Victor Stenger and religion

Victor Stenger, a particle physicist, philosopher and religious skeptic, died recently at the age of 79. He published many peer-reviewed articles and other essays. Also a prolific writer, his book, God, The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist (Prometheus Books), was a 2007 best seller.

One of his sayings was, ‘Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings.’ He was a religious skeptic, a member of the Society of Humanist Philosophers, Free Enquiry and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. We want to investigate if he was honest with his facts.

To him the God of the Bible (the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Father and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ) is no different from Allah, the ‘God’ of the Muslims. Yet they are completely distinct entities because Allah denies that he has a son. How can such an educated man be so confused (just like Richard Dawkins)?

The ‘flying into buildings’ is the incident of the destruction of the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001. Osama bin Laden (a Muslim) claimed responsibility for the attacks. We know about the atrocities committed by other Muslim groups, like ISIS and Boko Haram.¹

Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Boko Haram are all guided by the Koran. They do what Mohammed taught: ‘Let those fight in the cause of God who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. To him who fights in the cause of God, – whether he is slain or gets victory – soon shall We give him a reward of great (value),’ Sura 4:74. ²  So fighting brings rewards.

Compassion is not part of Allah, “Remember your Lord inspired the angels (with the message): ‘I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite you above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them,” Surah 8:12. ²  Smiting off people’s necks was demonstrated by the gruesome beheading of James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Contrary to that, there is no command from Jesus to kill people in order to spread the message of the cross, ‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.’ ³

The difference between the Bible and the Koran is about as wide as the difference between east and west. Did an intelligent, educated man make such a mistake by accident, or was it designed because of his agenda? As an atheist, his agenda was to discredit Christ. Unfortunately, many atheists think such dishonesty is acceptable in the effort to dethrone or damage the ‘religion’ of the Bible. It is a pity that people believe such a simplistic argument to justify unbelief.

References

1. Wikipedia.
2. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, English Translation of the Holy Qur’an, Islamic Propagation Centre International, 2004
3. Matthew 28:18-19