Response to Keller

Someone has commented on this blog and suggested I watch this video of Minister Tim Keller:



I appreciate the commentor joining the discussion and challenging me, as this is why I created the blog.

Keller says that many societies have become MORE religious as they have advanced (using China as an example). He says religion is now more popular than ever, despite the advances in education and science.

Actually it is not the advancement of science that causes people to move away from religion - it is a culture of OPEN-MINDEDNESS and a FREEDOM to discuss alternative ideas that leads people away from religion. Many societies have become more advanced, but those societies are also very restrictive and close-minded in their views, and their cultures are not open to people with alternative ideas.

Many OPEN and free-thinking societies (especially European nations) have become less religious over time because their cultures are very liberal and accepting of differing ideas...their citizens are free to question religion without persecution or ostracism. For example, about 50 percent of Europeans DON'T believe in god, as opposed to about 4 percent in America. If you criticize religion in America, you are viewed negatively...this makes it much harder for alternative ideas to have a fair chance.






Keller also states that it takes more faith to not believe in god, because if there is a god and you don't worship him you risk going to hell or angering god in some way - well, this is a weak argument because this assumes that god cares whether or not you believe in him...most religions preach that one must be faithful to god and worship him or risk going to hell - BUT, where did people get this idea that god is so concerned with punishing people? even if god did create the universe, the concepts of heaven and hell were simply invented by man, and there is no indication that these things are real. i will grant you that it is possible that god created the universe, but we do not know anything else about him...such as whether or not he watches us like so many religions claim. we do not know any of god's QUALIITIES, TENDENCIES, or his DISPOSITION - these are things that every religion claims to know, but these religions have no basis for their specific prediction of how god behaves - these ideas about god were randomly created on a whim by the inventors of religions. The only way it takes more faith to not believe in god is if the Bible is accepted as fact, which it is not.

my philosophy is that if you live good life and treat others with respect, you don't have anything to worry about...god doesn't care if you believe in him or not - if god is so smart, he knows that some people will question him, as it is human nature to question things that we cannot prove. how do we even know that there is an afterlife? It is possible that there is a god but no afterlife - who says the two have to go together?



Keller also states that human rights are an indication that god exists...this is just a weak argument. He says that nature is cruel and animals don't have sympathy for eachother, yet humans value eachother's lives. This has nothing to do with god. It is simply the result of having larger brains. Because we are intelligent enough to be aware of our own mortality and because we have a knowledge of biology and death, we are able to understand the importance of life and how fragile it is. THIS is why we value eachother's rights. We feel pain and understand the enormity of it...thus we can sympathize with our fellow humans and understand that it is bad to cause harm to others. This awareness is not the result of god, but simply the result of having large brains.





Another thing that is mentioned that bothers me is that Christians believe that humans were CREATED by god in his image. this is simply false because we know that the earth began LONG before humans showed up - remember the dinosaurs? how do Christians explain dinosaurs? There were many species that came and went before humans even existed on earth. We know FOR A FACT that humans originated in Africa and migrated outward to other areas of the planet. The fact that there are many different races who all originated from one race proves that evolution exists. The first humans all looked the same, and now there are many varying races of people (black, asian, european, etc.). If people evolved over time to develop different races, then it is obviously likely that humans evolved from another species. God may have started the universe, but he didn't create people. After the universe began, everything else after that happened on its own.




His argument that the "fine-tuning" of the universe suggests there is a god is simply flawed and lacking in logic. He says that the chances that particles and physics would align perfectly to create our earth are "1 in a trillion"...He says its "a long shot" that earth just happened to develop life. It's not a long shot. If the chances of life developing are one in a trillion, and there are 100 trillion galaxies in the universe, then the chances of one planet randomly having life are pretty good. Another thing that people overlook about the universe is how big it is - if god created our planet, why did he create an entire universe full of dead, worthless planets? Why would he do that? Why would he create a bunch of worthless spheres that just float around in space for no reason? Why would he create a GIGANTIC universe and only make one planet with intelligent life? This lack of logic suggests that the universe was not created by an intelligent being, because an intelligent being wouldn't have wasted its time creating a bunch of dead planets.



His argument against the blind men/elephant story is just incorrect and lacks any logic. He says that someone who claims it's impossible to know the truth about god is arrogant because they are claiming to "know" themselves that others can't know. This is simply a philosophical trick used to weasel his way out of logic. He is saying that by abmitting you don't know, you are in fact knowing - it's completey contradictory and lacking in logic. When someone says they don't know, they are just saying they don't know - there is no hidden philosophical meaning in there - there is nothing else to it. He is just talking in circles to confuse people into thinking he's smart.

No one knows the truth about god - that is a fact. It's not arrogant to say that, it is simply the truth. You can't use philosophical trickery to twist it around. Besides, he says later in his speech that you can't prove anything. Well saying you can't prove anything is essentially the same as saying you can't know the truth about god. He's a hypocrite here.



I pretty much shot down all of Keller's arguments. Wow, I'm smarter than a doctor and all I have is a Bachelor's degree. Keller shows you that anyone can become a doctor and anyone can write a book.

The man who asks the first question at the 42:11 mark pretty much sums up my argument. Basically the man addressing Keller says that even if god is real, we cannot understand him or predict how he views us or whether he even cares how people behave. Keller then uses a weak argument that the Bible and the ten commandments describe god's will...the Bible doesn't prove anything. The Bible didn't come from god - the Bible was written by people. The ten commandments didn't come from god - the ten commandments were written by people. Keller is making his argument based on the assumption that the Bible came from god and everything in the Bible is true...in fact it is likely that most of the Bible is untrue and totally fake.

The guy that asks the last question at 57:12 shares my argument as well.


I'm not saying there isn't a god. I admit that it's a possibility. But the idea of a Christian god or a SPECIFIC description of god is ridiculous. No one knows HOW god is...no one knows the extent of his power, his beliefs, his opinions. No one knows how he views humanity or even if he watches us at all. The idea that god watches us and governs us is completely fabricated...as is the concept of an afterlife. It is possible that god created our universe and then left it alone to run itself.

Jesus was crazy

I know it's hard for some people to accept this...but Jesus was just a normal guy who gained enough followers to start a religion. He didn't have any divine powers or connection to god - he told people that he did so they would follow him...and those people believed him because people were very gullible back then.

If a man today were to proclaim that he was the son of god, he would be locked up in a mental institution...but Jesus made his claim long ago, when people would believe anything. Today we are informed enough to know that people can't speak to god and people don't have divine powers...yet many still choose to believe that Jesus was divine. Do you really want to worship a crazy guy who had extreme delusions of grandeur?

Jesus was probably a real person, but he couldn't do any of the magical things that the Bible claims he did. Those who wrote the Bible simply made these things up so that people would think Jesus was divine.

Why do people just believe everything in the Bible without questioning it? The Bible claims that all kinds of magical and supernatural things happened long ago - it is obvious that these things never happened. Doesn't it seem strange that back then people had all kinds of magical powers, yet today people no longer have magical powers? Doesn't it seem a bit conveniant that now that we have ways to disprove such things (forensics, video cameras, etc.), those things no longer occur. The obvious logical response is that these magical things never happened at all - people made them up long ago so that others would follow their religions.

Today there are people who claim to have magical powers (psychics, prophets, ghost whisperers, etc.), but those people have all been exposed as frauds...that's exactly what Jesus, Moses, and Muhammad were - they were frauds who used lies to convince people that they had divine powers...back then people were so gullible that they believed these ridiculous claims.

Everything we know about science proves that those magical things are impossible, yet people today still choose to believe they happened. Jesus never came back from the dead, Moses never parted the Red Sea...these things just never happened...it's crazy and stupid to believe they did.

All religions claim that their founders had some sort of magical connection to god...because they know that no one will follow a normal, average guy. Having an average human as your mascot is just not an attractive marketing plan.

A religion is just a cult with a lot of followers. Jesus started a cult, and due to some great marketing (and good timing) he gained enough followers to make it a full-blown religion.

All religions are crazy

Here is what Christians believe:
Christians believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God and the Messiah (Christ) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (the part of scripture common to Christianity and Judaism). To Christians, Jesus Christ is the revealer of God, as well as an incarnation of God, and most importantly the savior of humanity who suffered, died, and was resurrected to bring about salvation from sin. Christians maintain that Jesus ascended into heaven, and most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead, granting everlasting life to his followers...CRAZY!



Here is what Scientologists believe:
Scientology advocates that people are immortal spiritual beings (or thetans) which have lived many lifetimes. Scientologists believe that the primary purpose of existence is survival. One controversial aspect of Scientology beliefs is the idea that thetans lived among extraterrestrial cultures before becoming trapped in bodies on Earth. It is believed that thetans were brainwashed by these extraterrestrial cultures as a means of population control...CRAZY!



Here is what Jewish people believe:
Throughout the ages, Judaism has adhered to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, transcendent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it. According to Jewish tradition, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Israelites and their descendants, and revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah...CRAZY!



Here is what Muslims believe:
Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, God's final prophet, through the angel Gabriel, and regard the Qur'an and the Sunnah (words and deeds of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam. They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. Islamic tradition holds that Jews and Christians distorted the revelations God gave to these prophets by either altering the text, introducing a false interpretation, or both...CRAZY!



Here is what Mormons believe:
The foundation of Mormonism is that Joseph Smith, Jr. was visited by angels, the Judeo-Christian God, and Jesus. These divine beings instructed him that all faiths were corrupt and that with the help of a book (The Book of Mormon) engraved on golden plates written by ancient Native Americans and buried in a nearby hill, he could restore the true religion as founded by Jesus Christ himself, with all rites, rituals, and doctrines as they were in primitive Christianity. A document laying out the core beliefs of Mormonism, the Articles of Faith were composed by Smith as part of an 1842 letter sent to John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat. Most Latter Day Saint denominations view the articles as an authoritative statement of basic theology...CRAZY!





All of the above ideas are completely ridiculous...how can anyone believe this crap?


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The newer religions: Scientology and Mormonism.

As long as there are crazy people on this planet, there will always be new and crazy religions popping up.  I find that generally, the newer a religion is, the more it is dismissed.  

Scientology is a fairly new religion, and most people dismiss scientologists as whack-jobs...as they should...BUT, why do all the older religions get a free pass?  Just because Christianity has been around longer, that doesn't make it a more legitimate religion.  All religions are simply crazy ideas that people thought up at some point in history.  Whether it was invented thousands of years ago or just last week - religions are just plain crazy.

A long time ago, when most religions began, people didn't know anything about science and why things happen, so they believed all of the crazy things that their religions were telling them...today people know better, yet they still choose to believe these magical things happened long ago. Christianity claims that Mary gave birth to Jesus even though she was a virgin (we now know that this is impossible). Christianity also claims that Jesus had magical powers and that he was resurrected from the dead (we now know that this is impossible). Long ago, people were ignorant and uninformed, so I can understand how they could believe such things...but today we are informed enough to know these things are ridiculous, yet many people still choose to believe them.

The truth is, we should either accept all non-violent religions, or we should accept none of them.  All this picking and choosing and trying to decide the religion that is "most right" is a complete waste of time.  If one religion has 2 followers and another has millions of followers, it should not matter - they are both just made-up ideas that people choose to believe in.

L. Ron Hubbard, the inventor of Scientology - he was crazy.

Joseph Smith, the inventor of Mormonism - he was crazy too.

Muhammad was the inventor of Islam - he was crazy too, but he started his religion a long time ago, so people think he's more legitimate.

Jesus was just another nut-job who invented a religion...but because he has so many followers and his religion has existed for a long time, we're not allowed to question his legitimacy. I wonder, how long must a religion exist before it can no longer be questioned? Is there a definite cut-off point - like 300 years?

The inventors of all of these religions were nut-jobs. The big religions just happened to originate long ago when people were ignorant enough to believe them - these major religions were passed on for thousands of years, which is why those religions have so many followers today. For thousands of years people did not understand science. People did not know what was possible and what wasn't, so they continued to believe in these religions because they were ignorant. Today we do know better, yet many people ignore science and just believe what their parents told them. HOWEVER, with schools, television, and the internet educating people about science, some people are finally beginning to realize that religion has been a scam all along.

Today we are informed enough to know that many of the things Christianity claims to be true are impossible. YET people today still believe in Christianity because that's what their parents taught them, and everyone wants to believe what is popular. For some reason most people have a hard time questioning what they were taught as children. I think they just don't want to accept that the religion they've spent their whole lives following is a total scam - they've got so much time invested in it, they figure they might as well stick with it...just like a man and a woman who are in a bad relationship yet they stay together because they've been together for so long and they're in denial:  "This religion isn't working anymore, maybe we should start seeing other ideas."

This dumb tradition of never questioning our ancestors is why Christianity is still so popular today. It's ok to disagree with your ancestors - it's ok to admit that your parents are dumb for believing what they believe.  Use your own brain and come up with your own beliefs based on logic - don't rely on your ancestors to tell you what to think.  

Most people are slaves to where they were born and who raised them.  Their beliefs are based solely on the fact that they happened to be born in a certain country or town and raised by certain people.  Don't be a slave to your birthplace - develop your own ideas.

All religions are invalid.

There is no such thing as a valid religion. The only valid belief is to simply accept that we don't know how the universe began. It's ok to just admit you don't know what the hell happened. Unless you were there when the universe began, you really don't know. It's arrogant and ignorant for anyone to claim they KNOW that god exists and that their religion is the "correct" one...so you might as well just quit wasting your time trying to figure it out. Instead of wasting your time praying and going to church, go do something much more enjoyable, like eating a delicious cup cake. Next Sunday, instead of going to church, stay home and watch Family Guy...you'll be glad you did (I recommend the episode where Peter goes back in time - that one was pretty good).

The Big Bang, the Flying Spaghetti Monster...no one knows how things began. Most people can't accept that there is no clear answer, so they choose to follow a bunch of goofy religions that offer FAKE answers about the universe. 

Suffering people need to make sense of their suffering, and everyone else would just rather believe what their parents taught them. People fear the unknown, so they turn to religion for answers. People would rather believe in a dumb answer than no answer at all. Me...I'm ok with a question mark.  I don't need a religion because I'm relatively healthy and I'm not dumb.
My religion is a question mark. It involves not worshiping anything and spending zero time in church...if there's a heaven, I guarantee I'll go there because I'm a good person. If there is a god, he doesn't care how you choose to spend your Sunday mornings...his only concern is that you are a good person and that you treat others with respect.

Why do people go to church?

I always ask myself why people bother going to church. It is a complete waste of time. If there is a god, he/she/it does not care if you go to church. People invented churches when they invented religion. The idea that you must attend church and worship your god is just a crazy rule that people invented a long time ago.

If god is so great and all-powerful, he should be smart enough to know that attending church has nothing to do with how good of a person you are. Going to chuch will not help your chances of getting into heaven, so you might as well quit going, because there's really no other reason to go. Saying you enjoy church is like saying you enjoy waiting in long lines or sitting in traffic. Church is a chore and you know it.

Let's say there is a heaven....if you live a great life and never do anything wrong, do you really think you won't get into heaven just because you didn't sit in a church on Sundays? God is not that petty, if he does exist.

People invented the concept of god a long time ago. So why didn't they invent a god that is much more logical? They could have made god into anything they wanted, so why did people choose to make god such an asshole? I guess because there is so much death and destruction in the world, they assumed god must be an angry douche who hates them.Look at this giant building. What a waste of space and building materials. We could've put something useful in that spot...like a KFC - mmmmmmm, finger-lickin' good. I propose right now we tear down all the worthless churches and build KFC's in their place. What brings more joy to the world? Boring old churches, or delicious fried chicken?!!

Churches don't offer anything (except maybe a stale cracker and some "wine"). At least KFC gives you something tasty. If you're going to worship anything, worship fried chicken - it already has advantages over god because: 1. we know it's real, 2. it tastes good (God doesn't taste like anything), and 3. you are slightly less likely to be molested in a KFC than in a church.

My place of worship:

Religion is a scam.

Religion is simply the biggest scam in history. There was a time, long ago, when there was no religion - cavemen had no Catholicism, no Islam, etc. All religions at some point in time were created by man for one reason or another. They are all equally false and invalid, as they are all simply a set of rules and beliefs that someone made up. The major religions that exist today are seen as valid only because they have existed for so long and have millions of followers.

If I decided to make up a religion today that claims that the universe was created by a big purple dinosaur who floats in outer space, people would call me crazy and say that it is ridiculous - yet my purple dinosaur theory is just as valid as Christianity or any other religion. All religions are simply crazy ideas that were thought up by people. The beliefs of Christianity, Islam, Mormonism - they are all equally ridiculous - the only thing that separates them from my purple dinosaur theory is that they are older and have more followers.
Christianity and The Purple Dinosaur Theory - the only difference between the two is that one was invented a long time ago, and the other one I invented just now.

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a religion invented by someone to make fun of how ridiculous relgions are. The notion that the universe was created by a spaghetti monster is just as ridiculous as any of the far-fetched beliefs held by Christians.

Anyone can invent a religion at any time. A long time ago, certain religions caught on and gained popularity. These big religions have millions of followers because they originated back when people were stupid enough to believe anything. Those dumb, primitive people believed all the crap they were being told and they passed these beliefs onto their children. These religions still exist today because most people just believe what their parents and grandparents taught them. It's hard for people to admit that their parents and grandparents are idiots for believing in a stupid religion, so they teach the same crap to their kids and continue the tradition for thousands of years....and here we are today, still not using our brains!

The major religions of today started when people were much more gullible (back then people actually believed that a burning bush could speak to a man). If a friend came to you today and said a burning bush spoke to him, you would contact the local mental hospital and tell them to make room for a new patient. Yet no one questions the story of Moses - people just accept that a bush spoke to him and they don't see anything wrong with that. These days people are informed enough to know better, yet many still choose to blindly follow like a flock of sheep.

Isn't it funny that all these amazing things (speaking bushes, parting of seas, resurrections, walking on water, etc.)...none of these things happen anymore. How convenient. Now that we have video cameras, the internet, forensics, and the news...now that we have ways to disprove these things, they don't happen anymore. How convenient for the church.

Because people long ago were so gullible, these old religions managed to accumulate MILLIONS of followers. After millions of people believe in an idea, that idea suddenly seems more valid just because it is popular - it is the mob mentality: "a lot of people believe in this, so it must be valid." For some reason religion gets a free pass from logic - if something is old enough and popular enough, people will not question its validity, no matter how stupid it is. Those who disagree keep their mouths shut because they fear being seen as an "outsider" who isn't "normal." No alternative ideas are even given a fair chance because they are stifled by the dumb majority. Well, I'm an outsider and I'm proud of it.

The overall trend is that the more open and free a nation is, the more it will move away from religion. Things like television and the internet expose people to all sorts of ideas that they would never have even considered. Knowledge and exposure to various viewpoints will ultimately lead to the slow death of religion in prosperous nations. That is why in many European countries the majority of people are no longer religious. European nations tend to be more liberal and open to discussing alternative ideas. When people are free to discuss alternative ideas, they will ultimately come to the logical conclusion that religion is completely worthless.

Prosperity (or a lack of it) is another important factor - when people's lives are full of suffering and chaos, they will turn to religion to help them deal with this enormous stress in their lives.  But when people are healthy and live in a prosperous nation, they are able to see things more logically because they no longer need religion to help them deal with their pain.

America is not very open to discussion when it comes to religion. America is very conservative compared to Europe. In America, you are ostracized if you criticize religion...thus it is taking America much longer to break free from these obsolete beliefs. You may have a nagging suspicion that all this religion stuff is bullshit, but if you are the only one who thinks this way, you will likely just forget about it and continue following the other sheep. BUT...if someone else speaks up and expresses a suspicion that is similar to yours, you will be more likely to speak out about your own suspicions. If people can be honest about their views without consequence, then alternative ideas will be able to grow.

"I support freedom of speech and all, but if you question my faith I'll drop a WMD on yer heathen ass!"

In order to feel comfortable expressing their views, people need to feel as though there are others who will support their ideas. With television and the internet exposing people to ideas and creating discussion, America is slowly becoming more open to change.

Places that are struggling and isolated from alternative ideas will always remain religious. Without exposure to other ideas, people will always believe what they were told as children....and people who are suffering will always use religion to rationalize and make sense of their suffering.

I tend to lean toward atheism, since I have never witnessed anything that suggests god is real. If you look into the origins of religion and why people believe in god, you will find that the concept of god was created out of fear and convenience (fear of death and the convenience of knowing that god is protecting you). I question the validity of anything that is created out of fear and convenience.

Most people choose to believe in god because it makes them feel better to know that someone is looking out for them and that they will live in paradise after they die.

"Weeeeeeeeee! Death isn't all that bad - you get to party in heaven forever! Weeeeeeeeee!"



People want to believe in god because they want the world to make sense. They can't accept that life is random and that things happen for no reason at all. The cold truth is that sometimes good people suffer and bad people succeed. Some people are born with diseases and some die young for no reason - it is simply the luck of the draw. Many people simply don't have the mental strength to accept this (they can't handle the overwhelming mental stress caused by a cruel, random world), so they choose to believe in god because it makes them feel better - they believe in god because it alleviates mental stress. It is an impulse exhibited by all living things - they favor the thing that makes them feel good and avoid the thing that makes them feel bad. Those who can rise above this impulse and are able to look at things logically tend to be agnostics or atheists.

Religion is for babies."Waaaaaaaaaaah! The world is scary and I don't wanna die! I want my god to make it all better!"

If an innocent baby dies from a terrible disease, people want to make sense of it - they want to believe that the baby will go to heaven and the baby will be happy forever in god's arms. It's much harder to accept that the baby died for no reason and that it won't go to heaven. It makes them happy to think that the baby's death had a purpose and that the baby will go to heaven. Weak people believe what makes them happy, rather than what is logical. They take the easy route.

Yet in all other aspects of our lives, we are expected to accept difficult truths and face them. Let's say you work for a company and that company is failing because it has a bad business plan. The people running that company aren't allowed to avoid the problem simply because it's easier to do nothing and avoid the stress. They are expected to accept the flaw and deal with it, even though it may be difficult and stressful.

So, in all other aspects of our lives we are expected to suck it up and face things that are difficult, yet when it comes to death and religion we are allowed to take the easy route...we are allowed to be illogical and incompetent....strange. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be competent in all aspects of my life, including my views on religion.

People say that god watches out for them and keeps them healthy and prosperous - so why do people die from cancer? Why do people suffer? The only answer is that god doesn't watch out for you. If he does exist, he sure as hell doesn't care about you, so you might as well quit wasting your time praying and going to church. Use that time to do something enjoyable, like playing a video game, reading a book, visiting friends, or getting some extra sleep.

We can't prove the existence of god, but we can prove that he doesn't care - one look at the world and it becomes quite obvious (with all this suffering and senseless death).

You can believe that god created the universe, but it's dumb to believe he gives a shit about you. So, if he doesn't care about you, why should you care about him? Praying and attending church - they are a waste of time. Live your life...do what makes you happy, and do what is right - those are the only things you need to know to live a fulfilling life.