Sagan's Dragon

Dr. Carl Sagan

Astronomer Carl Sagan used an analogy to disprove God’s existence. It went like this:

"I say “a fire breathing dragon lives in my garage.”

You say, “Show me,” but all you see is an empty garage.

You ask, “Where’s the dragon?”

“She’s right there – did I forget to mention she’s invisible?”

“Maybe you could spread flour on the floor to show its footprints.”

“Won’t work: she floats in the air.”

“We could use an infrared sensor to detect the invisible fire”

“The fire is heatless.”

“How about spray-painting it?”

“The dragon is incorporeal so the paint won’t stick.”

And so on. There isn’t a single physical test that will work.

Sagan asked, “What’s the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? Claims that cannot be tested are worthless, whatever value they may have in inspiring us. I’m asking you to (believe in the dragon) in the absence of evidence, on my say-so. The only thing you’ve really learned from my insistence that there’s a dragon in my garage is that something funny is going on in my head.”

Dr. Sagan’s view of the world is crippled because he’s restricted it to physical evidence that can be tested by the scientific method. His hypothetical dragon was beyond the scope of the scientific method so he dismissed it as a figment of imagination.  He uses the same criteria to deny God, but his methods only work for the natural world. God isn’t a natural phenomenon; He’s supernatural and beyond Sagan’s tests. We need to look elsewhere for proof.

Sagan deliberately blinded himself to a large part of reality. If he had a spiritual viewpoint the evidence for God would have been obvious.

God’s “footprints in the flour” would include sensible explanations about where our universe came from and how life began. And the unsought changes that happen within people when they come to faith. And the personal miracles people experience. None of these can be tested by the scientific method but open-minded spiritual people know them to be true.

Another footprint can be seen in our society’s decline since it distanced itself from God’s teachings. Take child discipline. The Bible warns, “spare the rod, spoil the child” but today anyone who dares spank their child is viewed as a troglodyte. But spanking is immediate, effective, short-lived and makes two points:
1. The child knows exactly what got him in trouble and
2. He avoids the behavior so he doesn’t get punished again.
The lesson is taught and life goes on.

Social scientists say “proven” alternative methods like “time outs” work better. But the decline in student discipline this thinking has wrought is one reason our schools are failing. We’ve cast aside Biblical lessons with damaging results. Isn’t this another “footprint” that supports the truth of the Bible – and the reality of the God who inspired it?

We need open-minded spiritual tools to see God.  His presence is obvious when we use them. Unfortunately our culture popularizes people who wear spiritual blinders while promoting the idea that skeptics are enlightened.

To view a typical condescending atheist with eyes wide shut please click on  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MScdPTR-Y0w&feature=related

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