Faith and our Fathers
by kreitsauce on Jun.27, 2009, under Atheism, Philosophy
Last week, I wrote about the reasons why so many men refuse to go to church. I want to follow up on that train of thought a little bit and talk about the relationship between faith in God and having a father-figure. Dr. Paul C. Vitz of New York University’s Psychology department published an article in 1999 that appears to also be the subject of an upcoming book entitled Defective Fathers: Psychological Origins of Atheism.
In his study, Vitz noted that many famous atheists had been neglected or abused by their fathers. Some fathers had simply been not nearly so strong in character or personality as they desired. Consider the words of H. G. Wells, who said: “My father was always at cricket, and I think [mum] realised more and more acutely as the years dragged on without material alleviation, that Our Father and Our Lord, on whom to begin with she had perhaps counted unduly, were also away – playing perhaps at their own sort of cricket in some remote quarter of the starry universe.” By studying atheists and a group of Christians, Vitz theorized that the atheists’ disdain for God began as a disdain for their own human fathers.
In contrast, Vitz found that Christians tend to be considered psychologically healthy. This flies in the face of Christopher Hitchens’ book, which states quite plainly that religion is grounded on wish-thinking. To Hitchens, God exists in believers’ mind simply because we want Him to be there. Our deepest longings for something- Someone- beyond ourselves cause us to create a God to believe in.
Hitchens proves nothing by noting that we long for God. There are, after all, many people who have a good reason to long for God to be absent from the picture. They may not want Him to tell them what to do. They may not like taking ultimate responsibility. I’d say an atheist has at least as strong of a reason to disbelieve in God as a believer has for belief in God. Inner motivation has nothing to do with proving or disproving God’s existence.
No doubt, there is something within most people that does long for the Eternal. That longing doesn’t mean I fabricated God to be the object of that longing. I longed for food today, and I enjoyed some beef stew for lunch and some marinated chicken for dinner that I’m quite sure were real. I longed for fellowship, and I was able to enjoy talking to friends and family. But you may say to me: “Yes, but I can perceive the food and the friends with my senses. Those aren’t the same as God, who cannot be seen.” That’s true, but think about it a little more. Before I knew Him, I knew that I longed for something. It was only after I came to faith that I knew what my longings were all about. A child may long for food or companionship but not know what to call it. Also, hunger and loneliness are concepts, not objects to be perceived, just like a longing for the Eternal God. The desire is intangible, but the object is not.
PS- Apologetics 315 has a link to a free MP3 of Vitz if you care to listen…
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June 28th, 2009 on 2:11 pm
Well, I can say from personal experience that my father was an atheist my whole life, and he was probably a better father than any other fathers or friends/family I know. He also had a wonderful father (and mother) who were Christians… not fanatical about it… but, were always good parents to him.
I do not know of the research Paul Vitz has done, but my initial reaction was "wow, he's REACHING!". I mean, lets face it… there are also plenty of Christians that had abusive fathers out there as well. Matter of fact, it was always my observation that the more "abusive" or "hard" someone's background was… the more likely they were to become a devout Christian and be "saved" from all that. .
Personally, I'm an atheist more because of my religious upbringing and what I do know about the bible and religion… not because anyone abused me.
June 28th, 2009 on 6:12 pm
Samantha,
First of all, I read your "long story" page on your own blog. I think I can understand why you feel the way you feel about this post as well as Christianity in general. I in no way intend to blame fathers for every atheist in the world. I also am not saying that atheists are worse people than believers. In fact, it sounds to me like your atheist father held your home together. I'd also like to say that not all Christians are the sort of Christians your mother is/was. However, I will point out that a parent did play a role in your rejection of faith. Your mom was judgmental and, by your own words, not entirely stable at all times. You didn't reject faith based strictly on facts and deep, personal study. You rejected faith initially because of a loving atheist father and a mother who used Christianity to bring tension into your home. That's precisely the sort of thing Dr. Vitz is talking about. I hope you will reconsider your position in your moments of reflection. I'm sorry that you lost your father you loved so much and who loved you, but in God I believe you will find Someone Who loves you deeply and whom you can lovely deeply in return.
Blessings,
Kreitsauce
June 28th, 2009 on 10:05 pm
Hi, and thanks for the thoughtful response. I see your point… but, facts and deep personal study certainly played a part in my losing faith – as did my upbringing, no doubt. Matter of fact, I know plenty of atheists who were devout christians and their personal studying is exactly what led them away from Christianity. You should see some of the stories on the deconversion.com website… some of them were pastors… missionaries… or they had no religious background hardly at all. Atheists, like Christians, come from all sorts of backgrounds.
Yes, it seem Christians are always looking for an easy answer to explain why people don't believe what they believe. (they were't ever REALLY Christians, they never really KNEW Christ , etc.) I think Dr. Vitz's theory here is just on one more tangent like that – "they must have had a bad father" ?? I talk about this a bit in an old post of mine here: http://savemenot.wordpress.com/2007/09/30/greates...
Also – I'd like to point out that my father was an atheist… and he had a great relationship with his parents.
June 28th, 2009 on 10:22 pm
I've never been to deconversion.com, but I have been to the deconversion stories section of PositiveAtheism.org. I found the people there to be…less than positive. It seems to me that people either meet a Christian or church that is screwed-up and reject their faith or they make an assumption that isn't based in fact or reason and reject their faith. They assume that science and faith are incompatible and reject the Bible. They assume that the people who wrote the Bible are illiterate and/or ignorant and reject the Bible. Assuming things is a dangerous thing to do.
From reading what Vitz had to say, it seems to me that he isn't necessarily playing the same old "blame the parents" routine so many psychologists have done in the past. He sees it as a factor, but not the only factor in producing an atheist.
June 29th, 2009 on 1:03 am
hmmmm… it seems to me that you are doing a bit of assuming yourself. I can assure you that I, and many other atheists, have plenty of facts to back up their reasons for not believing in God. On the contrary, it's the lack of facts to back up so much of the scripture that is one of the driving factors in my non-belief. Too many things don't seem to add up & so many "stories" that are quite unbelievable in the bible. It's not facts that make people believe, but fatih. I've even had many Christians tell me that. Perhaps, some of us just have more problems with faith than others…
Anyway, I don't want to offend.. or argue with you. I just stumbled in here through the wordpress tags and the post was so contrary to my own experience I wanted to respond. I can agree to disagree, and I wish you well.
June 29th, 2009 on 1:29 am
I wish you well, too. I am interested in knowing more about the facts that atheism is based on though. Perhaps you could discuss this if you have time.