Do you believe in angels?
I don’t – but I have good friends who believe in them very much. So I’ve watched all 10 episodes of the Sky TV series called simply “Angels” which I believe is the first series on British television to address this subject.
Watching the series inspired me to devote one of my series of short stories to an ‘angelic’ appearance. It’s called “The Face At The Window”.
So often, in the television series, some conjunction of events which were described as angelic would be dismissed by the resident sceptic Professor Chris French as coincidence – a position I support. But the believers will insist that there is no such thing as coincidence and that instead everything happens for a reason.
There are two major problems with the school of thought that insists that everything has a reason. First, it seems to suggest that everything is intended or purposeful and therefore planned which appears to contradict free will. Second, if everything is for a reason, this means that all the evils in the world – including disease, destruction and death itself, even such horrors as the Holocaust – are for a reason which appears to defy comprehension.
Of course, people of faith argue that everything is planned by a God whose mind we cannot understand and all evil has a purpose but we are not capable of appreciating it. This seems to me to be an utterly circular and self-serving argument that is just too convenient.
Also, if believers truly believe that all evil and all sorrow have a divine purpose, then why do we seek to oppose evil and avoid sorrow and why do we condemn evil and feel sorrow?
October 4th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I wish I could remember where, but I read the statistic recently that more Americans believe in angels than in evolution.
October 4th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I found it. It was a Newsweek article by Richard Dawkins here.
October 4th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Hi, Dana. Your comment was so interesting, I just had to go on the web and search for the information.
You’re right: according to a Harris poll published in December 2008, 71% of Americans believe in angels compared to 47% who believe in evolution.
There’s more information on this poll here.