Atheism
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* "Can you think of an evil act committed by a good man ''because of his religion''?" | * "Can you think of an evil act committed by a good man ''because of his religion''?" | ||
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* "Can you think of an evil act committed by an atheist ''because he is an atheist''? | * "Can you think of an evil act committed by an atheist ''because he is an atheist''? | ||
Revision as of 16:12, 1 January 2008
Atheism is the absence of belief in gods, including the Abrahamic God(s), Zeus, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The terms "God" and "god" are used somewhat interchangeably here. It is logically the default state for any human being as there is no evidence of the existence of any supernatural entities.
Misconceptions about Atheists
Some clarifications about atheism must be made clear immediately. Please consider all of the following.
- Atheists do not worship Charles Darwin! Although some think that atheism requires evolution to be a complete worldview,[1] there is no worship of anything in atheism. That's the point.
- While atheism may require evolution, the converse is not true: evolution does necessarily imply atheism. This is the conclusion of those who believe in non-overlapping magisteria and theistic evolutionists.
- Atheists are not a unified group. In fact, a disaffectation with organized religion of any kind is what drives many to become atheists. Why would these individuals immediately organize an alternative group? It just doesn't follow. Debate within the atheistic community is robust, and the fact of this debate presupposes no dogmatic mandate from an organized group.
Types of Atheism
There are many ways to describe different types of atheism. Some of these are explained below. In all types of atheism natural phenomena are explained through science without resort to supernatural explanations, and morals are not based on religious precepts. See also apatheism.
Pragmatic
Pragmatic atheism (sometimes equated with "weak atheism" or "implicit atheism" or "negative atheism") describes the state of living as if no gods exists. It does not require an absolute statement of God's non-existence. The argument is based on the fact that there is no evidence that gods, spacial teapots or fairies exist and that we have no reason to believe in them. This argument could also be classified as extreme agnosticism.
Pragmatic atheists however are frequently reluctant to make the statements like "Gods (or fairies) do not exist", because of the great difficulties involved in proving the absolute non-existence of anything.
Consequently many pragmatic atheists would argue that the burden of proof does not lie with them to provide evidence against the weird idea that gods exist. They would argue that it is up to the supporters of various religions to provide evidence for the (unique) existences of their various supposed (multiple) deities and that no argument is necessary on the atheist's part.
Christopher Hitchens put it another way when he said: "What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence."
Theoretical
Theoretical atheism (sometimes equated with "strong atheism" or "explicit atheism") makes an explicit statement against the existence of gods. Often, theoretical atheism specifically combats religious beliefs and other arguments for belief in God (or gods), such as Pascal's Wager, and argument from design.
Most theoretical atheists would disagree with weak atheists about the inability to disprove the existence of God. While God (or fairies) cannot be absolutely proven not to exist, their existence is extremely improbable. (See monkey_typewriter_theory.)
Types of Arguments for Atheism
Logical
An example of a logical argument for atheism is that the existence of a God would defy the known laws of physics, demonstrated in all other aspects of the Universe.
The argument from design is often given as proof of a Creator, but it begs the following logical question: if the world is so complex that it must have had a creator, then the creator must be at least as complex and must therefore have a creator, ad infinitum.
Evidential
An evidential argument for atheism would be saying that all evidence points towards there being no God, or at least that there is no evidence pointing to a God.
Moral
One important ethic stressed by many is "truthfulness", and many atheists believe that religion presents an inherent attack on truth.
Atheists sometimes ask the question:
- "Can you think of an evil act committed by a good man because of his religion?"
The answer to this is clearly,"Yes", and it invites the obvious follow up question:
- "Can you think of an evil act committed by an atheist because he is an atheist?
What god is being denied?
There is also the question of what god is being denied.
If the god being denied is the interventionist God which some theists hold to exist then the argument against the existence of this being is easy. The lack of any demonstrable interventions demonstrates its lack of existence. In this case absence of evidence is evidence of absence.
However, if the god being denied is of a more non-interventionist deist type then the above argument doesn't work.
Religions Views of Atheism [2]
The Bible, in common with other books which contain the only revealed truth, is a bit irritated with those who do not believe in either it, God or Christianity. It includes ad hominems of the type: The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." - Psalm 14:1 (KJV)
(Other religions are invited to add reasons why their holy books have the only revealed truth.)
How others view atheists
Prejudice against atheists is high in the U.S.[3] According to one study[4], they are America's most distrusted minority.
Why this should be so is unclear. There is no stated creed with which to disagree (except perhaps for "strong" atheists, whose only belief is that their are no gods). Atheists are not organized into lobbies or interest groups. They have no political action committees.
Atheistic View of the Bible
Since atheism is not a unified belief system ("religion"), there is no single "atheistic" stance on most topics other than the nonexistence of God. Atheists may view the Bible and other religious works as literature, myth, epic, philosophy, agit-prop, or combinations thereof. Many atheists see religious works as interesting historical records of the myths and beliefs of humanity. By definition atheists do not believe any religious text to be divinely inspired truth. In other words, "Dude, it's just a book."
Atheism and the American Right
Research in the American Sociological Review finds that atheists are the group that Americans least relate to for shared vision or want to have marry into their family. What is equally disturbing about the responses in this table is that it shows that almost 30% of Americans seem to be racists.
| This Group Does Not At All Agree with My Vision of American Society: |
I Would Disapprove if My Child Wanted to Marry a Member of This Group: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Atheist | 39.6% | 47.6% | |
| Muslim | 26.3% | 33.5% | |
| Homosexual | 22.6% | NA | |
| Conservative Christian | 13.5% | 6.9% | |
| Recent Immigrant | 12.5% | Not Asked | |
| Hispanic | 7.6% | 18.5% | |
| Jew | 7.4% | 11.8% | |
| Asian American | 7.0% | 18.5% | |
| African American | 4.6% | 27.2% | |
| White American | 2.2% | 2.3% |
Famous Quotes
“I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”
~ George H.W. Bush[5]
“We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further”
“Yeah I know because there' s no fing 'cause I can't see it. Nathan reckons there's no God, its [religion] bollocks innit?”
“I.... do not... believe.... in.... God”
~ George Washington[6]
Atheist Demographics
Many studies put atheists in the higher intelligence group of the population. A recent meta-analysis of 39 eligible studies from 1927 to 2002 was published in the Mensa magazine, and concluded that atheists are more likely to be of higher intelligence than their religious counterparts.[7] Specific research on atheists conducted in 2006 suggests that the true proportion of atheists is 4% in the United States, 17% in Great Britain and 32% in France. According to an article in the prestigious science journal Nature in 1998 the belief in a personal God or afterlife was very low among the members of the U.S. National Academy of Science. Only 7.0% believed in a personal God as compared to more than 85% of the general U.S. population.[8] This also suggests that the more intelligent subjects are more unlikely to believe in god or supernatural powers.
A recent study published in the Annals of Family Medicine suggests that atheist doctors are more likely to care for the underserved compared to religious ones. (35% vs 31%)[9]
See Also
- Agnosticism
- Methodological naturalism
- The Brights Movement
- Rationalwiki Atheism FAQ for the Newly Deconverted
References
- ↑ Richard Dawkins, an early chapter in The Blind Watchmaker.
- ↑ This section refers to the Conservapedia Atheism article, available here
- ↑ http://www.religioustolerance.org/amer_intol.htm
- ↑ http://www.ur.umn.edu/FMPro?-db=releases&-lay=web&-format=umnnewsreleases/releasesdetail.html&ID=2816&-Find
- ↑ http://www.holysmoke.org/sdhok/aa011.htm
- ↑ See quote mining
- ↑ Bell, Paul. "Would you believe it?" Mensa Magazine, UK Edition, Feb. 2002, pp. 12–13.
- ↑ Larson, Edward J.; Larry Witham (1998). "Correspondence: Leading scientists still reject God". Nature 394 (6691): 313.
- ↑ http://www.annfammed.org/cgi/content/full/5/4/353