Weinberg, Steven - Without God

03/20/2009

The New York Review of Books Vol 55 No 14 Sept 25, 2008

A short article for the popular press, the first section discusses the 4 tensions author sees between religion and science, then the second section talks about how we can live without the concept of a deity.

Importantly, author doesn't see a tension in how religion has historically made pronouncements on how natural events work (e.g. world created in 6 days). Instead:
1) Belief in god is often marshaled as the best explanation for mysterious phenomena. As science has had the most success in explaining these phenomena, the appeal of belief in god has receded.
2) Humans' role in the order of the cosmos seems rather contingent and haphazard-- not 'special'-- especially with the advancement of theories of evolution and cosmology. Author argues that that consciousness seems to be the last bastion on specialness.
3) The theory that the world has natural, unbreakable laws (discovered by science) is contrary to god being omnipotent. Author argues this is more a Muslim rather than Christian tension, but also suggests that this argument has significantly affected the Islamic world's interest in religion.
4) Religion relies on authorities for its truth, science on discoveries that follow a formal process. While science has its heroes, the pronouncements of them is open, not closed like they can be in religious discourse.

The second part suggests some ways to live given that there is no belief in god and that 'the worldview of science is rather chilling'. Author suggests humor, 'ordinary pleasures' or the flesh, aesthetic pleasures (though he claims that without religion-inspired art, art wouldn't have as much of a history). Also, he makes the case that moral decline will not result from non-belief. Author argues that the existence of an omnipotent and omniscient god is a non-sequitur to moral theory anyway-- you have to decide whether to do what that god says or not anyway. But the greatest problem we have without god is that there is no afterlife now; author suggests that the possibility of an afterlife was never really that comforting in the first place.