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Sam Lehman-Wilzig
Prof. Sam: Academic Pundit

Genesis and the world: With(out) God?

When my 7-year-old told me that God does not exist, my first inclination was to convince him otherwise. Here's why I didn't
Illustrative. Father and son. (iStock)
Illustrative. Father and son. (iStock)

Many years ago, as I was putting my (then) 7-year-old son to bed, he turned to me with a serious face and said: “Abba, I have something to tell you.” I thought to myself: Here comes a confession of some minor infraction; after all, he hated to lie.

“What is it?” I asked, with an inner smile.

“God doesn’t exist,” he responded.

To say that I was dumbfounded would be an understatement — by the very thought, and even more that a 7-year-old was even considering such a weighty matter!

But then again, why not? We all constantly mention the Almighty — whether in saying “My God!” or “God help you…” or “With God’s help…”. Moreover, who doesn’t think about the big question: “Who’s really in charge here?” And for children of religiously observant parents, it’s hard to avoid God altogether — especially during this time of the year, when we start the annual Torah reading cycle with the very first verse from Genesis: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

For decades now, I’ve been thinking about my son’s “admission,” and have come to the conclusion that the ability or tendency to Believe-in-God (or not) is something that we are born with — i.e., it’s part of a person’s nature. Of course, deep in their hearts, many people are somewhere in the middle: agnostic – not sure that S/He exists, but also not certain that some sort of an Almighty Being doesn’t exist.

True, this is not only a matter of a person’s nature. Socialization is a large part of it, as well (family and peer environment) – although that tends to influence the way we express our religion more than the actual belief itself. In short, it’s Nature and Nurture.

There is also a third aspect that is less talked about, but could well be central to a person’s level of belief: existential angst. I know, that’s a mouthful. In simpler language this involves two quite different things: 1- The fear of “nothingness” that humans have regarding what happens after they die; 2 – Is there any rhyme or reason to life (or for that matter, the universe)?

The first fear can be felt at an early age, especially if a young person sees someone in the family (or close friend’s family member) pass away. This doesn’t mean that everyone – child and adult – will find succor in God’s hands. Many people will not accept a Being that they can’t see, hear, or touch, indeed, one who’s completely invisible. For a 3-year-old, the “virtual” is real (make-believe characters they converse with); by the age of 7 or thereabouts, the only real is the really real – for them, “make-believe is for babies.” But for much of humanity, it’s not “make-believe,” but rather that they really do believe. Or should I say, really need to believe.

Which brings me to the “war” between atheists and believers. My first reaction to my son’s statement was to try and convince him otherwise. But I stopped myself, for if such a young boy can come to such a conclusion by himself (he certainly didn’t get this from our home!), why try at this stage to argue with what is (for him) a very natural conclusion? Yet, there’s a converse lesson here too: why should atheists try to convince religious believers of their “error”?

Here’s why they shouldn’t. Let’s try a “thought experiment.” You are told by a doctor friend with many years of experience as a family GP, that for so-called ailments the best thing she does is to prescribe for the “patient” a placebo pill to be taken three times a day. “It’s amazing how many of my patients return after a while thanking me for the great medicine I had them take!”

Do you then run off to inform her patients that it is all a scam; the “medicine” is a sugar pill? Of course not! Why not? Because in fact, it works! OK, now instead of the above doctor’s vignette, substitute “existential angst” for “ailment,” and “God and prayer” for the “placebo pill.” You as an atheist might feel that they are being duped; they feel (and actually receive) relief from their spiritual “ailment.”

Thus, there is nothing so exasperating as religious people who try to convince atheists that God exists – and equally maddening, atheists who try to undercut religious belief of the observant and the worshipper. If both sides are happy with their (un)belief, they should leave the other side alone.

That leaves open one last, gigantic question. All this might be fine and dandy on the micro-individual level, but don’t religious belief and conversely atheism have consequences on the macro-societal level? I’ll relate to that question another time.

About the Author
Prof. Sam Lehman-Wilzig (PhD in Government, 1976; Harvard U) presently serves as Academic Head of the Communications Department at the Peres Academic Center (Rehovot). Previously, he taught at Bar-Ilan University (1977-2017), serving as: Head of the Journalism Division (1991-1996); Political Studies Department Chairman (2004-2007); and School of Communication Chairman (2014-2016). He was also Chair of the Israel Political Science Association (1997-1999). He has published five books and 69 scholarly articles on Israeli Politics; New Media & Journalism; Political Communication; the Jewish Political Tradition; the Information Society. His new book (in Hebrew, with Tali Friedman): RELIGIOUS ZIONISTS RABBIS' FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Between Halakha, Israeli Law, and Communications in Israel's Democracy (Niv Publishing, 2024). For more information about Prof. Lehman-Wilzig's publications (academic and popular), see: www.ProfSLW.com
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