50 reasons to believe in God


 * For the book by Guy P. Harrison, see 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God.

50 reasons to believe in God is an email that made the rounds of atheist bloggers in June 2008. PZ Myers, on his blog Pharyngula, identifies the original author as Debra Rufini, an author whose recent book contains "an imaginary scenario in which Richard Dawkins gets psychiatric counseling…from Jesus".

What follows is a collection of responses to these purported "reasons".

(Note that the title associated with each "reason" did not appear in the original e-mail and is provided here merely for reference.)

Preamble
It is easy to prove to yourself that God is real. .the evidence is all around you. Here are 50 simple proofs:

Reason 1: DNA
Whilst agreeing that random patterns occur naturally by chance, DNA however, consists of code, which requires a designer.

Reason 2: Paranormal phenomena
How do you explain the paranormal, such as people witnessing positive or negative sightings, like ghosts or angels? I saw a ghost with a friend of mine — I am not a liar, an attention seeker. Neither was I overtired when this happened.

Reason 3: Prayer
Try praying. What good is it when a mind is set to coincidence & disbelief regarding the positive outcome?

Reason 4: First cause
The law of cause & effect - in order to have an effect, there has to be a cause. Everything is caused by something.

Reason 5: Complexity
Mindless nothing cannot be responsible for complex something.

Reason 6: Limitations of science
Science can only be the detector of certain things. You cannot scientifically detect emotion, memory, thoughts etc., though scientifically we must. These things which do not consist of matter are beyond the detection of science.

Reason 7: Evolution is only a theory
Evolution has never been proved, which is why we call it the 'theory of evolution'. It's a fairy tale for grown ups!

Reason 8: Atheism is based on faith
Atheism is a faith which has not been proved. The disbelievers have not witnessed anything to not believe in, whereas the believers believe because they have witnessed. There is no 'good news' to preach in atheism.</tt>

Reason 9: Atheists are angry with God
How much of the atheist's faith relies on anger with God as opposed to genuine disbelief in God?</tt>

Reason 10: Atheists need to get a life
Why do many atheists shake their fists & spend so much time ranting & raving about something they don't believe in? If they are no more than a fizzled out battery at the end of the day, then why don't they spend their lives partying, or getting a hobby?! Why don't they leave this 'God nonsense' alone?</tt>

Reason 11: Chicken-and-egg paradox
What created God? What came first, the chicken or the egg? I am not going to deny the existence of the chicken or the egg, merely because I don't understand or know what came first. I don't care - they both exist!</tt>

Reason 12: Improbability vs. impossibility
Improbability is not the same as impossibility. You only have to look at life itself for that backup of proof.</tt>

Reason 13: Complexity of human life
How could the complexity of human life possibly evolve on its own accord out of mindless cells?</tt>

Reason 14: Complexity of the human mind
How could the complexity of the human mind possibly evolve on its own accord out of mindless cells? Where does our consciousness come from?</tt>

Reason 15: Food and drink
What/who knew that our hunger & thirst had to be catered for by the food & drink which we're supplied with?</tt>

Reason 16: The five senses
Most of us are born with the five senses to detect our surroundings, which we're provided with.</tt>

Reason 17: Goldilocks and the habitable planet, part 1
What/who knew that had Earth been set nearer to the sun, we would burn up?</tt>

Reason 18: Goldilocks and the habitable planet, part 2
What/who knew that had Earth been set any further from the sun, we would freeze up?</tt>

Reason 19: Goldilocks and the habitable planet, part 3
What/who knew that had Earth been built larger or smaller, its atmosphere would be one where it would not be possible for us to breathe?</tt>

Reason 20: Complementarity of plant and animal life
What/who knew that we require the oxygen of plants, just as plants require the carbon dioxide of us?</tt>

Reason 21: The tornado and the 747
The concept that life came about through sheer chance is as absurd & improbable as a tornado blowing through a junk yard, consequently assembling a Boeing 747!</tt>

Reason 22: The invisible and the supernatural
We are willing to believe in physically unseen waves that exist through the air, operating physical forces & appliances to work [sic], yet not supernatural God forces being responsible for the same.</tt>

Reason 23: Self-organization and entropy
Matter cannot organise itself. An uneaten tomato will not progress on its own accord to form a perfect pineapple. It will transform into mould, into disorganisation. The laws of evolution fall flat.</tt>

Reason 24: Darwin's deathbed conversion
<tt>Our 'inventor' of evolution, Mr. Charles Darwin had this to say to Lady Hope when he was almost bedridden for 3 months before he died; "I was a young man with unfathomed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions; wondering all the time over everything, and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire - people made a religion of them." Darwin then asked Lady Hope to speak to neighbors the next day. "What shall I speak about?" She asked. He replied; "Christ Jesus and his salvation. Is that not the best theme?"</tt>

Reason 25: Morality
<tt>Where do our moral values held within our conscience come from? If the atheist is right, why then would we care about what we did?! If there is no God, then we've no-one to be accountable to.</tt>

Reason 26: Man vs. animal
<tt>If man has evolved from an animal, why doesn't he behave like an animal? Yet man is civilised.</tt>

Reason 27: Chance and ignorance
<tt>'Chance' isn't the cause of something. It just describes what we can't find a reason for.</tt>

Reason 28: Limitations of science and logic
<tt>Science & logic do not hold all the answers - many people are aware of forces at work which we have no understanding of & no control over.</tt>

Reason 29: Gregorian calendar
<tt>Look at the date/year on our calender - 2000 years ago since what? Our historical records (other than the Bible) record evidence of Jesus' existence.</tt>

Reason 30: Martyrs
<tt>Many people have died for their faith. Would they be prepared to do this for a lie?!</tt>

Reason 31: Biblical accounts
<tt>Much of the Bible deals with eyewitness accounts, written only 40 years after Jesus died. When the books in the New Testament were first around, there would have been confusion & anger if the books were not true.</tt>

Reason 32: Archaeology
<tt>From as early as 2000 BC, there is archaeological evidence to confirm many details we're provided with in the Bible.</tt>

Reason 33: Biblical prophecy
<tt>Not one single Biblical prediction can be shown as false, and the Bible contains hundreds.</tt>

Reason 34: Biblical history
<tt>The evidence from literature & historical studies claim that Biblical statements are reliable details of genuine events.</tt>

Reason 35: Christianity and science in harmony
<tt>From the birth of science through to today, there is no evidence to claim that Christianity & science are in opposition. Many first scientists were Christians; Francis Bacon, Isaac [sic] Newton, Robert Boyle, to name a few, along with the many who stand by their work & faith today.</tt>

Reason 36: How vs. why
<tt>Science can explain 'how' something works, but not 'why' something works.</tt>

Reason 37: Science changes
<tt>Science is constantly recorrecting [sic] its findings. Past theories contradict certain beliefs which are held today. Our present 'discoveries' may change again in the future to rediscover how we originally came into existence.</tt>

Reason 38: Abiogenesis
<tt>Evolution describes the way life possibly started, yet doesn't explain what made life start & why. Scientific questions fail to do that. Even if evolution were proved, it would still not disprove God.</tt>

Reason 39: A bad lie?
<tt>The two people who discovered Jesus' empty tomb were women. Women were very low on the social scale in first century Palestine, so in order to make the story fit, it would have made far more sense to claim that it were male disciples who had entered the tomb. But it wasn't - we're left with the historical & Biblical truth.</tt>

Reason 40: Near-death experiences
<tt>Think about Near Death Experiences. It's naive to believe that they all are induced by chemicals or drugs. How do we account for a blind person having this experience, coming back to describe what they had never before seen, a person telling the Doctor that there is a blue paperclip on top of the high cabinet, which they couldn't have otherwise known, an african [sic] man being dead in his coffin for 3 days, coming back to life to tell of much the same events which took place as those of many others? We never hear of the witnesses describing "a dream". We're not silly - we know the difference between even the most vivid of dreams to that of reality.</tt>

Reason 41: Biblical skeptics
<tt>There are many skeptics who didn't believe in Jesus before his crucifixion, and who were opposed to Christianity, yet turned to the Christian faith after the death of Jesus. Just as the many who continue to do so today.</tt>

Reason 42: Einstein quote
<tt>Albert Einstein said; "A legitimate conflict between science & religion cannot exist. Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind".</tt>

Reason 43: The tomato thrower
<tt>A speaker in Hyde Park who was attacking belief in God, claimed that the world just happened. As he spoke, a soft tomato was thrown at him. "Who threw that?" He said angrily. A cockney from the back of the crowd replied; "No-one threw it - it threw itself!"</tt>

Reason 44: Occam's supernatural razor
<tt>It is easier to believe that God created something out of nothing than it is to believe that nothing created something out of nothing.</tt>

Reason 45: How-vs.-why Hawking quote
<tt>Stephen Hawkins [sic] has admitted; "Science may solve the problem of how the universe began, but it cannot answer the question: why does the universe bother to exist?"</tt>

Reason 46: With God all things are possible
<tt>We cannot confuse God with man. With God in the equation, all things, including miracles are possible. If God is God, he is Creator of all, inclusive of scientific law. He is Creator of matter & spirit.</tt>

Reason 47: Evolved vs. evolving
<tt>If we are the product of evolution - by sheer accident, chance, then we are still evolving. Does it just so happen that we exist here today with everything so finely tuned for our living. as we now have it?</tt>

Reason 48: The Missing Link
<tt>Could it possibly be that the missing link does not exist?!</tt>

Reason 49: Open your eyes
<tt>God has proved himself to us in numerous ways, all around us. The atheist needs to put his glasses on. What more can God possibly do if man has shut his eyes to him?</tt>

Reason 50: Liar or Lord?
<tt>Jesus Christ is either who he says he is, or he is the biggest con man history has ever known.</tt>

Big finish
<tt>YOU DECIDE!!!</tt>

Summary
Of the "50 reasons" given, the following do not say anything about evidence for God at all:
 * 19 arguments against atheism/science/rationality and for non-religious paranormal ideas: 2, 5-10, 13-14, 21, 23, 26-28, 36-38, 40, 48
 * 8 non sequiturs that make a statement and hope that the reader draws a connection to God (mostly bad fine-tuning arguments): 12, 15-20, 47
 * 5 statements that simply assert God against all objections, giving no real "reason" for belief: 3, 11, 22, 46, 49
 * 4 appeals to famous scientists: 24, 35, 42, 45
 * 1 story that attacks atheism through straightforward ridicule: 43
 * 1 appeal to morality that claims that faith is good without showing that it is correct: 25

The remaining twelve arguments are mostly either about the Bible or of the type that say "this is all here because God put it here."

Fifty arguments probably sounds like a pretty impressive number. But a more accurate (and far less catchy) title to this email would be "Twenty-four attacks on our enemies who promote science and reason over faith, fourteen vague statements that try to make theists look good or reasonable, and twelve reasons why some Christian beliefs are superficially plausible."