Brain vs God

I've seem it a thousand times, and it just keeps showing up over and over. I'm sure we're all familiar with the whole story of the atheist teacher who gets showed up by his Christian student. For a refresher, it goes a little like this...

Teacher: Can you see God?
Class: No.
Teacher: Can you touch God?
Class: No.
Teacher: Then there isn`t a God!
Student: Sir, can you see your brain?
Teacher: No.
Student: Can you touch your brain?
Teacher: No.
Student: Oh ok so you have no brain?

It's amazing how many times I've seen Christians celebrate this little fabrication as 'so true', and claiming that 'he sure set him straight'. The simple truth is that this story is so pitiful that I can't believe any believer would latch onto it favorably. To see why, let's answer the student's questions...

Can you see your brain or touch it? Yes. We can cut open people's heads or drill a hole and see they have a brain. When the brain is exposed, it can also be touched. The brain can also be seen or have it's activity measured by way of EEG, CAT scan, PET scan, MRI, fMRI, and MEG scan. Science has also uncovered that a brain is necessary for a person to be functional and alive, so the teacher speaking to the class is evidence that he has a brain.

That's where this stories false-equivalency fails. We have evidence that brains exist and that we all have one. If any of us doubt that, a simple scan can put those doubts to rest. However, there is no proof that God exists. The brain example gives us a testable claim that can be verified, however the God claim does not. All it offers is a claim and nothing more. And a claim that fails even the most basic of scientific scrutiny no less.

And just to also point out a further problem with the story... Despite what some versions say, the child wasn't Einstein.


-Brain Hulk

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