Atheism and Mystery

There was a very interesting reader comment today on Andrew Sullivan's blog about Atheism & Mystery. My interpretation of the situation is the exact opposite. (Go read the comment now, I'll wait).

The reader says that this (atheist) obsession with "good answers" is central to the frustration with faith. They explain that non-believers cannot tolerate 'mystery' and must always have an answer, whereas believers are content with not knowing and therefore better attuned to reality.

I think the reader has it right when they say the obsession with 'good answers' is central, but it seems to me that believers place the emphasis on the word 'answers', and non-believers place the emphasis on the word 'good'.

My experience of atheists (being one myself) is that most are very ready to admit things they do not know. I do not know what happens when we die (neither does Sam Harris, as he states). I don't know why the Big Bang happened, I don't know why the universe has the properties it does. There is a lot I don't know. I would like to know, which I think is a basic human trait, and so I'm glad science is working on it. But right now, I just don't know.

It has always seemed to me that it is believers who cannot abide not knowing and who insist on there being an answer. Believers have erected this edifice of religion to provide answers to all the unknowns. This generally includes belief in the existence of an creator, in an afterlife, and that the universe was created specifically to support us and with a purpose in mind as well as filling in lots of other gaps in our knoweldge. To an atheist mind, the certainty with which these things are believed is just not supported by evidence. It would be more honest to simply acknowledge that we don't know the answers about these matters.

For atheists, it is very important that our answers be 'good' - that they be properly justified with evidence. That is precisely why atheists do not accept Christianity, Islam or any other religion - we find the evidence to be insufficient. To us it appears that theists are so desperate to have an answer (any answer) that they are willing to completely disregard whether the answer has any truth to it.

Although atheists prefer 'good answers', we would rather not have an answer at all than to have the false certainty of an answer that is not based on any good reason or evidence.