Atheism

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Atheism, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, is the denial of the existence of any God.

Types of atheism

Atheism is often divided into two types: strong atheism and weak atheism. The principle difference between the two forms of atheism is that strong atheism retains the burden of proof, asserting that there is affirmative evidence or reason to deny the existence of God, while weak atheism asserts that theists have the burden of proof, and that theists have not provided sufficient reason to justify belief in God. In other words, strong atheists claim they can affirmatively show that God does not exist, while weak atheists claim only that theists cannot show that God does exist.

The difference between these two types of atheism can cause some confusion in debate between theists and atheists. Often, an atheist will attempt to justify the conclusion of strong atheism with arguments supporting weak atheism, falling into a non sequitur fallacy. Similarly, theists sometimes attempt to challenge weak atheism with arguments against strong atheism, falling into a straw man fallacy.

Atheism is also sometimes divided into "practical atheism" and "theoretical atheism." The key difference between the two is that while theoretical atheism bases its belief on theoretical and philosophical argument, practical atheism bases its belief on the allegation that God or the gods have no meaningful impact on the life of the atheist (cannot be seen or heard, do not answer prayers, etc.), and that therefore, whether or not any God or gods exist, they are non-existent for all practical purposes.

Proponents of atheism

Atheism is an ancient point of view -- neither "modern" or "revolutionary." In fact, atheism is older than both Christianity and Islam.

Many people have been called atheists throughout history -- in fact, Christians were alleged to be atheists in the first century, because of their denial of the Greek pantheon. However, while Christians denied the existence of the Greek gods, they acknowledged the existence of the Christian God. Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians, 2nd century b.c. Similarly, Socrates was accused of atheism because he denied the pantheon, despite his myriad references to God throughout the writings about him. Therefore, atheists must be understood with reference to which gods they disbelieved.

Prominent atheists and atheist schools of thought include:

• Carvaka school: an atheistic and materialistic offshoot of Hinduism in the 6th century b.c.
• Samkhya school: an atheistic school of classical Indian philosophy, originating in the 6th century b.c.
• Diagoras: Greek philosopher who denied the existence of the Greek pantheon
• Epicurus: Greek philosopher espousing materialism, and stated that, even if the gods exist, they do not interact with humans and are therefore non-existent for all practical purposes;
• Lucretius: Greek philosopher espousing materialism, and stated that man should not believe in the gods because their ideas about the gods and their fear of death made men unhappy;
• Karl Marx: founder of Communism;
• Friedrich Nietzsche: Prominent 20th century atheist philosopher;
• Lenin and Stalin: Early Communist leaders in Russia;
• Mao Zedong: Chinese Communist leader;
• Paul Kurtz: founder of the Council of Secular Humanism

Biblical Statements Regarding Atheism

The psalmist David wrote: "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."

The writers of the Bible considered the existence of God to be self-evident and Moses simply wrote: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1).

Accordingly, the psalmist David wrote the following:

"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" - Psalm 14:1 (KJV)

The psalmist David also stated that "The The heavens declare the glory of God..." - Psalm 19:1

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans that the creation testifies to the existence of God when he wrote the following:

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse..." - Romans 1:20 (KJV)

Atheism and communism

Karl Marx coined the saying "[Religion] is the opium of the people". Karl Marx also wrote: "Communism begins from the outset (Owen) with atheism; but atheism is at first far from being communism; indeed, that atheism is still mostly an abstraction."

Vladimir Lenin similarly wrote: "A Marxist must be a materialist, i. e., an enemy of religion, but a dialectical materialist, i. e., one who treats the struggle against religion not in an abstract way, not on the basis of remote, purely theoretical, never varying preaching, but in a concrete way, on the basis of the class struggle which is going on in practice and is educating the masses more and better than anything else could."

Criticism

Strong atheism is illogical

Theists often point of that strong atheism is illogical, in that it claims to prove a universal negative.

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D. James Kennedy

Dr. D. James Kennedy wrote the following regarding the illogicalness of atheism:

“

Atheism is what is called a "universal negative." One of the laws of logic is that you can't prove a universal negative....You would have to examine every part of the universe.... By the way, you would have to be very, very fast because, who knows, this God, these angels....may be very, very fast, and just after you get somewhere, they may have left for another part of the universe. This means that you would have to be omnipresent. You would also have to know everything about every part of the universe, so you would be omniscient. Then, just at the point when you proved that there was no God, you would also have proven that you were one.

”

When pressed, most atheists will concede this point. However, weak atheists respond by shifting the burden of proof from the atheist to the theist. They argue that in the debate over whether something does or does not exist, in the absence of any scientific proof one way or the other, the burden of proof would lie with the person arguing for existence. Simply claiming that you know god exists carries no weight--in the words of founding father and Deist Thomas Paine, writing in the Age of Reason, “ ... it is revelation to the first person only, and hearsay to every other, and consequently they are not obliged to believe it.”

Atheism is contrary to reason and evidence

Theists often criticize atheism as being contrary to persuasive argument and evidence. Arguments for the existence of God include:

• Teleological argument: The universe exhibits overwhelming evidence of deliberate, intelligent, purposeful design, which implies an intelligent designer;
• Cosmological argument: Every event in our universe necessarily has a cause. However, it is impossible that there should be an unending chain of causes going back. Therefore, there necessarily must be a cause distinct from the universe as we know it which is capable of causing all things and is itself uncaused. That First Cause is God.
• Ontological argument: Since existence is inherent to the definition of God, it is impossible to conceive of God without conceiving of Him as existing;
• Historical arguments for the existence of God: Arguments stemming from historical accounts and archaeological evidence;
• Experiential arguments for the existence of God: Arguments based on personal experience and human intuition;

Atheism is contrary to human intuition

Jean-Paul Sartre

Theists often criticize atheism as being unnatural and contrary to the natural inclinations of humans. As evidence, they point to the alleged tenuousness of atheism in some of its more notable adherents. For example, Jean-Paul Sartre was one of the leading atheist of the 20th Century. Yet Jean-Paul Sartre made this candid confession:

“

As for me, I don’t see myself as so much dust that has appeared in the world but as a being that was expected, prefigured, called forth. In short, as a being that could, it seems, come only from a creator; and this idea of a creating hand that created me refers me back to God. Naturally this is not a clear, exact idea that I set in motion every time I think of myself. It contradicts many of my other ideas; but it is there, floating vaguely. And when I think of myself I often think rather in this way, for wont of being able to think otherwise.

”

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin wrote in his private notebooks that he was a materialist which is a type of atheist. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states the following:

“

In 1885, the Duke of Argyll recounted a conversation he had had with Charles Darwin the year before Darwin's death: In the course of that conversation I said to Mr. Darwin, with reference to some of his own remarkable works on the Fertilisation of Orchids, and upon The Earthworms, and various other observations he made of the wonderful contrivances for certain purposes in nature—I said it was impossible to look at these without seeing that they were the effect and the expression of Mind. I shall never forget Mr. Darwin's answer. He looked at me very hard and said, “Well, that often comes over me with overwhelming force; but at other times,” and he shook his head vaguely, adding, “it seems to go away.”(Argyll 1885, 244]

”

Atheism is immoral

Theists often criticize atheism as being both associated with, and a justification for, immoral activities. For example:

Atheists in America are generally less charitable

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Atheists in America generally give significantly less to charity than theist Americans.

The Barna Group found the following in regards to atheist population in America and charitable giving:

“

The typical no-faith American donated just $200 in 2006, which is more than seven times less than the amount contributed by the prototypical active-faith adult ($1500). Even when church-based giving is subtracted from the equation, active-faith adults donated twice as many dollars last year as did atheists and agnostics. In fact, while just 7% of active-faith adults failed to contribute any personal funds in 2006, that compares with 22% among the no-faith adults.

”

In 2003, Arthur C. Brooks wrote in Policy Review the following:

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The differences in charity between secular and religious people are dramatic. Religious people are 25 percentage points more likely than secularists to donate money (91 percent to 66 percent) and 23 points more likely to volunteer time (67 percent to 44 percent). And, consistent with the findings of other writers, these data show that practicing a religion is more important than the actual religion itself in predicting charitable behavior. For example, among those who attend worship services regularly, 92 percent of Protestants give charitably, compared with 91 percent of Catholics, 91 percent of Jews, and 89 percent from other religions.

”

ABC News reported the following:

“

...the single biggest predictor of whether someone will be charitable is their religious participation. Religious people are more likely to give to charity, and when they give, they give more money: four times as much. And Arthur Brooks told me that giving goes beyond their own religious organization: "Actually, the truth is that they're giving to more than their churches," he says. "The religious Americans are more likely to give to every kind of cause and charity, including explicitly non-religious charities."

”

Atheism and immoral views

The Barna Group found that atheists/agnostics in America were more likely than theists in America to look upon the following behaviors as morally acceptable: illegal drug use; getting drunk; having a sexual relationship with someone of the opposite sex to whom you are not married; having an abortion; living with someone of the opposite sex without being married; using profanity; gambling; looking at pictures of nudity or explicit sexual behavior; and engaging in homosexuality/bisexuality.

Atheism and the existence of evil

Atheists state that the existence of evil is a problem for theism which holds to a good and powerful God. Theodicy is the branch of study in theology and philosophy that defends the goodness of God despite the existence of evil. In traditional Christianity and Judaism the book of Job is used to explain the existence of evil. In recent times Christian apologists often cite Alvin Plantinga's free will defense in regards to the existence of evil. The work of St. Augustine is also cited in regards to theodicy.

Atheism and questions of origins

Atheism provides no useful input in regards to origins. Creationist scientists state that the first law of thermodynamics and the second law of thermodynamics argue against an eternal universe or a universe created by natural processes and argue for a universe created by God. A majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the naturalistic evolutionary position since World War II have been atheists. Creationist scientists also assert the theory of evolution is an inadequate explanation for the variety of life forms on earth.

Atheist population as a percentage of various countries' populations

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. In the United States, however, another 14% of the respondents identified themselves as agnostic indicating that 18% of the U.S. population do not ascribe to theistic views.

American population's view of atheists

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.

	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%

Well known atheists

Well-known atheists include Kurt Vonnegut, Isaac Asimov, Joseph Stalin, Bertrand Russell, Ayn Rand, Richard Dawkins, Douglas Adams, Ernest Hemingway, and David Hume.

External links

• Decline of Atheism -CreationWiki
• European Commission report on Social values, Science and Technology, includes info on Religious beliefs