Daily Excerpt: How to Argue with an Atheist (TL Brink) - Step #2: Accept the Limits of Reason
Excerpt from How to Argue with an Atheist , by Professor TL Brink STEP #2: Accept the limits of reason STUDENT: Dr. Brink, is it OK for our weekly religion discussion? BRINK: You are right on time. Any problems with what we covered last week? STUDENT: No, like I said, I am a rational kind of person, so I have no problems accepting that I exist and that other people exist. BRINK: And what about that people are driven by values? STUDENT: Oh, yeh, that too is logical, but I just can't see what that has to do with religion. Humans to me are just like other animals: they exist, they have desires. So where does God fit into the picture? BRINK: That is a few more steps down the road. STUDENT: Must be, because what you said last time was so rational, and religion still seems irrational. BRINK: Tell me what you mean by being rational. STUDENT: Following the rules of reason. BRINK: Give me an example of good, rational reasoning. STUDENT: Like the one we talked about