"For we must remember that the materialist philosophy (whether true or not) is certainly much more limiting than any religion. In one sense, of course, all intelligent ideas are narrow. They cannot be broader than themselves. A Christian is only restricted in the same sense that an atheist is restricted. He cannot think Christianity false and continue to be a Christian; and the atheist cannot think atheism false and continue to be an atheist. But as it happens, there is a very special sense in which materialism has more restrictions than spiritualism. Mr. McCabe thinks me a slave because I am not allowed to believe in determinism. I think Mr. McCabe a slave because he is not allowed to believe in fairies. But if we examine the two vetoes we shall see that his is really much more of a pure veto than mine. The Christian is quite free to believe that there is a considerable amount of settled order and inevitable development in the universe. But the materialist is not allowed to admit into his spotless machine the slightest speck of spiritualism or miracle. Poor Mr. McCabe is not allowed to retain even the tiniest imp, though it might be hiding in a pimpernel.
"The Christian admits that the universe is manifold and even miscellaneous, just as a sane man knows that he is complex. The sane man knows that he has a touch of the beast, a touch of the devil, a touch of the saint, a touch of the citizen. Nay, the really sane man knows that he has a touch of the madman. But the materialist's world is quite simple and solid, just as the madman is quite sure he is sane. The materialist is sure that history has been simply and solely a chain of causation, just as the interesting person before mentioned is quite sure that he is simply and solely a chicken. Materialists and madmen never have doubts."
Taken from Chesterton, G. K.
Orthodoxy (New York: Image Books | Doubleday, 2001) .18-19.
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Lots of nonsense in there.
ReplyDelete1. "I think Mr. McCabe a slave because he is not allowed to believe in fairies." So this guy believes in fairies, and thinks that is a virtue?! He needs to grow up.
2. "Materialists and madmen never have doubts." Nonsense. A good naturalist is always open to knew data and willing to alter a hypothesis as needed.
He said "Poor Mr. McCabe is not allowed to retain even the tiniest imp, though it might be hiding in a pimpernel."
Sounds like Chesterton is the kind of guy who thinks (like a small child) there might be a boogieman under the bed or in the closet.
Bernie... complete misunderstanding. It's sad that you actually took the time to respond. You may want to check out 'Orthodoxy' prior to commenting again. You couldn't have missed the point by a wider margin.
ReplyDeleteRE: "Bernie... complete misunderstanding."
ReplyDeleteCan you be specific? I don't know what you are referring to. Your comment is so general it is meaningless.
Just for reference, have you read Orthodoxy or did you just comment on this post?
ReplyDeleteRE: "Just for reference, have you read Orthodoxy or did you just comment on this post?"
ReplyDeleteI'm commenting on just the nonsense in this post. If the excerpt is that wacky, why would I want to read the whole thing... unless Lenny took it out of context, which I doubt.
OK. It is an excellent book. I think it is very telling that you have shot down the possibility of reading it in it's entirety. It goes along with the context of the post, but you missed it anyway. Have a good day.
ReplyDeleteRE: "I think it is very telling that you have shot down the possibility of reading it in it's entirety."
ReplyDeleteLike I said, why would I want to waste time reading the whole book when just that small part espoused such nonsense?