Maurice F. Stanley

God, Hope, and Freedom: Arguments Against Contemporary Atheism Maurice F. Stanley

Is there a God? Do we have souls? Are some actions right and others wrong? Does prayer work? Is thinking no more than physical brain activity? Is everything physical? The contemporary naturalists -- Daniel Dennett and the rest -- believe in a purely physical universe ruled by deterministic laws of cause and effect. They deny everything supernatural, especially God, and, since they are determinists, they reject human free will, which naturally leads them to reject human moral responsibility. They feel it their duty to discourage, or eliminate, or even outlaw, all ethical and religious language.