Athiests, how would you argue against this speech?

[Alex]

1) Way too long. I got about a quarter of the way before I got distracted by my goldfish.

2) You took that speech out of Angels and Demons? You do realize that book is fiction, right? That entire speech was probably made just to set up the plot of the book.

3) I managed to read a little bit more (I skipped to the end), and I have to say: Science has kept it's promise. Life is a lot easier. Think about all the stuff that science has given you, such as vehicles and mass communication, and think about how much harder life would be without it.

[Phoebus125]

Answer me this: Do you honestly think that when I look at a sunset I am thinking about the wavelengths of the red, orange, and blue light? I look at it as a beautiful work of nature's artistry. In light of such beauty, I forget what the hell a wavelength even is.

Also, the fact that we are a "cosmic accident" does not rule out the idea that life is a divine blessing and that there is a reason why life can and does exist not only here on earth but in other places in the universe. The chemical components that make our emotions do not explain the way they affect our mind - sure, "love" is caused by the hormone dopamine, but what do you think it is that makes dopamine give us that wonderful feeling? Science can't explain why certain chemicals make us feel the way we do, but the idea of a divine order does. Not necessarily the Christian God, but a higher power of some sort.

Life most certainly has a purpose, and I am inclined to believe that, God or no God, science will never be able to tell us that.

[O8SERVER]

You can probably see this great wall of text from low earth orbit.

[Robert Abuse]

It is a work of fiction, just like Jude the Obscure or Moby Dick.

[jdspoonworthy]

Waaaaaaaaaaay tooooooooooooo loooooooooooong

[Mario]

im sorry it was to long to read but i think aethist win if it wasent for use u wont be txting us now would u u would be killing freanch u bastereds i hate cristians u blasphmamous savage savant creatures u are among the worst of the humanly kind the bible is explained 2 be fake by many ways i shall tell the ones i like most becues its to long god sightings and what not are caused by our limbic shystems and im sorry i just got bored im gonna go becuse this 1st passage is 3 pages long

[duke_of_urls]

The "camerlengo" is a luddite.

[sailormandave]

A lot there so hard to respond briefly.

I disagree with his idea that science or knowledge make people worse off. What people choose to do with knowledge or science may sometimes make some people worse off, but that is not the fault of the science or people who made a discovery public. Everything good in life is prone to abuse.

I also disagree that the church's attempts to limit science or knowledge were always done with benevolent intention. At least in many situations it was clearly done for reasons of power.

[Chariot]

You can still have wonder and meaning in a world largely explained by science. There's still a lot beyond our little planet that we haven't fully explored, for one. There are many incredible things in our world that, even though we understand them, are still very amazing. Like how our bodies battle infections and repair damage, or how each of us who are born are created from one of billions of sperm produced by an individual, most of which died. Or working out how the human brain works, how we observe the world and process information!

"Meaning" is created by us, it's not something handed to us by a divine being. To lament not having your life's meaning handed to you is ridiculous. You were unreasonable to expect that; the universe is not unreasonable for not giving it to you.

If you can't handle the fact that every irrational idea you'd like to believe in isn't always true, then boohoo for you. The rest of us would like to continue living in the real world, learning things that can have real benefits for us.