{"id":3025,"date":"2023-09-28T07:26:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T11:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3025"},"modified":"2023-09-28T07:28:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T11:28:20","slug":"nothing-but","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/28\/nothing-but\/","title":{"rendered":"Nothing But"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Molecules.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3026\" width=\"407\" height=\"271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Molecules.png 619w, https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Molecules-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>To listen to today&#8217;s reflection as a podcast,<\/em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/glennsreflections.us17.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=c4927dfbefb9749e5fef1581d&amp;id=f0233d839a&amp;e=5cd2a880e9\">click here<\/a><br>&nbsp;<br>It can be hard these days to get straight answers to simple questions.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<br>Ask a political candidate about any number of issues and you\u2019re likely to get the runaround.<br>&nbsp;<br>That\u2019s why it\u2019s so refreshing that Duke philosophy professor Alex Rosenberg, in his book <em>The Atheist\u2019s Guide to Reality: Enjoying Life Without Illusions<\/em>, gives simple, uncomplicated answers to 12 important questions:<br>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Is there a God?<\/em>&nbsp; No.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>What is the nature of reality?<\/em>&nbsp; What physics says it is.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>What is the purpose of the universe?<\/em>&nbsp; There is none.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>What is the meaning of life?<\/em>&nbsp; Ditto.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Why am I here?<\/em>&nbsp; Just dumb luck.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Does prayer work?<\/em>&nbsp; Of course not.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Is there a soul?&nbsp; Is it immortal?<\/em>&nbsp; Are you kidding?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Is there free will?<\/em> &nbsp;Not a chance!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>What happens when I die?<\/em>&nbsp; Everything pretty much goes on as before, except us.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>What is the difference between right and wrong, good and bad?<\/em>&nbsp; There is no moral difference between them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Why should I be moral?<\/em>&nbsp; Because it makes you feel better than being immoral.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Is abortion, euthanasia, suicide, paying taxes, foreign aid, or anything else you don\u2019t like forbidden, permissible, or sometimes obligatory?<\/em>&nbsp; Anything goes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, Rosenberg\u2019s refreshing candor doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you will like his answers.&nbsp;<br><br>The professor doesn\u2019t hide his personal conviction that materialism \u2013 the notion that reality is based entirely on particles, with no provision for the supernatural \u2013 provides no guidance whatsoever for public or private morality.&nbsp;<br><br>This is not to say that atheists live ethically barren lives.&nbsp; Many of them are gracious, compassionate, and stand up for human equality.&nbsp; But as author and theologian Rebecca McLaughlin points out, those perspectives are \u201cnot the logical outworking of atheism.\u201d&nbsp; If we insist that right, wrong, good, and bad are meaningless social constructs, it really doesn\u2019t matter what we think about other people.<br><br>Here\u2019s how MIT professor and popular science writer Alan Lightman describes human identity:<br><br>\u201cOur consciousness and our self-awareness create an illusion that we are made out of some special substance, that we have some special kind of ego-power, some \u201cI-ness,\u201d some unique existence.&nbsp; But in fact, we are nothing but bones, tissues, gelatinous membranes, electrical impulses and chemicals.\u201d<br><br>Those two words, \u201cnothing but,\u201d are telling. &nbsp;<br><br>As soon as we enter the realm of Nothing Buttery \u2013 we are nothing but molecules, nothing but the effects of DNA, nothing but brain chemistry \u2013 we abandon the grounds to say that anything is Right or True.&nbsp; Lightman calmly observes, \u201cWe are a bunch of atoms, like trees, or like donuts.\u201d&nbsp;<br><br>McLaughlin follows that logic where it leads: \u201cSo, eat a donut, or eat a child.&nbsp; Anything goes.\u201d&nbsp;<br><br>Lightman insists that he doesn\u2019t believe, like Alex Rosenberg, that anything goes.&nbsp; But why not?&nbsp; If materialism is an accurate description of reality, on what grounds do we say to the cannibal, the pedophile, or the bank robber, \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t do that\u201d?&nbsp;<br><br>This is the point at which a number of Christians thumb their noses at science and scientists.&nbsp; If scientific research inevitably leads to materialism\u2019s skepticism and amorality, let\u2019s beat a hasty retreat to the intellectual comforts of the pre-scientific era.&nbsp;<br><br>But that would be <em>nothing but<\/em> a really bad idea, for the simple reason that materialism is <em>not<\/em> where scientific research inevitably leads.&nbsp;<br><br>Let\u2019s hear from another MIT professor, world-class plasma physicist Ian Hutchinson.&nbsp; Here\u2019s his take on human identity:<br><br>\u201cI am an assembly of electrons and quarks interacting through quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak forces; I am a heterogeneous mixture of chemical elements\u2026 I am a system of biochemical processes guided by genetic codes; but I am also a vast and astoundingly complex organism of cooperating cells; I am a mammal, with hair and warm blood; I am a person, husband, lover, father; and I am a sinner saved by grace.\u201d&nbsp;<br><br>Hutchinson captures the strange duality of God\u2019s world.&nbsp; We are physical beings.&nbsp; <em>Yet so much more<\/em>.&nbsp;<br><br>The psalmist is astonished by what he sees when he looks at God\u2019s creation, as typified by the night sky:&nbsp;<br><br>\u201cWhen I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?&nbsp; You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.&nbsp; You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet\u201d (Psalm 8:3-6).&nbsp;<br><br>If human beings are material entities <em>yet also <\/em>creatures who are \u201ca little lower than the angels,\u201d then what we do today matters. &nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>We are more than just our appetites, our impulses, and our neurological responses.&nbsp;<br><br>We can know ourselves to be God\u2019s deeply loved children, whose presence in the world is not dumb luck.&nbsp;<br><br>And that assurance is <em>nothing but<\/em> transforming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To listen to today&#8217;s reflection as a podcast,&nbsp;click here&nbsp;It can be hard these days to get straight answers to simple questions.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ask a political candidate about any number of issues and you\u2019re likely to get the runaround.&nbsp;That\u2019s why it\u2019s so refreshing that Duke philosophy professor Alex Rosenberg, in his book The Atheist\u2019s Guide to Reality: Enjoying Life Without Illusions, gives simple,&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/28\/nothing-but\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[637,640],"class_list":["post-3025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-atheism","tag-human-identity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3025"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3029,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions\/3029"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}