Marlon De Blasio.

 Shermer has defined atheism and noted how it is not a basis for addressing global problems. That’s fair enough. In doing so, however, he also upheld a brand of skepticism about the Christian faith, which I believe inherently deters deeper thought. As he wrote,

Atheism just designates a lack of belief in God. Full stop ... These descriptors are linguistic place-holders for mysteries we have yet to explain. Once explained, they move into the realm of the natural and the normal. If there is a realm of the supernatural or the paranormal, there is no way for a natural and normal being like us to perceive or understand it.

Inferential knowledge about God has compelled many reasonable people. Here it is conveniently dismissed by a “full stop” demand for empirical attestation. This brand of skepticism — “there is no way” — cannot spark the depth of thought that has always been characteristic of thinkers who were curious about matters of truth.

The Judeo-Christian heritage is perhaps the longest running cross-generational history over millennia and is ultimately a proposition to the intangible. “In the beginning God” is a claim that deep thinkers continue to take seriously. Countless people from all walks of life have joyfully and confidently discovered that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life.” Of course there have been unbelievers. So what? The point is to let curiosity about human existence flourish, so people can think for themselves about the God questions.