Materialism

Materialism is the belief that only matter exists, and that nothing unseen exists. Materialism is a type of atheism. Materialism holds that all phenomena and processes can be entirely explained as manifestations or results of matter.^[1] In popular culture, materialism refers to an obsession with money and expensive goods that money can buy.

Materialism defies both experience and logic. Experience provides numerous counterexamples that disprove materialism, such as annual migration patterns by animals, homing, action-at-a-distance and non-locality, plus extraordinary good and evil events that lack statistically-plausible explanations. Materialism is also contrary to logic, as there is no logical reason to expect human senses to be able to fully recognize all of reality.

Materialism ignores unseen opportunity costs, and often materialists are unable or unwilling to grasp this and other abstract truths. Materialists have trouble realizing that the deterrence effect of gun ownership yields more benefits than any harm that guns cause. Materialists often develop obsessions with their outlook, as reflected by evolution syndrome.

Like all false theories, materialism ultimately contradicts itself: atheists believe in vast amounts of unseen "dark matter" in the universe.

Harm Caused by Materialism[edit]

The falsehood of materialism causes significant harm, including:

• Downplaying the harmful effects of gambling and pornography, which can be even more harmful than destructive substance abuse
• Downplaying non-material causes of accidents, such as young children impulsively darting towards water or into the street
• Exaggerating possible material causes of anxiety and possible material remedies, such as medication

Materialism misleads people into thinking that non-material addictions are not harmful to one's health. In fact, they can be as devastating as material addictions.

Materialism in Politics[edit]

In politics, materialism overlooks abstract principles and instead focuses on tangible or directly observable characteristics, such as:

• Race
• Gender
• Wealth
• Job title or status

In the United States, Democrats tend to be materialistic, with particularly heavy emphasis placed on race, gender and job title. Republicans, in contrast, tend to focus on principles such as family values, pro-life or economics.

Materialism in Education[edit]

Materialism is taught heavily in public schools, leading students to undervalue unseen aspects of life. There is a high correlation between materialism and atheism as atheism is fundamentally a materialistic philosophy. Materialism denies that most great intellectual breakthroughs were the brainchild of men with faith in the unseen.

Materialism in Science[edit]

Materialism undermines science making it increasingly atheistic,^[2] rejecting God and His works in explanations of the world and all of human experience. Instead science readily embraces liberal logic and pseudo or junk science such as evolution, relativity, "global warming" and much of cosmology and geology based on a time frame which predates creation. Fortunately the rigid logic of creation science is gaining in importance, enabling intelligent people to distinguish real science from atheistic secular junk science.

Other Aspects of Materialism[edit]

Arguments for materialism commonly use principles such as Occam's Razor to propose that an immaterial realm is wholly superfluous to materialists' understanding of the world.

"Materialism" can also refer to an obsession with material goods.

The teachings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin (see Marxism-Leninism) rest upon a philosophy of history called dialectical materialism.

Quotes[edit]

• "[T]he greatest failure of materialism is that it simply cannot explain the existence of information!" ^[3]
• "I was just looking at all the wrong things, but when I realized there is no better me or better things without Jesus ... [My faith] sure beats a lot of money and material things that you may have."^[4]

See also[edit]

• Philosophy
• Unseen
• Evolutionary materialism

External links[edit]

• The history of the rise of materialism in Western society by Clement Butel
• Accidental angle: C.S. Lewis on materialistic thoughts
• 15 ways to refute materialistic bigotry:A point by point response to Scientific American by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati

References[edit]

1. ↑ Merriam Webster Dictionary: Materialism
2. ↑ http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/atheism1.htm
3. ↑ Perry Marshall's website about Perry Marshall's forum posts
4. ↑ Berry, Susan (July 25, 2019). Richest Man in Singapore: ‘Missing Piece’ in His Life ‘God Through Jesus Christ’. Breitbart News. Retrieved July 27, 2019.