Om gud av Daniel Quinn

[Sceptisk]

excerpt from IF THEY GIVE YOU LINED PAPER, WRITE SIDEWAYS by Daniel Quinn

Daniel. ...do i believe in God.

Daniel. Being a Martian anthopologist, I have to pull back from your question, have to take off the blinders you're asking me to wear. Believing in things that may not exist - or disbelieving in things that may exist - is a peculiarity of your culture, not a universal human activity. because it's universal among you, you assume it's universal among humans in general.

Elaine. That's true. It never occurred to me that it might not be universal among humans.

Daniel. You variously believe in God, though God may not exist, or you disbelieve in God, though God may exist. You variously believe in angels, though angels may not exist, or you disbelieve in angels, though angels may exist...

Elaine. Yes, that's all true.

Daniel. Tell me, do you believe in supermodels?

Elaine. [laughing]. Supermodels? I don't believe in them. That isn't the word i use.

Daniel. For you, the existence of supermodels doesn't require you to exercise the faculty of belief.

Elaine. That's true. Though I never thought of belief as a faculty.

Daniel. Oh, it definitely is. It's the faculty you must call upon in the face of the absurb. ...A thing whose reality doesn't seem to you absurd doesn't require belief.

Elaine. ...But the existence of God doesn't strike me as absurb.

Daniel. It's absurd in the sense that no one can produce even the slightlest evidence of God's existence. They can produce proofs, but these are only valid if you accept the premises on which they're based. If you don't accept those premises, then they're just empty exercise in logic.

Elaine. I suppose I'm dimmly aware that such things exist.

Daniel. Another faculty exists that is a kind of cousin of the faculty of belief. This is the faculty that comes into play with regard to supermodels. You people the world with supermodels. Fifty years ago there were no supermodels, but in the last few decades you have peopled your world with them. A hundred years ago there were no movie stars, but since then you've peopled your world with hundreds of them. Europe in the Middle Ages was peopled with saints.

Elaine. Yes, I see what you mean.

Daniel. The Gebusi of New Guinea consort with spirits on a daily basis. Their world is peopled with spirits, and if you were to ask them if they believe in spirits, they would react just the way you did when I asked if you believe in supermodels....