Difference between revisions of "User talk:Phillipps"

From Conservapedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Line 9: Line 9:
 
:Please note that everything below is both a work in progress and not the actual Conservapedia article on atheism (just a hypothetical alternative). Please don't edit or vandalize this, it is a personal project.  I would like to thank all those that contributed to the original article: much of the wording below is that of others.
 
:Please note that everything below is both a work in progress and not the actual Conservapedia article on atheism (just a hypothetical alternative). Please don't edit or vandalize this, it is a personal project.  I would like to thank all those that contributed to the original article: much of the wording below is that of others.
  
−
  [[Image:Atheist-symbol.png‎|right|thumbnail|right|250px|An Atheist Symbol <ref>http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm/hmemb.asp</ref>]]  
+
  [[Image:Atheist-symbol.png‎|right|thumbnail|right|250px|An Atheist Symbol <ref>http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm/hmemb.asp</ref>]]
 +
''For criticisms of Atheism, see [[Criticisms of Atheism''
 
'''Atheism''', as defined by the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' and the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', is the denial of the existence of any [[God]] or gods.<ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/</ref><ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1998</ref>  
 
'''Atheism''', as defined by the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' and the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', is the denial of the existence of any [[God]] or gods.<ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/</ref><ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1998</ref>  
  

Revision as of 01:56, March 30, 2008

Atheism Article

Please do not recreate articles at atheism but rather use the talk pages. Conservative 18:26, 29 March 2008 (EDT)

Sorry, I thought that it would be better to see it.--Phillipps 18:28, 29 March 2008 (EDT)


New Atheism Article.

Please note that everything below is both a work in progress and not the actual Conservapedia article on atheism (just a hypothetical alternative). Please don't edit or vandalize this, it is a personal project. I would like to thank all those that contributed to the original article: much of the wording below is that of others.
File:Atheist-symbol.png
An Atheist Symbol [1]

For criticisms of Atheism, see [[Criticisms of Atheism Atheism, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, is the denial of the existence of any God or gods.[2][3]


Which God or gods?

The Greek philosopher Socrates

Since atheism is denial of the existence of God or gods, it is important first to identify in which God and/or gods the atheist denies. In ancient times, for example, Christians were accused of being atheists because of their denial of the pagan gods, even though they believed in the Christian God.[4] Socrates was also accused of Atheism, although references to God run throughout his recorded statements.[5] Also, Albert Einstein and Baruch Spinoza professed belief in "God," but they defined "God" as the cosmos as a whole, and without personality.

Why do atheists state they disbelieve?

Atheists claim there are two main reasons for their denial of the existence of God and/or disbelief in God: the conviction that there is positive evidence or argument that God does not exist (Strong atheism which is also sometimes called positive atheism), and their claim that theists bear the burden of proof to show that God exists, that they have failed to do so, and that belief is therefore unwarranted (Weak atheism).

Two alternative types of Atheism

  • Theoretical atheism: atheism of the mind -- that is, believing that God does not exist.
  • Practical atheism: atheism of the life - that is, living as though God does not exist. [6]

Atheist Groups and Organizations

Brights Movement

File:Richard Dawkins.jpg
Richard Dawkins is listed as an enthusiastic bright by the Brights Movement website.

The Brights Movement was started in 2003 by Paul Geisert and Mynga Futrell in 2003 in order to assist in the advocacy of a naturalistic worldview.[7][8] The Brights movement had a media campaign and was announced in Wired magazine (by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins), Free Inquiry (by Richard Dawkins), and on the New York Times op-ed page (by the philosopher and atheist Daniel Dennett).[9] However, according to a 2004 Skeptical Enquirer article the movement the "Brights label reinforced a longstanding stereotype. Atheists already have a terrible rap for being coldhearted rationalists who attend Mensa gatherings and dismiss religious believers as simple-minded fools."[10] In October of 2003 in a article in the Guardian Dawkins associated being a "bright" with being an intellectual.[11]


Internet Infidels

Internet Infidels (also known as the Secular Web) is one of the principle websites for those who advocate atheism, agnostics and skeptics on the internet. Member's of the Internet Infidels website include:

American Atheists

American Atheists is an atheistic organization dedicated to securing freedom from religion, labour for separation of church and state, and defend the civil rights of atheists.[20] American Atheists was founded by Madalyn Murray O'Hair, winner of the lawsuit that removed prayer and bible recitations from schools.[21]

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.

Well Known Proponents of Atheism

Mao Zedong

Prominent atheists include, or have thought to have include:

  • Diagoras: Greek philosopher who denied the existence of the Greek pantheon
  • 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
  • Friedrich Nietzsche: Prominent 19th century atheist philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche

Views on Atheists

In regards to various views on atheists, research in the American Sociological Review finds that among several groups listed, those who hold the position of atheism are the group that Americans relate least to in terms of their vision of American society and are the group most likely to be mentioned as one that Americans would not want to have marry into their family. [22]

Position: 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%

Atheist Population

In regards to the 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. A survey published in the 2005 Encyclopedia Britannica stated that 2.3% of the world's population consists of individuals who profess "atheism, skepticism, disbelief, or irreligion, including the militantly antireligious."[23] In regards to the 2.3% figure just mentioned, the 2005 survey cited by Encyclopedia Britannica survey did not include Buddhist in regards to the 2.3% figure and Buddhism can be theistic or atheistic.[24][25]


Atheism Quotes

For Atheism

  • "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" -Douglas Adams, from Last Chance to See[26]


  • "In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point."-Friedrich Nietzche [27]


  • "Which is it, is man one of God's blunders or is God one of man's?"-Friedrich Nietzche[28]


  • "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."-Voltaire [29]


  • "Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence."-Richard Dawkins[30]


  • "Tolerance and freedom of thought are the veritable antidotes to religious fanaticism."-Baron d'Holbach [31]


  • "If the ignorance of nature gave birth to gods, the knowledge of nature is calculated to destroy them."-Baron d'Holbach[32]

Against Atheism

Plato
  • "Atheism is a disease of the soul before it becomes an error of understanding." - Plato[33]


  • Maybe the atheist cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman." - Francis Thomson[34]


  • "The atheists are for the most part imprudent and misguided scholars who reason badly who, not being able to understand the Creation, the origin of evil, and other difficulties, have recourse to the hypothesis the eternity of things and of inevitability." - Voltaire[35]


  • "Atheists put on false courage and alcacrity in the midst of their darkness and aprehensions, like children who, when they fear to go in the dark, will sing for fear." - Alexander Pope [36]


  • "An atheist’s most embarrassing moment is when he feels profoundly thankful for something,but can’t think of anyone to thank for it" - Mary Anne Vincent [37]



  • Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist there is no God. - Heywood Broun


  • Atheism is a crutch for those who cannot bear the reality of God. - Tom Stoppard[39]


  • I gave in, and admitted that God was God. - ex-atheist C.S. Lewis, On relinquishing atheism at age 31 in 1929[40]


  • A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion. - Sir Francis Bacon [41]



Joseph Addison
  • To be an atheist requires an indefinitely greater measure of faith than to recieve all the great truths which atheism would deny. - Joseph Addison, The Spectator, Mar. 8, 1711 [43]


  • It is hard to see how a great man can be an atheist. Without the sustaining influence of faith in a divine power we could have little faith in ourselves. We need to feel that behind us is intelligence and love. Doubters do not achieve; skeptics do not contribute; cynics do not create. Faith is the great motive power, and no man realizes his full possibilities unless he has the deep conviction that life is eternally important, and that his work, well done, is a part of an unending plan. - Calvin Coolidge, speech, Jul. 25, 1924 [44]


  • Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic un-interestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the humanity of saying that the universe just happened to happen and that when we're dead we're dead? - John Updike [45]


  • God never wrought miracles to convince atheism, because his ordinary works convince it. - Sir Francis Bacon [46]


  • The habit of arguing in support of atheism, whether it be done from conviction or in pretense, is a wicked and impious practice. - Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.), Roman orator, philosopher, statesman[47]


  • How to trap an atheist: Serve him a fine meal, then ask him if he believes there is a cook. — Source Unknown [48]


  • I once wanted to become an atheist but I gave up . . . they have no holidays. - Henny Youngman[49]

See Also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/hm/hmemb.asp
  2. ↑ http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/
  3. ↑ http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1998
  4. ↑ Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians, 2d century A.D.[1]
  5. ↑ Plato, Apol., 26,c.
  6. ↑ Dr. Martin Luther King in his sermon A letter to American Christians spoke of "practical atheism".[2]
  7. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_2_28/ai_114090211/pg_1
  8. ↑ http://www.the-brights.net/vision/faq.html#1
  9. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_2_28/ai_114090211/pg_1
  10. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_2_28/ai_114090211/pg_3
  11. ↑ http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,981412,00.html
  12. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/TK-D.html
  13. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/TK-C.html
  14. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/TK-B.html
  15. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/TK-C.html
  16. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/TK-L.html
  17. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/TK-A.html
  18. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/TK-G.html
  19. ↑ http://www.tektonics.org/TK-T.html
  20. ↑ http://www.atheists.org/visitors.center/intro.html#primary
  21. ↑ http://www.atheists.org/visitors.center/about.html
  22. ↑ Edgell, Gerteis & Hartmann 2006
  23. ↑ http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9432620
  24. ↑ http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/beliefs/atheism.htm
  25. ↑ http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9432620
  26. ↑ http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/douglas.htm
  27. ↑ http://atheistempire.com/greatminds/quotes.php?author=13
  28. ↑ http://atheistempire.com/greatminds/quotes.php?author=13
  29. ↑ http://atheistempire.com/greatminds/quotes.php?author=29
  30. ↑ http://atheistempire.com/greatminds/quotes.php?author=41
  31. ↑ http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/
  32. ↑ http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/
  33. ↑ http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/atheism_is_a_disease_of_the_soul-before_it/166811.html
  34. ↑ http://www.afcministry.com/Atheism_Examined.htm
  35. ↑ http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volathe2.html
  36. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=cs4eAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA383&lpg=PA383&dq=atheists+and+%22alexander+pope%22+and+%22false+courage%22&source=web&ots=Fx7SL7Z7UB&sig=mYdRm6hkdBkmsF_uJW9mPv3JRhE
  37. ↑ http://www.weeks-g.dircon.co.uk/quotes_by_author_uv.htm
  38. ↑ http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/atheism/
  39. ↑ http://www.tentmaker.org/Quotes/atheismquotes.htm
  40. ↑ http://www.bartleby.com/63/95/4195.html
  41. ↑ http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/atheism_quotes.html
  42. ↑ http://forthardknox.com/2007/06/02/the-10-best-quotes-to-counter-an-atheist/
  43. ↑ http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/atheism_quotes.html
  44. ↑ http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/atheism_quotes.html
  45. ↑ http://www.just-quotes.com/atheism_quotes.html
  46. ↑ http://www.just-quotes.com/atheism_quotes.html
  47. ↑ http://www.bartleby.com/66/50/12450.html
  48. ↑ http://forthardknox.com/2007/06/02/the-10-best-quotes-to-counter-an-atheist/
  49. ↑ http://www.bartleby.com/63/79/4779.html
Retrieved from "https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=User_talk:Phillipps&oldid=416975"