Atheists and the Ebola denial syndrome in Sierra Leone

By Ezekiel Nabieu

It is not illogical to think that most of those who deny that Ebola exists are atheists. The nexus could be discerned by the end of this piece. “The fool says in his heart ‘there is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good,” Psalms 14:1.

These are some of the phenomena that fuel the mind sets of the fickle-minded towards atheism. Thankfully, atheists and pagans are in the minority in our society. The emptiness that results from the loss of a sense of the transcendent finds fulfilment in suicides when lives are no longer found to be worth living. No amount of philosophizing about a world without God brings hope. Academia cannot solve this deep malady of the soul.

Imagine a band of self-styled super intellectuals discounting all the historical Christian and Muslim accounts with ignoble and slanderous rhetoric.

Here is an account of someone with a spectacular failed attempt at suicide while an atheist. Albert Camus begins his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus” with the words: “There is only one really serious philosophical question, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” It is a haunting question; in fact as I followed atheism to its logical conclusion in my own life as I grew up, it became my question.

“Tragically, two of my close friends at college had already succeeded in their suicide attempts-one, the heir to a successful business, the other a person who acted out of sheer aimlessness.

Then it was my turn-a botched attempt in which I ended up in a hospital room in New Delhi, with doctors battling to keep me alive. It was in that lowly condition that I was handed a Bible, and the story of the gospel was handed to me…”

Big Bang Theory

Big bang cosmology, along with Einstein’s theory of general relativity, implies that there is indeed an “in the beginning. All the data indicates a universe that is exploding outward from a point of infinite density. This singularity is not really a point but the whole of three-dimensional space compressed to zero size. This in fact represents a boundary at which space ceases to exist. Even the terms plead for explanation.

The very starting point for an atheistic universe is based on something that cannot explain its own existence. The scientific laws by which atheists want all certainty established do not even exist as a category at the beginning of the universe because, according to those laws of science by which atheists want to measure all things, matter cannot simply “pop into existence” on its own.

The silence from atheistic science on why there is something rather than nothing is deafening. Atheistic philosopher Bertrand Russell said that the universe is “just there.” But that clearly is not a scientific explanation. According to science nothing that exists (or that is) can explain its own existence. Yet, according to their cosmology we just happen to be. This means that any purpose for our being is as random as any cause for our being. It is untenable.

EBOLA ATHEISTS

These are the people who do not believe in the Ebola god. It is not an easy role to convince surprisingly half-baked people that Ebola is a reality. In spite of millions of dollars being poured into its eradication it is a pity that some people still believe that they are being led up the garden path in a phantom pursuit. Others are of the opinion that the white man wants to reduce our population but cannot explain why. It takes death in the family or death of close friends and/or acquaintances for some to believe.

It is certainly unbelief that causes people to persist in the cultural practices of hiding their sick and washing the dead. According to them these customs should not fall into desuetude. They are nudged on by traditional healers who themselves have succumbed to the disease. Punitive measures should be intensified.

QUESTION TIME

1. Was De Pa not right in appointing an army officer as head of his Ebola response team to enforce compliance with rules and regulations by the use of the barrel of the gun if the butt fails?
2. In this search for a solution to the Ebola war how many more cul-de-sacs do we have to traverse before we can shout “eureka”?
3. Will De Pa not consider the advisability of dispatching fact finding delegations to Nigeria and Senegal to know how they did the trick of Ebola defeat where we have been slovenly?
4. (a)  Will the “reputable” SLBC cease from using the word PERSONNELS which has been wrongly adopted by their Kono correspondent?

(b) Need I tell them that the correct word is PERSONNEL?

(c) Will the SLBC in future make more use of dictionaries instead of assuming to know?

1. (a) Why has the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone attempted to pull wool over the eyes of the public in the matter of job opportunities?

(b) Whom are they kidding by advertising job opportunities without a closing date?

© Politico 04/11/14