If there’s one pro-god argument that annoys me, it’s the “God Did It” argument. It usually goes something like this:
Science can’t fully explain this that and/or something else. And since it can’t, the answer is obvious. God did it.
Are there things the scientists can’t quite explain? Yes, there are. Perhaps they’ll figure those things out one day, perhaps they’ll still be slaving away when the sun goes blows up
millions of years from now. Who knows? But, here’s the thing.
“God did it” or some variety of that explanation has been the standard answer to unexplained things throughout the centuries. What caused the ground to shake? God. What caused the rivers to dry up? God. What caused the rivers to flood? God. What caused the sun to be covered up by the moon? God. In fact, you name the thing and a thousand years ago, it was some god that was behind it.
But things have changed. The ground doesn’t shake because a god is struggling against its chains, but because of plate tectonics. The drying up or flooding of a river is due to weather patterns, not the wrath of some god. The moon occasionally appears in front of the sun because it rotates the planet which rotates the sun and every now and then, it’s rotation puts it squarely between our planet and the sun. No gods need apply.
In fact, no gods need apply for much of anything anymore. We’ve figured out pretty much everything that was once the domain of the gods. So the gods have not only retreated, but in many instances have been assigned to the dustbin of history. The best thing a god of old can hope for today is to go down as a “myth”.
Zeus no longer sits on his mountain throwing lightening bolts at us when the mood strikes. El Diablo isn’t ripping holes in the ground due to his impatience. Apollo no longer holds up the sky. Neptune hasn’t sunk a ship in ages and not a word has been heard from the monsters of the sea he commanded.
But there are two things that are still considered roughly the domain of the gods. The exact origins of the universe and the exact origins of life. And what is the answer to these questions according to the promoters of the one god we haven’t managed to run off?
God did it.
Is there a more useless sentence than this one? I don’t think so. It says nothing. It explains nothing. It’s a cop out. It’s ignorance turned into a virtue. It is a complete failure.
“God did it” is shorthand for “I don’t know the answer, but I’m damn straight not going to admit my ignorance. Besides, I don’t like the answers to some of the other questions and if I admit that for all I know the universe has always been and life is just a by product of the natural workings of the universe, well that would be abdicating my throne which is located at the center of the universe. And I’m just to damned arrogant to do that so GOD DID IT. End of discussion.”
How utterly asinine.
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