A Practical Guide to the Logic, Philosophy and Thoughts of Christianity

Section 1 - Article 9

Article 9 – Horror and Justice

This article addresses the innate fear of the supernatural and the desire for justice, and how these can be used to validate the existence of the supernatural.

The fear of the supernatural is a fear that is naturally present in almost everyone (except for perhaps the super atheist), although I suspect that when they were kids, they did have it). In adulthood, there are people who logically argue themselves out of fear, attributing their fear of walking down a dark alley to robbers, thieves, dangerous animals or some other physical danger. Apart from this self-convincing group, the majority of individuals have a fear of the supernatural. This includes many self-proclaimed atheists, and those who do not believe in ghosts or the afterlife. While some evolutionists insist that the fear of the unknown is an evolutionary advantage to get people prepared for any possible attacks, paralyzing fear of ghosts and the supernatural is hardly comparable to heightened awareness for robbers, dangerous animals or other physical threats. Seeing a demonic face or shape in the shadow of a tree in a dark alley hardly justifies the heightened state of awareness to possible dangers. Imagination in this aspect is hardly an advantage; in fact, excessive fears of this type can be a hindrance to the quality of life. Children seem to develop such fears naturally, albeit I know some will argue it is the influence of media or culture. I acknowledge that this is a good explanation, but one should also acknowledge that this spontaneous development of fear and respect to spirits, or the attribution of natural events to the supernatural may show some innate human tendency.

While arguably the result of rationalization, the development of spirit mediums and witchdoctors in many pagan cultures are hardly results of "evolutionary advantages" in a society. And I insist on this innate fear because the fear and belief in spirits or gods can logically also develop towards an all-powerful evil god. Yet, there are very few pagan religions or cultures that uphold an omnipotent evil sadistic god whose only sole desire is to torture or destroy all creation. In fact most pagan religions and major religions believe that the god or deity could be appeased through sacrifices, or is punishing them for their misdeeds. It does not make sense for an evil sadistic being to withhold evil or show mercy by simply being appeased by sacrifices. Although hope may seem to be the reason, most seem to attribute "justice" to the deity.

Here we find an interesting desire for justice and fairness. Everyone seems to want justice, even those who claim to realize the world is unfair are generally unhappy about it. Thus, like the fear of the supernatural, the very desire for fairness or justice implies the belief in it. Otherwise, why get unhappy when the undeserving gets more? Why root for the good guy or underdog in the movie? Why not root for the bad guy or villain? The very rooting for underdogs demonstrates this desire for fairness, or justice. Even those who supposedly root for the villains, actually dislike the good guys for other reasons. No one who likes the good guys would enjoy the triumph of the bad guys.

Evolutionists may claim that the sense of justice arose from trial and error, or from the observation of just rewards. Yet, it is unlikely for this to be the case. There are many who work very hard but do not succeed. Why then is the acceptance of unfairness not a natural instinct? Would not such hope cause aggravation and frustration, and fail to be advantageous if it leads to despair and a bleak outlook of life? It is most likely that the sense came from the awareness of something bigger out there.

Similarly, fear of the supernatural may arise from the unconscious awareness of the supernatural. Although some may debate the validity of the unconscious awareness, cognitive psychology research has plenty of evidence for unconscious perception, unconscious awareness and unconscious memory. Nevertheless, the innate natural fear of the supernatural suggests the existence of the supernatural, for there is little point in fearing the non-existent. No one fears the "Gaboladay" (a made up word for this article to illustrate a creature that no one has any belief or perception of). If anyone fears "Gaboladay", then they have attributed some known aspect of something to it for otherwise, it does not make logical sense. Fear of the unknown on its own does not exist, but rather it is the fear of the attributed characteristics of something dangerous. Yet this fear of the supernatural does infer something. If there is evil out there, and our world is not yet in complete ruin, there is support for a benevolent Creator God.

In combination with our innate desire for justice, there seems to be good reason that humans are unconsciously aware of God. With conscious awareness of the unconscious, it is up to the individual if they will make the final logical deduction that God exists.