The BHA’s Andrew Copson spoke today in a debate at University College, London to propose the motion that ‘This House Believes That God is a Human Creation’.
Mr Copson said, ‘The reason not to believe in the existence of a god or gods is that there is no evidence for a god or gods. There are also arguments to be made that show that all the specific gods that humanity has ever believed in are solely human creations.
‘Two and a half thousand years ago, the philosopher Xenophanes said ‘If cattle and horses and lions had hands and could paint and make works of art with their hands just as people can, horses would depict the gods as horses and cattle would as cattle’. He had a good point and we can see that every god ever believed in bears the stamp of human manufacture. Even today, you don’t find many conservatives who believe in a liberal god or vice versa – our gods tend to reflect our human environments and personal prejudices.
‘God is not in his heaven, Apollo and Aphrodite don’t frolic on Mount Olympus, and there is no Thor in Asgard – there is no Asgard. There is no Jupiter, no Eshu, Anansi, or Brahma. We find gods today in the only place they have ever existed – the human imagination. Useful, perhaps; to some a source of comfort – but entirely a human creation.’
The motion was carried – thanks to the godless students of Gower Street!