Do You Care Whether the Religious Ideas You Believe in Are True or Not?

What do you say to religious believers who don't care about reality?

I don't mean people who unconsciously don't care about reality. I don't mean people who unconsciously resist or rationalize evidence when it contradicts the things they believe. I get that. That's universally human. Everybody does that. Atheists, believers -- everybody. Me and you, and everyone we know.

I'm talking about people who consciously, intellectually state that they're less interested in what's really true about the universe than they are about their personal interpretation of it. People who consciously, intellectually state that reality can't be completely understood, and therefore all interpretations of it are equally valid. People who consciously, intellectually state that it's less important to understand reality than it is to not offend people by pointing out that their beliefs are inconsistent with the evidence. People who consciously, intellectually state that, even though there's powerful evidence against the belief that (say) consciousness is animated by an immaterial soul that survives death, or that life was shaped into being by a loving God, or what have you... it's still reasonable for them to hold those beliefs. People who consciously, intellectually state that, when it comes right down to it, they don't care whether the things they believe are true.

And who firmly defend that position.

What do you say to them?

As an atheist writer, I've been having this weird series of conversations about religion with believers who take this position. Some of them take it in a very hard-line relativist way; they insist there's no reality other than the one we create in our minds. Or they insist that, even though there probably is an external reality, there's no way to truly understand it... so it's completely reasonable to live in the world as we create it in our heads, and to interpret reality in whatever way gives us comfort and pleasure. Regardless of whether that interpretation jibes with, you know, evidence about how reality works.

Others are more slippery about this position. They'll state their religious beliefs... and then, when challenged to provide some evidence supporting those beliefs, they'll say something like, "That's just what I believe. None of us can prove for 100 percent certain whether our beliefs are right. We all choose what to believe. So what's the point in debating who's right?"

I'll be honest: I find it very hard to argue against this position. Mostly because I find it so utterly baffling. The idea that reality matters? The idea that we ought to care whether the things we believe are true? To me, this is close to a fundamental axiom. And when people say they don't care about that, it leaves my jaw hanging in dumbfounded silence.

But that makes it a topic worth getting into. I like questioning my fundamental axioms. So, why should we care whether the things we believe are true?

Why should we treat the external, objective reality of the universe as more important than the internal, subjective reality of our personal experience?

Why is the universe more important than me?

Perspective as a Moral Obligation

Well, for starters: The universe is about 13.73 billion years old, and it's about 93 billion light years across. I am 48 years old, and I'm five foot three. Not to be ageist or a size queen... but really. When I look at those numbers, do I honestly have to ask why the universe is more important -- and more interesting -- than the inside of my head? Or of anybody's head?

I'm not saying the insides of people's heads aren't important or interesting. Of course they are. They're what make art interesting, and literature, and so on. And they're what make psychology and neuropsychology interesting as well. The insides of people's heads are fascinating. And they matter.