It never fails. Mention God within the context of a sufficiently broad audience and somebody will raise the issue of leprechauns. I have lamented this unfortunate phenomenon in the past. This time the guilty party is a stalwart reader, Ray Ingles, who in response to my previous article on God and agent causation observes:
“Some types of “agent causes” are not so common or established as to make for good explanations, though. E.g. unicorns, leprechauns, extraterrestrials, seventh-dimensional imps, ghosts, and so forth.”
Why the leap Ray? I was merely pointing out that the concept of an agent cause is not a strange, foreign or otherwise unusual concept. And we can appeal to the concept of agent causation without having a robust conception of who that agent cause is. So why is it that the moment I refer to the fact that an agent cause could have made the universe Ray raises the topic of leprechauns?
After all, St. Paddy’s Day is still three weeks away.
