìYou are an unusual
group. Youíd go listen to a philosopher on your night off....î
Henderson then
cited two current bestselling authors, Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris,
who have written works contending that religion has done more harm than
good.
While he agrees
with their contention, he added, ìReligion has some good aspects, but
not many. You wonít get morality out of the Bible ... The only morality
you get (in the Bible) is kindergarten morality ó ëDonít steal,íî and
other such admonitions. Good aspects of religion include some music,
fellowship and charity, he said.
Further, Henderson asserted, ìI donít know anybody who believes in turning his cheek ó at least not more than once.î
He then pointed
out that some people say they are not religious, but they are
spiritual, prompting him to ask, ìWhat do people mean when they say
theyíre ëspiritual?íî
Henderson said
the views of the late physicist Albert Einstein often have been
misinterpreted by various people to be supportive of the God of
Abraham. However, to set the record straight, he said, ìEinstein was in
awe of the universe. He couldnít understand it all,î leading him to
believe there was something ìbigger out there ó that he called ëgod.íî
However, for Einstein, the god to whom he referred was a concept ó not
the personal God of Abraham, the doctor said.
Pausing,
Henderson noted that people occasionally ask him ìwhatís a guy in his
80s, whose children are out of the house and who is not dependent on
his practice ó why (write books that) go against God? Why not go on a
cruise?î
In reply, he
said he tells people, ìIíve basically been a skeptic all my life ... I
wonít go into the inconsistencies of the Bible ... How could someone
send his son down and watch him be tortured?î
In todayís
Western society, social scientists point to young people practicing
ìapatheism,î or being ìapatheistic,î in a reference to research
findings that show ìmany young people donít know about God ó and they
donít care,î Henderson said. ìIt would pay if more of us were
apatheistic because religious people are downright mean.î
For instance, the doctor said, ìIslam is where Christianity was about 500 years ago, so Christians arenít that far ahead.î
After a pause, he added with a smile, ìHowever, Iím able ó under Christianity ó to speak to you tonight.î
In one of his
books, Henderson said he has a chapter called ìThe Big Scam,î wherein
he calls religion ìthe biggest scam there ever was.î To that end, he
cited the instigator of the Reformation, Martin Luther, as saying, ìTo
be a Christian, you must be willing to tear the shreds out of reason.î
Thus, the doctor said, ìScience and religion canít get along.î
He specified the following three reasons for why people choose to believe in a supernatural being:
ï Ignorance ó ìThey create a deity to explain everything.î
ï Wish for eternal life ó ìMost of us want to live forever, so we create a supernatural being that could give us that life.î
ï Belief that one cannot prove a negative ó a concept Henderson disputes, noting, ìI believe you can prove negatives.î
As for the
concept of intelligent design, the doctor said a term he prefers to
substitute is ìunintelligent design.î For example, to the lecture
attendees, he said, ìI look out and see you with glasses.î
He cited a
never-published letter to the editor he sent to The Wall Street
Journal, criticizing the newspaper for referring to the war in Iraq as
a sectarian war. ìItís a religious war, stupidî was the key point of
his letter, Henderson said.
In closing,
Henderson said, ìI would propose to you that the concept of God is a
manmade concept ... I suggest that you speak up when you see religions
doing bad things.î
ï
EDITORíS NOTE: A
related story on the moderated discussion and question-and-answer
period following Hendersonís lecture appears here.
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