An atheist philosopher who accidentally ‘spoke the quiet part out loud’.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was a British philosopher and was atheist in his views.
In his 1952 essay, “Is There a God”, he discussed prevailing societal views up to and including his time and the burden of proof. The essay became famous for its use of a common, household object.
The key quote:
Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This is, of course, a mistake. If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time. It is customary to suppose that, if a belief is widespread, there must be something reasonable about it. I do not think this view can be held by anyone who has studied history.
Russell protests - quite rightly - against the orthodox view of his day that it's on the skeptic to disprove a prevailing belief, not the majority to prove it. But where he goes from there becomes problematic.
He suggests an absurd scenario to make his point: somebody's claim that an undetectable teapot is orbiting the sun.
It's ridiculous to assert that such an idea is to be accepted until proven false, right?
Russell takes it further. Now, what if this teapot was written about in ancient sacred texts, taught in Sunday schools, and instilled in the minds of the young? So that the prevailing view of society becomes: that teapot is out there, and if you deny it - off to the psychiatrist, or in a former time the Inquisitor, with you!
Here's my reply:
- Truth is not about perception. Truth is independent of whoever has the burden to prove, or disprove, it. Something is either true, or it isn't. We may or may not be able to confirm it, but that doesn't change its status. We understand that a new scientific discovery today doesn't mean that the phenomenon didn't exist before today! And it is the same for countless, yet undiscovered (some indeed never to be discovered), phenomena!
- By the same token, things recorded in ancient sacred texts may or may not be true. But the absence of evidence for them doesn't, in and of itself, make them untrue. That's why there's room for faith. And yet, there definitely is evidence for the existence of God, if we stop and think (more about this later).
- We ought to apply the same standards of reasoning to ideas like the Big Bang, cosmic inflation (the universe unaccountably expanding at different rates through its history, sometimes faster than the speed of light - while at the same time saying it's impossible for objects to do so - driven by something undetectable they call Dark Energy) ...
- What is the basis of Russell's argument? It is absurdity of the teapot. Because teapots don't occur in outer space (note that when Russell wrote this in 1952, man hadn't yet sent anything into space). But why are we sure teapots don't naturally exist around the cosmos? Because teapots - both their creation and distribution - depend on human agency, i.e. design.
Russell inadvertently spoke the quiet part out loud: intricacy cannot exist without a designer.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they didn't glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Romans chapter 1, verses 18-22