My speech from the last Tournament, it got 3rd place, and inspired people. I may write another post about that. A couple notes before you read it: this is the speech I gave at the tournament, but I gave it differently every round, and it's formatted for easy memorizing, so if it seems odd in parts, that's why; and, I have no clue how this happened, but my speech seems to have decided certain paragraphs must be in certain fonts, and I can't change it no matter how hard I try, so it's kind of funky in that regards also - probably has to do with the fact that I was constantly switching word editors as I wrote it. So overlook it's technical funkiness and you should get the spirit of it :)
According to the Noah
Webster's 1828 dictionary
Reason, in the English language, is sometimes taken for true and clear principles; sometimes for clear and fair deductions; sometimes for the cause, particularly the final cause.
. It is A faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes truth from falsehood, and good from evil, and which enables the possessor to deduce inferences from facts or from propositions.
Human reason is a wondrous gift, the ability to think rationally, to draw conclusions and produce opinions – indeed, every advance in modern, and not so modern, science and technology may be equitably attributed to man's ability to reason. Reason, as of late, has also, quite literally, become a rallying cry – last month in Washington D.C. There was an atheist convention called The Reason Rally. Because of the giant leaps and bounds we have been taking in scientific and technological advances there is a growing movement to enshrine/enthrone Reason as the supernal virtue governing belief and thought
At the foundation of this school of thought is an appeal to the corporeal nature of man - or empirical
evidences; it is the philosophy that man ought to base their beliefs on scientifically proven, or provable facts; that anything else is not reasonable. That a belief in some person, thing, ideal, or God that you cannot see, hear, taste, smell, feel, or otherwise prove is childish and naive. Reason.
And with this rallying cry of reason is trumpeted the motto that God is not scientifically provable, and therefore a belief in God cannot be valid; You cannot know that God is real; belief must be founded on facts.
This school of thought saturates our culture
For example: the official atheist website claims that saying “God said it, so I believe it” is, quote, “the epitome of ignorance.”
Real time Talk show host, Bill Maher, said: Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking; Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do.
I could go on but in all
reality, to illustrate how deeply it has saturated our society, I could just as
easily ask you about your experiences, and what people have said to you. If you're the kind of person who believes in
God How comfortable are you bringing up your religion, or talking about God in
a public place? Have you ever worried
about being ridiculed, or laughed at for bringing your opinion into a
discussion because it was based on religion?
Have you ever worried about being called a bigot, or intolerant for
saying that you don't think something is right.
Many say that religious people are Weak minded, have to find meaning in falsehood, you have to
have religion to give you a false hope, and a false sense of security because you're not mature enough to handle life and grief on your own
Many say religion is a tool to justify your prejudices
You know people who say things like that
I personally have had experiences where I wanted to write a speech about God, or bring up religious stories in a speech, but I didn't feel like I could, because it wasn't scientific proof, and people would make fun of me for it, and I shouldn't use it as proof - And I know that a lot of my friends have felt the same way.
God is not provable, and you ought not believe that for
which you have no evidence. It's not reasonable.
Now, despite my initial reservations, I have recently come to realize that there are actually 2 major flaws in this assertion. The 1st, ironically,with all of the talk of reason, is that it contradicts itself, 2nd even those who assert it don't really believe it.
Everyone, believes in something just because - whether you're Christian, atheist, philosopher, or a Harvard law-school gradate - Everyone has beliefs that are not based on facts. And it's as simple as this:
Is murder wrong?
Is rape wrong?
Can you prove it, can you prove to me that murder and rape are wrong? No, you cannot do it, people believe it for one of two reasons – because God said so, or just becuase. I know you can claim that it takes away your rights, but why is that bad? It just is. At the end of the day you didn't come to that conclusion logically, you can't. When all is said and done, you just know it.
Why is food good?
An Atheist's belief in the scientific method itself is based on things they believe that they have absolutely no proof for; one of these is the belief that knowledge, or truth, is good – why is it good? It can help you know how to act and therefore improve the quality of your life – why is that good? Can you prove to me that improving the quality of your life is good? You can't, you just know it. They can't, they just know it. Science can tell us what is, but it cannot tell us what is good. A Christian's belief in God is every bit as valid as an atheist's belief in science.
Reason may be the faculty of the mind that governs logic, and by which all of science is derived, but what many forget is that, as Noah Webster explained, this same faculty of reason is the faculty responsible for discerning between good and evil, truth and falsehood – in my religion, we call it the Light of Christ - This rallying cry of reason does not discount religion, it more fully validates it, and tells us plainly that belief in things just because, or because God said so, is a valid form of belief, just as valid as any scientific theory.
Our life, our passions, our entire world view is based on beliefs that cannot be proven. Whether you want to call it revelation, conscience, or instinct, Everyone, believes in something just because - whether you're Christian, atheist, philosopher, or a Harvard law school gradate - Everyone has beliefs that are not based on facts. And it's as simple as that. Science can tell us what is, but it cannot tell us what is good; science can predict outcomes, but it cannot dictate beliefs.
Reaffirm Revelation
Roy Speckhardt, the executive director of the American humanist association stated that "Atheists have morals to, morals are part of human development, it's not so much that we get it from someone else, it just comes naturally in us." This is exactly the point, they are trying to say you must base your beliefs on science, on facts, act according to facts when they themselves do not, neither do they believe you can.
No one would call you a bigot for believing murder or rape is wrong, no one would laugh at you for it, no one would mock you, even though you have absolutely no empirical evidence that it is wrong. Then why do they laugh when you believe in God.
Come, let us reason together: I know God lives, I know He is real – I don't have to see Him, and no one has to prove it to me; but I know He lives, just as I know that He suffered my sins – and that belief is just as valid as any scientific fact.
