Robin Schumacher #fundie blogos.org

As I said at the beginning, the ability of people to deny the truth about something can be breathtaking. But what's at the heart of such denial? What stops a person from even beginning to think that a particular truth claim could be plausible?

This is obviously a complicated subject, but for many, it boils down to one simple thing: they don't want the matter in question to be true.

Stories are plentiful about people with cancer who ignored the clear warning signs on the side of cigarette packs and the physical symptoms they were experiencing, of young girls who were literally nine months pregnant and who wouldn't believe they were about to have a baby, and even of individuals like David Irving who stood up in a Canadian courtroom and testified: "No documents whatsoever show that a Holocaust has ever happened."[6]

The will to deny truth can be extraordinarily powerful.

When it comes to God, some atheists admit this is the obstacle they face. Thomas Nagel has written: "I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn't just that I don't believe in God and, naturally hope that I'm right in my belief. It's that I hope that there is no God! I don't want there to be a God; I don't want the universe to be like that."[7]

Could Christians be guilty of this — of wanting God to exist so badly they turn a blind eye to truth claims that run contrary to theirs? Of course. This is one reason Christian apologists beat their drum so loudly and call on all believers to critically examine facts as the Apostle Paul demands that we do (1 Thess. 5:21).

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So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!

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