So, due to the overwhelming response to my last post, I decided to focus only on the objection I mentioned in it 
First, the claim is that belief in the supernatural can be used to exploit people. Well, no doubt unscrupulous people exist who are apt to use all sorts of beliefs in exploitative ways – but that doesn’t mean the belief in question is false. For example, someone can use the belief “people ought to help their community (or country, family, workplace, etc.)” to lay a guilt trip on or otherwise take advantage of the vulnerable. Appeals for people to serve in the military to fight in unjust wars can happen like that. But the fact that some can misuse an appeal to the value of community doesn’t mean that being part of a community has no value. So the objection is misguided: really, it is an objection to misusing people via their belief in the supernatural, not an objection to the existence of the supernatural itself.
Secondly, the objection argued that if people believe in the supernatural that they’ll be too passive, and just sit around hoping and praying for a miraculous solution to their problems rather than doing something really useful to change their situation. Well, the first thing to note is that this argument is circular: it assumes that prayer and faith can’t work and are not useful. And again, it doesn’t give us any reasons for doubting the existence of the supernatural, only for doubting the value of not taking physical action to help oneself and others.
So, what reason do people have for thinking that there is no supernatural world and that supernatural events like miracles cannot occur? My guess is most people will say something like, “well, that stuff just isn’t scientific.” Is that right? Why do you doubt the supernatural (if you do)? I’d like to address these doubts in my next post, so please go ahead and share your comments!
