Still No Apologies

Are We Biased? Of Course Not!

Put on your Bible glasses
And wear them every day
You'll have much sharper vision
If you look at the world God's way
The Word of God brings truth and light
To questions big and small
So put on your Bible glasses
For the answers to them all!

This is a song from a vacation Bible school (VBS) curriculum. As you can see, this song clearly indicates bias.

News flash: We are all biased. Yes, I did admit it.

If you have an opinion, whether it is that God is real, that God is not real, that all gods are real, or even that it is impossible to know, you are biased. If you still say you are not, then you are biased and a liar (or self-deceived). How we all look at the facts is how we will see the evidence. One way to illustrate this point is through eschatology. I have not studied eschatology for myself, but my bias is that we are living in a pre-millennial period and that all Christians are waiting for the Rapture. This is how I grew up; how I was always taught. It makes it virtually impossible to read Revelation and come to my own opinion, or even understand how anyone can have a differing opinion. Whenever I read that part of the Bible, it is hard to see what it actually says vs. what I was always taught to fill between the lines.

If we are all biased, then how do we know the truth? First, it's important to understand where your bias lies. My bias is that the word of God is true and is the basis for how we should all live our lives. Why am I biased this way? The first reason is that is how I was taught as a child. But it's important to make sure this isn't the only reason! After all, if I was born a Muslim, I would start out believing in Islam! I wouldn't want to trust my eternal living situation (heaven or hell) to an accident of birth.

While I mean to fill this book with arguments for God and the Bible, it all comes down to faith. What number and type of arguments you find convincing will differ person-to-person. Some people will not be convinced until they have PhD-level knowledge, while for others, it was one particular argument that kickstarted their faith. However, faith should never be used as a reason for believing something that you cannot back up. If someone asks why you believe in God, don't just say, "Well, I have faith." That's not an answer. Of course you have faith! You were just asked the reason why you have faith! Your faith is usually not enough to convince someone to believe in God. It should be supported by good reasons. Otherwise, you are believing blindly... you are just taking a guess. I am not saying to leave faith out of the equation. In fact, we are saved through our faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). In the end, with all our science, historical, and logical arguments, we cannot prove God. That is where faith comes into play. Faith ties the ends of our loops where we have a lot of reason, but no absolute proof.

Atheists are no different. They have faith too. In my opinion, atheists have way more faith than Christians do. Instead of having faith in a Creator, they have faith that somehow, nothing became something and turned into the amazing world we have today. To me, this is way more far-fetched than believing in a "sky daddy."

A true agnostic is someone who does not believe in God, but does not disbelieve in God either. To an agnostic, God might exist but they have not found satisfactory reasons for believing in God or not. Are agnostics unbiased? I would argue that they are not. Most agnostics have a clear bias toward atheism. Some agnostics even have a bias toward agnosticism, where no amount of evidence will sway them either way and they are quite content in not knowing for the rest of their lives. Very few agnostics (just like any human) are on a "quest for truth."

In the end, we all have our biases that we see the world through. If you are not biased, you end up a delusional mess because there is no basis for anything. If you've ever read Descartes' Meditations, you will understand how tricky and even impossible it is to start out believing in nothing and logically prove all your assumptions. Descartes attempted to empty his mind of all belief and prove every single basic fact about existence from nothing. But if he didn't have previous knowledge in which he wanted to prove (ex: the existence of matter), then how would he even be able to set out to prove that matter exists?

Our biases influence how we interpret (and even search for) evidence. The way to find the most logical belief, regardless of bias, is to look at the basis for our biases and test them. Are we able to back up what we believe, or do we simply hide behind the word "faith," rather than following 1 Peter 3:15? In the end, no matter what the evidence, we cannot prove nor disprove the existence of God. You have to settle on some kind of faith. Which is the most reasonable?

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear...

- 1 Peter 3:15