rikki: im not condoning atheism im explaining it as i understand it. if someone finds our explanation unsatisfactory for whatever reason they go to something else. does it necessarily explain everything? no. but it gives them hope that their questions will be answere. every atheist has a different reason why they find religion unsatisfactory…and yes i read permission to believe. notice he never says that any of those chapters prove the existence of god…its an indication which leads you to emuna.
“if you have questions and believe anyway without reason you are a fool not a ma’min”
they say the same of us. they think were deluded idiots who stick our fingers in our ears and disregard science to perpetuate our delusions. in order to combat atheism you need to really understand their standpoint. im not condoning it at all, im explaining it.
if religion was so ironclad then there wouldnt be atheists. if hashem’s existence were emperically proven there would be no bechira. were all given a choice…we chose frumkiet others choose atheism or other religions. you dont have to like it…thats how it is.
on teh subject of torah vs. science, the argument is almost moot. belief in god allows a variable which science does not. for example the age of teh universe is determined by determining the speed of universal expansion. assuming you want to use the bing bang theory then using that speed you can extrapolate the precise point and tine of origination. allow god as a variable and that inital propulsion is no longer necessary to generate the speed that we observe in cosmic shifts. it could all have been set in motion meaning that the universe could in fact be a lot younger than science believes. thats just one example.
as far as im concerned debates with atheists about the actual existence of god is pointless. heres teh debate ion a nutshell.
“god is a delusion”
“then how do you explain x y and z”
“with a b and c”
“but where did it all come from”
“science will find out”
“we know god did it”
“maybe it was the flying spaghetti monster”
and so on and so forth until both sides either agree to disagree or then end up insulting each other. of someone is takeh an atheist…then leave them alone unless they ask you for help. it isnt worth it and youre wasting your time and energy.