Although atheism is generally considered an intellectual position, I'm convinced that the requirement for atheism is not intelligence, but intentional blindness to some obvious truths. This is clearly seen in some of the most outspoken atheists, who actively and publicly ridicule Christianity and the idea that there is a God who created the universe. These same atheists, if pressed on the matter, come up with some very peculiar ideas about how things came to be. It becomes clear that they are willing to believe almost anything, as long as it leaves God out of the picture.
I'll start off with a recent example. A few weeks ago I was working with the TV on in the background tuned to the science channel. It caught my attention when an astronomy program came on and started talking about Kepler-78b, a prominent example of a class of planets that baffles astronomers. The problem is that Kepler-78b is too close to its parent star...there's simply no way it should be there. Every model of planet/star formation would suggest that when you extrapolate back to when the planet supposedly formed, it would have been inside the star – an impossibility. Also, Kepler-78b has a fairly stable orbit, so it's not possible that it formed elsewhere and fell into its current position.
Yet, Kepler 78-b is an observed fact. So what was the top suggestion for how it can exist? Aliens put it there. Yup. Not making this up. According to the program, “This sounds far-fetched, but is based on sound science”. Actually, I agree with their logic. Given all the facts it makes the most sense to conclude that the planet was put there by some design. But if it's OK for some scientists to attribute its design to aliens, why would Christians get ridiculed for attributing its design to God? The program certainly didn't mention God as a possibility, and I guarantee that if I had been there to pitch the idea, I'd have been laughed out of the room. This is hypocrisy. They use the same logical steps to make the same types of arguments, but you only get your own TV show if you say “aliens did it”. If you say “God did it”, you get ridiculed.
If you think this is just some random guys on TV, you'd be wrong. Richard Dawkins, arguably the most famous modern atheist and critic of Christianity, holds a similar view. Near the end of the movie 'Expelled', Ben Stein interviews Dawkins and asks him a handful of questions related to God and intelligent design. Dawkins actually admits that he would be OK with intelligent design if you think about it in terms of aliens designing life on Earth. Again, why is it OK to attribute design to aliens, but mock those who attribute design to God? Hypocrite.
Francis Crick is another atheist worth mentioning. He's best known for being a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA. He also openly mocked Christianity. However, his research on DNA put him face-to-face with the overwhelming impossibility of evolution. Crick refused to acknowledge God as creator, and predictably turned to alien life as his savior. He came to the belief that life was so complex that it must have been put there by aliens. He still mocked God. Hypocrite.
Perhaps the most widespread hypocrisy is in the area of biomimicry – copying or drawing heavy inspiration from designs of biological systems to solve problems in engineering. It should be self-evident that it's only useful to copy a design if it was made by someone smarter than you – nobody cheats off the class clown. But biology is interpreted through the lens of evolution, which supposes that all life arose from undirected processes. This philosophy would not lead you to expect beautiful, complex, elegant designs in nature, but merely something cobbled together by random mutation and natural selection. This is certainly not what we find. Even the most “simple” cell is a factory of nanomachines so advanced that it will probably be at least 100 years before we could even begin to duplicate it. Biomimicry only makes sense if you assume an extremely intelligent creator. But hey, if atheists want to think that they're dumber than random processes, who am I to argue?
All of this only supports my previous assertion that commitment to atheism requires the ability to turn a blind eye to the obvious. Any study of the natural world reveals obvious design. Hypocritically, atheists are willing to attribute this design to aliens or other forces while mocking God and marginalizing Christians. If you're an atheist, take off the blinders and look around. Use your God-given brain. It doesn't take much to realize the existence of the Creator, and it's only a few logical steps from there to listen to your conscience, realize your sin, understand God's justice, and know your need for a Savior. To my fellow Christians: don't be intimidated by the pseudo-intellectualism, but be bold in proclaiming the gospel. Help the lost to see their hypocrisy and foolishness, and show them their need to repent and follow Christ.
