The Tenacity of Unbelief

Last month, the Templeton Foundation sponsored a debate between renowned atheist Christopher Hitchens and Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete (a trained physicist) on the question of “Does Science make belief in God Obsolete.”  During the discussion Hitchens said: "If I saw a miracle, I would be inclined to doubt the evidence of my own eyes."

This brought to mind a passage in J. Budziszewski’s fine book, “What We Can’t Not Know.”  Budziszewski posits that knowledge of God is part of natural knowledge (not just revealed knowledge) and is therefore one of the facts we can’t not know. On page 62, he says:  “[t]he reason it is so difficult to argue with an atheist – as I know, having been one – is that he is not being honest with himself.  He knows there is a God; he only tells himself that he doesn’t.”

Hitchens, it seems, wants to cling to his belief system no matter what the facts.