{"id":588,"date":"2008-02-27T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-27T14:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html"},"modified":"2015-01-04T23:33:02","modified_gmt":"2015-01-04T22:33:02","slug":"scientists-can-be-atheists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html","title":{"rendered":"Scientists can be atheists!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Jim Westgate is a palaeontologist, a member of the Texas Academy of Science\u2019s board of directors, and campaigns to keep creationism out of the classroom. Most recently, he helped draft a position statement to stop the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research sponsoring a master\u2019s degree in science education at Lamar University. So he\u2019s one of the good guys. But despite all this, he still just doesn\u2019t get what atheism is all about<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a real scientist, you can\u2019t be an atheist. Because our scientific methodology doesn\u2019t give us evidence for or against God, you can\u2019t be an atheist.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is such a fundamental misunderstanding that it\u2019s hard to believe an educated person could fall for it. Science can\u2019t prove the non-existence of gods or ghosts or anything supernatural. But then again, science can\u2019t disprove the existence of Russell\u2019s Teapot<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, atheists don\u2019t believe that the existence of god is scientifically disproved in any formal way. They just realise that there is no scientific evidence for the existence of god (and that\u2019s not for lack of trying!). The non-existence of god is deduced from the lack of direct evidence, and the multitude of indirect evidence. For example, we know that human beings around the world have a remarkable capacity for inventing gods that are clearly bogus \u2013 cargo cults<\/a>, anyone?<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t prove that god doesn\u2019t exist, but that doesn\u2019t mean we should take the idea seriously. The balance of probabilities is so far tilted in favour of non-existence, that to live your life on any other basis would just be unreasonable. And that\u2019s what atheism is about \u2013 it means living a life without god.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Westgate is a palaeontologist, a member of the Texas Academy of Science\u2019s board of directors, and campaigns to keep creationism out of the classroom. Most recently, he helped draft a position statement to stop the Dallas-based Institute for Creation Research sponsoring a master\u2019s degree in science education at Lamar University. So he\u2019s one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2091,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nScientists can be atheists!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jim Westgate is a palaeontologist, a member of the Texas Academy of Science's board of directors, and campaigns to keep creationism out of the classroom.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scientists can be atheists!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jim Westgate is a palaeontologist, a member of the Texas Academy of Science's board of directors, and campaigns to keep creationism out of the classroom.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-02-27T14:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-01-04T22:33:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Epiphenom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html\",\"name\":\"Scientists can be atheists!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-02-27T14:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-01-04T22:33:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1\"},\"description\":\"Jim Westgate is a palaeontologist, a member of the Texas Academy of Science's board of directors, and campaigns to keep creationism out of the classroom.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Scientists can be atheists!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/\",\"name\":\"Epiphenom\",\"description\":\"The science of religion and non-belief\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1\",\"name\":\"Epiphenom\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Epiphenom\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/author\/trees\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Scientists can be atheists!","description":"Jim Westgate is a palaeontologist, a member of the Texas Academy of Science's board of directors, and campaigns to keep creationism out of the classroom.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Scientists can be atheists!","og_description":"Jim Westgate is a palaeontologist, a member of the Texas Academy of Science's board of directors, and campaigns to keep creationism out of the classroom.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html","og_site_name":"Epiphenom","article_published_time":"2008-02-27T14:25:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-01-04T22:33:02+00:00","author":"Epiphenom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Epiphenom","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html","name":"Scientists can be atheists!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-02-27T14:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-04T22:33:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1"},"description":"Jim Westgate is a palaeontologist, a member of the Texas Academy of Science's board of directors, and campaigns to keep creationism out of the classroom.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/2008\/02\/scientists-can-be-atheists.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Scientists can be atheists!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/","name":"Epiphenom","description":"The science of religion and non-belief","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/98b4bf21daa886d9eb1d5f0e99643ad1","name":"Epiphenom","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a9abb71dca9f11ec59b77b1fffa487fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Epiphenom"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/author\/trees"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2091"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/epiphenom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}