On Feb. 2, 2010 Dr. Michael Shermer was interviewed on the Sound Rezn radio show. Dr. Shermer, once a Christian, now calls himself “Mr. Skeptic,” and writes for atheistic and scientific journals and blogs.
Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine, the Executive Director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, and Adjunct Professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University. His books include:
- The Mind of the Market, on evolutionary economics.
- Why Darwin Matters: Evolution and the Case Against Intelligent Design
- Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown
- The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Share Care, and Follow the Golden Ruleon the evolutionary origins of morality.
- In Darwin’s Shadow, a biography of the co-discoverer of natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace.
- The Borderlands of Science, about the fuzzy land between science and pseudoscience.
- Denying History, on Holocaust denial and other forms of pseudohistory.
- How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God a theory on the origins of religion.
- Why People Believe Weird Things on pseudoscience, superstitions, and other confusions of our time.
Dr. Shermer spent his High School and early college years as a born-again Christian. He states clearly that he believed in Jesus as his savior, accepted Christ into his heart, but no longer does. After giving Christianity an “honest try” and “reason his way through things,” Shermer became a skeptic. He received his B.A. from Pepperdine University after switching from a Theology to a Psychology major (eventually finishing an M.A. in experimental psychology from CSU Fullerton, and his Ph.D. in the history of science from Claremont Graduate University).
Shermer was part of what he calls the “unchurched generation” which segued into the Jesus Movement of the 60’s and 70’s. With regard to Jesus they were anti-religion but pro-relationship, and formed the beginning of the evangelical(ism) movement. He led Bible study sessions and eventually enrolled in college in order to learn theology.
Today he is an unbeliever, calling himself an agnostic who does not believe in God. How did this happen? In grad school Shermer was surrounded by a wide variety of people, not just the Christians. He had doubts, studied comparative religions, psychology of beliefs, etc. and came to believe that religious beliefs are formed the same way that many other beliefs do (influence of culture, society, family, etc.). His doubts about Christianity grew. When his girlfriend was paralyzed in a car accident, and God did not respond to his prayers for her healing, he lost his faith.
With regard to apologetics, Shermer believes that there are good arguments for both sides. But ultimately these arguments don’t cause conversions. Shermer believes that people commit to beliefs on a mostly emotional basis. The real reasons we commit to a belief system are different than what reasons we come up with to defend them later. Desire plus familial and cultural influence still lead the way to belief, and these are flawed means for discovering truth. With regard to intuitive reasons for belief, like creation, that can (and have) become more sophisticated arguments such as the kalam and thmoistic arguments, Shermer believes these can be explained as evolutionary survival mechanisms. Human discovery of patterns in the world, and the imposition of causal agency upon them, is an evolutionary trait that we have inherited from our ancestors. Causal explanations for natural phenomena lead to the positing of ghosts or gods. It’s just what we do. For Shermer this is a separate issue from the truth, but it does explain how religion happens.
Shermer, therefore, does not understand why belief is so important to God. What should matter is what one does (“works instead of faith”). Shermer said that he can’t make himself believe just because it would feel good or answer questions. If he is wrong, Shermer believes God will understand. God knows why Shermer is an unbeliever, and he can’t believe God would punish him for that.
Response
In many ways I think Shermer is correct. Most people do choose their beliefs based on desire. But this is not something denied by most Christians. The will and the intellect, the two component powers of the soul, are involved in all personal action – including belief. The intellect presents the will with knowledge of choices and the will chooses what it sees as the best choice. But the will can also direct the intellect to reconsider between limited goods, and desire has a role here. Unlike Shermer, I do not see this as a problem – in fact I think it guarantees fairness in judgment.
If people were judged for the content of their intellect, then salvation would be denied to some out of mere ignorance. This seems to be unjust. However, if faith is an act of the will in conformity with desire, then God simply gives people what they want (“their will be done,” as C. S. Lewis, a writer Shermer greatly appreciates, argued). Thus, faith truly does matter to God because it is the choice people make when they desire God. Natural law and social codes guarantee that many people will often behave in morally good ways, but attaining to the presence of God is not simply a reward for being a good person. Rather, it is the object of a believer’s hope (Heb. 11), and that desire’s ultimate fulfillment.
This is only one side of the coin, however. For God, as the ultimate Good, deserves desire and service. To deny God is to choose the finite over the infinite, and to deny the love, trust, and service that is owed to the Good creator. To do so places one in an adversarial relationship with The Good God, and this deserves not only the everlasting withholding of His goodness, but warrants the accompanying punishment that withdrawal of goodness produces (Mt. 7:21-23).
Michael Shermer will participate in a debate with Richard Howe at Church for All Nations on April 30th in Colorado Springs, CO.