Lying for Christ

From today's NY Times:

To the Editor:

Ross Douthat is so frantic in his campaign to stop the erosion of faith in faith that he can’t resist twice committing the sin I call lying for Christ.

First, he unaccountably misinterprets the meaning of the title of my book “Breaking the Spell,” which called for scrutinizing the phenomena of religion with the same objectivity we adopt when studying viral pandemics.

Second, he misinterprets illusionism, the well-evidenced theory that says that evolution has designed us to be conscious of an efficient oversimplification of the physical world: a user-illusion that helps us track the features of the world that matter to us.

It is ironic that Mr. Douthat himself breaks the spell, taking a hard look at the difficulties confronting would-be religious believers today. 

His recommendation that they cultivate a return to the mind-set of the Dark Ages is particularly telling. We secularists can glory in the wonders of “creation” without the nagging worries he exposes.

Daniel C. Dennett

Medford, Mass.

The writer is co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University.

Rob's comment:

Douthat just shows that with a will people can talk themselves into anything, even supernaturalism. 

He makes historical references, except this one: that the major superstitions didn't emerge to reveal the truth to humanity until a mere two or three thousand years ago.

Before that our creator was apparently experimenting with dinosaurs and other life forms before we, the alleged point of the process, emerged to create religions and churches.

I enjoyed the many letters to the editor that good-naturedly and pointedly mocked Douthat's piece. Only those of a like mind could find it convincing.