AN OVERVIEW OF MODERN ATHEISM
An Unsatisfactory Explanation of Nature
IDEOLOGICALLY, human history can be divided into two major phases—the pre-scientific age, and the scientific age. In the former period, religion was the trendsetter for man. But after the emergence of modern science, this situation underwent a complete change. Now it is science—without itself being either for or against religion—which has acquired the position of trendsetter. Despite the non-partisan role of science, due to certain reasons, the atheistic ideology has come to dominate all intellectual disciplines. How did this happen? The following is a brief review of the situation.
Man, who has inhabited planet Earth for thousands of years, continues to see many things happening on a daily basis—for instance, the rising of the sun, the falling of the rain, the blowing of the winds, etc. Traditionally, man believed that God was instrumental in all these happenings. This belief had become for man an established axiom. Both theist and idolater believed this to be the reality, in one form or another.
After the emergence of modern science, however, it was learnt that apparently there existed a material cause behind all happenings. For instance, once while Sir Isaac Newton (d. 1727), the founder of modern science, was in his garden, he witnessed an apple drop from a tree. Newton began pondering about why the apple had fallen straight to the ground rather than going sideways or upward. After giving this matter deep thought, he succeeded in deducing from this the Law of Gravity. It was because of gravity that things fell downwards.
Thus, scientific study made great progress. Finally, scientists discovered that all the events happening in this world invariably have a cause. They formulated the principle of causation. This thinking, that all happenings are the result of some cause, continued to grow, until it finally dominated all scientific and academic human activities. Prior to this, happenings had been explained with reference to God. Now references to God were replaced with references to cause. This thinking was epitomized in these words: If events are due to natural causes, they are not due to supernatural causes. (Religion without Revelation, New York, 1958)
This scientific discovery initially had a purely physical connotation, and although natural phenomena were now explained with reference to cause instead of God, this did not amount to a denial of God. It was the atheist thinkers, rather than the scientists who, by appropriating this concept of causation, equated this with the denial of God. From this point onwards, modern atheism began to hold sway.
By laying much emphasis on the scientific discovery of cause and effect, modern atheists sought to convince people that there was no longer any need to make any reference to God for an explanation of events. For, if events were due to natural causes, they were not due to supernatural causes.
We shall soon see how there is an irrefutable gap in the logic of this argument. This gap notwithstanding, this theory gained extraordinary popularity among modern scholars. Consciously or unconsciously, they began to regard the concept of cause and effect as a substitute for God. This way of thinking dominated all scientific disciplines. Here are a few examples to illustrate this point.
Materialism
Materialism is a philosophy as well as a culture. Looked at practically, materialism is the notion that there is now no need to wait for the next world where God will bless us with Paradise, a world where all desires can be fulfilled, because the ‘cause’ by which Paradise can be built right here on this Earth has finally been understood. And this ‘cause’ is modern technology. That is why ‘Paradise’ on Earth began to be ‘constructed’ by means of modern technology and modern industry. A whole civilization was brought into being in the name of materialism. Today’s man, totally oblivious of God, rushed towards the acquisition of this ‘Paradise on Earth’ in the concrete forms of modern civilization.
Houses were built and cities developed with the help of modern technology, and a modern lifestyle could be seen everywhere. This material Paradise in the wake of modern civilization has yet to be completed. But the latest research has proved that it is impossible to build Paradise on Earth. Moreover, further studies in the physical sciences have shown that the law of entropy applies to our world. That means in submission to this law, the world is irrevocably moving towards its end. A day will come when it will become extinct.
In the twenty-first century, further research has been carried out which demonstrates that this period of the world’s demise has come very close. Now it is believed that soon, all those resources will be destroyed or exhausted with the help of which the supposed material ‘Paradise’ is being constructed. In other words, soon, those ‘causes’ will no longer be there on the basis of which the plans for a material Paradise were conceived.
Darwinism, or Organic Evolution
For thousands of years, man believed that all living species, including man, were created by God—that it was the Lord of the world who brought into existence all the living species by directly creating them. But Charles Darwin (d. 1802) supposedly managed to find a ‘cause’ here as well. According to him, this ‘cause’—‘natural selection’—was responsible for bringing into existence all living species. That is, in the biological process resulting from various physical causes, many living species continued to evolve one from another. That is to say, all living species, including man, were brought into existence by a material cause rather than a non-material God.
This ‘cause’ discovered by Darwin has never been scientifically proven. It is only a supposition or a theory. Even biologists have given it the status of a working hypothesis, rather than an established fact. Darwin himself had doubts about this theory in the last stage of his life. That is why he died in a state of frustration.
In spite of this flaw, Darwin’s theory gained general acceptance in modern academic circles. Even today this unsubstantiated theory is taught in universities all over the world.
Marxism
Another such example is provided by Marxism. Karl Marx (d. 1883) tried to apply this principle to the field of society and the economy. He constructed the theory that the cause of the revolutionary changes in human society is an automatic process of material action and reaction—or class conflict.
Karl Marx called this ‘historical determinism’ or ‘dialectical materialism’. He argued that, as a result of ineluctable factors inherent in society, two classes are produced. For historical reasons, there is a clash between the two classes, which leads to the obliteration of one class, and thus one class is replaced by another. In this way, owing to these internal causes, human society continues to make progress.
This ‘cause’ discovered by Karl Marx and his colleagues proved to be a mere supposition, however. Marx’s predictions were disproved and attempts to translate them into reality in the long run proved abortive. It is common knowledge that a revolution was brought about by the use of force in the Soviet Union in 1917, under the banner of Marx’s communist ideology. But after attempts to put this ideology into practice on a large scale, it had to be finally discarded.
Modern Consumerism
Modern consumerism is another example of this nature. Man has a limitless desire to accumulate goods of all kinds which will bring him comfort and luxury. Industrial progress appeared to make this feasible. It was as if modern industry was the cause which could result in all kinds of instant gratification.
People all over the world then rushed to shopping centres to buy goods, only to find that this ‘cause’ again proved to be a supposition. They did not take into consideration the fact that the production of these goods was never going to bring them Paradise, as the production of consumer goods came at the cost of making the present world uninhabitable for man. For instance, cars and aeroplanes made travelling very easy, but their functioning resulted—to an unmanageable extent—in the carbon emissions known as green-house gases. Scientists the world over have failed to find a solution to this problem. Air conditioning and the refrigeration of perishable goods have also contributed to tearing a large hole in the life-giving ozone layer of the upper atmosphere. This has proved to be an insolvable challenge to all life forms. This shows that industries have to be pollution-free so that consumer goods may be produced in a non-injurious way. But it has proved well-nigh impossible for man to rid industry of its pollutant factors.
The truth is that the principle of causation was based originally on supposition. It was not an academic argument. But people, in their haste, were willing to give credence to a ‘concept’ which was a mere supposition rather than a reality. And indeed, its popularity was due less to its academic weight than to its sentimental value.
In this argument put forward by modern atheists there was clearly a great logical flaw. It did not take into account the fact that according to science, the proximate or immediate ‘cause’ of any event is not the final word. Even after that, the question remains to be answered: How did that cause come into existence? The truth is that this ‘cause’ does not explain anything. The ‘cause’ itself is in need of an explanation.
(For further details, see the book, ‘God Arises’, by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan at www.cpsglobal.org/books/god-arises)
