FAITH OF THE FATHERLESS
by Paul Vitz
Spence
Available from News Weekly Books for $34.95 plus p&hIn 1988, Paul Johnson wrote an interesting book entitled
Intellectuals. In it he looked at the personal lives of some famous Western thinkers, such as Rousseau and Marx. He noted that many of these great intellectuals had private lives that left a lot to be desired. He noted, in other words, a connection between belief and behaviour.
In this new book Paul Vitz provides a similar kind of study. He examines the lives of a number of well-known atheists, and discovers that most of them had an absent or abusive father.
Vitz first discusses those atheists whose fathers died when they were relatively young - atheists such as Nietzsche, Sartre and Bertrand Russell. Then he assesses atheists who had weak or abusive fathers, eg., Voltaire and Freud. Finally, as a control group, he studies some notable theists and their fathers - men such as Burke, Pascal, Chesterton and J. H. Newman.
These psychological profiles make a strong case for his main thesis - fathers matter, and the world-view we carry with us into adulthood is largely determined in childhood. With the resurgence of the fatherhood movement, especially in America, this information is all the more timely. Ideas do have consequences, and our ideas are heavily influenced by our upbringing. Thus the importance of a good upbringing - one that includes a mother and a father.
Vitz warns about over-simplification, and recognises that there are a multitude of factors that explain or determine how we develop. However, the fact that so many atheists have similar background does make for an intriguing hypothesis. And the details Vitz provides are quite revealing. Consider but a few examples.
H.G. Wells was contemptuous of both his father and religious belief. He wrote in his autobiography:
"My father was always at cricket, and I think [my mother] realised more and more acutely as the years dragged on without material alleviation, that Our Father and Our Lord, on whom to begin with she had perhaps counted unduly, were also away - playing perhaps at their own sort of cricket in some remote quarter of the starry universe".
Sartre's father died when he was just 15 months old. Throughout much of his adult life he mentions fathers, and denigrates fatherhood. His philosophy promotes the idea that man can become God, that we are self-made men. More than one biographer has noted his obsession about fathers, and his atheism may well tie in to his own absent father.
While Vitz does note some exceptions to the pattern, he emphasises the fact that this missing ingredient of fatherhood does have a profound impact on the way a person develops and what they believe in.
Vitz concludes: "Since both believers and nonbelievers in God have psychological reasons for their position ... in any debate as to the truth of the existence of God, psychology should be irrelevant". Truth, facts, and the evidence should decide that question, not personality. However, "it seems clear from the kinds of evidence I have cited that many an intense personal 'reason' lies behind the public rejection of God ... Aside from the common superficial reasons, most serious unbelievers are likely to have painful memories underlying their rationalisation of atheism. Such interior wounds are not irrelevant and need to be fully appreciated and addressed by believers."
As this book makes clear, there is a real correlation between personal psycho-history and belief systems. Of course such childhood backgrounds are not fully determinative - people can and do change, rising above their circumstances and backgrounds. However, this book helps us to understand the passion and vehemence of some atheists, and shows us that philosophies can be as much a product of our social background as of hard reasoning.
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