DAVE ROSS

Is believing in truth more important than believing in God?

Mar 1, 2017, 11:46 AM

Professor Sean Carroll says belief in God isn't what keeps society from resorting to savagery.(Mark...

Professor Sean Carroll says belief in God isn't what keeps society from resorting to savagery.(Mark Heybo, Flickr)

(Mark Heybo, Flickr)

Professor Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist at CalTech, and like most of us believes in truth.

“Most people don’t want to be lied to,” he says.

So he wrote a book called “The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.”  And in it, he has a message for people who believe in God.

“Well, I think that their belief in God, in particular, is not the best way to account for the universe we see,” Professor Carroll says.

Related: Should a recent discovery change the way you read the Bible?

Because there is now a huge body of research showing that the universe – and life – can be explained objectively as the movement of molecules. It’s called Naturalism.

“Naturalism is the idea that the physical world, the world that we see, the natural world, is all that there is,” he says.

But if there’s no God to watch and judge people – wouldn’t we all just revert to savagery?

“I don’t think that most people want to be good people only because God tells them to do that,” he says. “I think most people actually just want to be good.”

And you might say, what about the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” where Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey, the failed banker who decides to jump off a bridge but is saved by his guardian angel?

Well, Dr. Carroll says, actually, it’s George Bailey who saves himself.

“The thing that saves him is the realization that he had a positive impact on all the other real people there in Bedford Falls,” Carroll says. “If you believe my way of looking at the world, that is what is real, and that is what mattered.”

So feel free to believe in God, but Dr. Carroll just wants you to know that’s it’s not supported by the laws of physics.  So don’t go trying to pray rockets into orbit.

Dave's Commentary

Dave Ross on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM
  • listen to dave rossTune in to KIRO Newsradio weekdays at 5am for Dave Ross on Seattle's Morning News.

Dave Ross

car culture...

Dave Ross

Ross: Are we killing car culture? Or is car culture killing the US?

I don’t think the question is whether we're going to "kill" our car culture. The real question is can we stop our car culture from killing the U.S.?

4 days ago

drivers data insurance...

Dave Ross

Ross: As cars release driving data to insurance, is your driving my business?

Every move you make, every swerve you take, every lane change you fake – someone’s watching you. Do drivers have a right to keep driving data private?

11 days ago

rent control...

Dave Ross

Ross: Rent control was never the answer in Wash.

The rent control bill died in the Washington State Legislature this week, even though Democrats control both houses.

1 month ago

end of democracy...

Dave Ross

Ross: Conservative activist earns applause for pledging an ‘end of Democracy’

The theme from Jack Posobiec's speech is that Jan. 6 was a righteous attack not on democracy, but on those who threaten democracy.

1 month ago

Image: Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado, is seen on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2023. (Photo: Alex Brand...

Dave Ross

Ross: Voters can help cull bad politicians from the herd early

Let's remember that just about every occupant of a higher office once occupied a lower office, and was put there by us, Dave Ross says.

1 month ago

Super Bowl celebration...

Dave Ross

Ross: The NFL does it again

The NFL once again put on a show that was able to keep me tuned in for four hours even though I had no stake in either team.

2 months ago

Is believing in truth more important than believing in God?