What a Famous Atheist Wrote Just Before His Death

What compels people to adhere unwaveringly to unproven theories that claim the world and life came about by chance? How is it that, despite the intricate wonders of creation, some scientists and physicians do not believe in the existence of a creator? Despite advancements in science, no one has yet succeeded in creating a single living cell from non-living components. The latest scientific efforts relied on using living bacteria as a repository of cellular components.

What the scientific community cannot create deliberately in laboratory conditions, some scientists assert happened randomly by chance.

The atheist school of thought posits that "life arose spontaneously," followed by attempts to organize this reality based on its own unproven theories.

What causes rational, educated people to believe in a notion that remains unproven and to adhere to it with such determination? What breeds the unwillingness to consider, just once, with an open mind, the possibility of a creator? Is it a devoted admiration of science, or is there something else at play?

Aldous Huxley, a renowned British author and notable atheist, offered an answer. He was the grandson of Thomas Henry Huxley, an English biologist famously dubbed ‘Darwin’s Bulldog’ for his staunch support of the theory of evolution, and the brother of Julian Huxley, an evolutionary biologist awarded the Darwin Medal.

Towards the end of his life, Aldous penned an article titled ‘Confessions of a Professional Atheist,’ where he wrote: "I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently, I assumed it had none and was able without difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is concerned to prove there is no valid reason he personally should not do as he wants to do or why his friends should not seize political power and govern in any way that is most advantageous for themselves... For myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation – sexual and political. The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain system of morality. That interfered with our sexual freedom.”

Source:

Huxley, Aldous, Ends and Means (New York, NY: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1937), 270.

This sentiment had already been expressed in the Torah: "Bribery blinds the eyes of the wise" (Deuteronomy 16:19). Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman, HY"D, explains: "The fundamentals of faith are simple and evident to anyone, as long as one is not corrupted by the desires and wants of this world. Thus, it is clear why the Torah cautioned, ‘Do not follow your heart’ – which encompasses heresy, warning a person to subdue and discipline one’s desires so intellect can remain free from inclinations, recognizing the undeniable truth that Hashem created the world.

"Faith, therefore, is the outcome when one's desires do not trump reason, and belief naturally follows." (Collected Essays, Essay on Faith)

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The command ‘do not follow your heart’ is essentially a warning to subdue our heart’s desires and avoid letting them dominate our rational thinking, for only then can one’s mind be free from biases that skew one’s straight thinking.

It is a law of human nature that one’s inner will influences and shapes one’s thinking and intellect. It is the inner will that sways and convinces the mind to believe what aligns with it.

Thus, only when one is not subservient to personal desires can the mind clearly see and recognize reality.

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