All believers denigrate science in at least a few areas. The more fundamentalist the believer then the more that person denigrates science. Methinks they just don't understand how it works. Below is a video showing an example with regard to venom in some animals. Notice that science makes predictions. In this case the prediction was based on evolution that venom must have existed before there were fangs, and further that snake venom was inherited from an earlier ancestor. This prediction went against common wisdom. But the evidence was found. Notice the scientist does experiments looking for evidence rather than believing any authorities. Notice also that this science is helping make our lives healthier by the development of medicines, something you will not find in the Bible, God's supposed wisdom. Seriously, do you see a mad scientist here, someone seeking to destroy people's faith?
Black comes to the conclusion that the Hebrew Bible is in exact harmony with the New Testament, and that the two are “connected together;” and “that if one is true the other cannot be false.” If this is so, then he must admit that if one is false the other cannot be true; and it hardly seems possible to me that there is a right-minded, sane man, except Mr. Black, who now believes that a God of infinite kindness and justice ever commanded one nation to exterminate another; ever ordered his soldiers to destroy men, women, and babes; ever established the institution of human slavery; ever regarded the auction-block as an altar, or a bloodhound as an apostle. [Ingersoll, Debate with Jeremiah Black, theingersolltimes.com]
This project has been a couple of years in the making, but it is one that myself and my co-editor are very proud of. Beyond an Absence of Faith: Stories About the Loss of Faith and the Discovery of Self is a collection of deconversion accounts from people of various worldviews from people from a number of countries.
A god worthy of worship is a god that someone thinks is worthy of worship. As the world got bigger people needed a bigger god to worship. That's about it.
That which creates and sustains all religions is a sense of mystery, fear, guilt and suffering. People want answers so religions have been created to help solve them. The scientific fact of evolution is the best explanation for why we experience these feelings as rational animals, thinking reeds. Hence, there is no longer any need for any religion.
Let's consider the kinds of evidence Christians argue should convince us to believe. Philosophical arguments to their God are special pleading since they don't lead to any specific religious sect. What's left? There's no empirical evidence since we weren't there to witness the resurrection for ourselves. It's not good enough for reasonable people to simply accept someone's claim that he saw some guy come back from the dead, much less someone in the ancient superstitious pre-scientific past. The textual evidence comes from the 4th century, which contains known forgeries. In these texts there is no first-hand eyewitness testimony. Neither Jesus nor his disciples nor anyone who saw or heard Jesus wrote any of them. There is no prophetic evidence, none. There is no prophecy of a Trinitarian God, no prophecy of an Incarnation, no prophecy of a virgin birth, no prophecy of a dying Messiah and no prophecy of a resurrected Messiah. All the so-called Old Testament prophecies are either not predictions at all, or misapplied by the New Testament writers. There is no corroborating evidence of the bizarre unbelievable stories in the Gospels about earthquakes, eclipses, or dead saints who were supposedly raised from dead when Jesus did.
And I'm supposed to believe? Really? Seriously? When I say there isn't sufficient evidence to believe I mean just that. It doesn't matter if the earliest disciples had sufficient evidence to believe. We don't know that they did. All we have is the so-called evidence above. The kicker is that the Jews of that day did not believe this so-called evidence, nearly 8 million of them in the known world, even though they believed in God, his ability to do miracles, Old Testament prophecy, and were there. So tell me once again why any reasonable person should believe? It simply does not add up.
Even if God exists…
Even if miracles took place…
Even if Christianity is true…
Even if Jesus was resurrected…
Even if there were eyewitnesses…
There’s no reason for US to believe today!
Q: Do you think that belief is subject to the will? Can one "choose" to believe something, such as religious propositions?
A: Apart from the issue of free will, I do think we can will ourselves to believe. Christians do it all the time. It's the will to believe that blinds them to the evidence. William James and Pascal said that if we have doubts we can change them by attending worship, praying and looking for God. I think that happens. I think atheists can will ourselves not to believe too, because of a tragic event. It is a sticky and complicated subject. At some point though, no matter how much we want to make ourselves believe, we cannot do it. I cannot believe. There is nothing I could do to make me believe.