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Causes of atheism

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The [[Bible]] indicates that atheists are morally depraved. The psalmist [[David]] declared:
"[[The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."|The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God]].' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." — [[Psalms]] 14:1 ([[King James Bible|KJV]]). The prophet [[Jeremiah]] wrote: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" - Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV)See also: [[Atheism and foolishness]]
[[Francis Thompson]] wrote: "Maybe the atheist cannot find [[God]] for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman."
See also: [[Atheism and charity|Atheism and uncharitableness]]
'''10.''' '''Naiveté/Gullibility''': Many atheists have embraced a number of far fetched, unworkable, and errant notions and ideologies such as [[communism]], [[Origin of Life|abiogenesis]], and [[evolution]] despite abundant evidence of their falsity. It is often said, "A man who won’t believe in [[God]] will believe in anything."<ref>[https://www.chesterton.org/ceases-to-worship/ When Man Ceases to Worship God]</ref> See: [[Atheism and gullibility|Atheism and naiveté/gullibility]] and [[Rebuttals to atheist arguments]] and [[Causes of evolutionary belief]] and [[Atheist cults]]
'''11.''' '''Irrational thinking''': A comprehensive study by Baylor University found that the irreligious and the members of more liberal Protestant denominations, tend to be much more likely to believe in the paranormal and in [[pseudoscience]] than evangelical Christians.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref> Also, as noted above, a 1980 study published in the magazine ''Skeptical Inquirer'' found irreligious college students to be by far the most likely to embrace paranormal beliefs, while born again Christian college students were found to be the least likely.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178219865054585.html</ref> See: [[Atheism and irrationality]] and [[Atheism and logic]]
'''15.''' '''Decline of family in a culture''' - Mary Eberstadt, a research fellow at [[Stanford University]]’s [[Hoover Institution]], found the decline of [[family values]] leads to a rise in secularization.<ref>[http://www.rightwingnews.com/interviews/an-interview-with-mary-eberstadt-on-her-new-book-how-the-west-really-lost-god-a-new-theory-of-secularization/ An Interview With Mary Eberstadt On Her New Book “How the West Really Lost God: A New Theory of Secularization]</ref>
'''16.''' '''[[Socialism]]/[[Communism]]''' <ref>[http://www.sneps.net/uploadsepk/JQR%20Demography.pdf Shall the religious inherit the earth? - Eric Kaufmann]</ref><ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/07/does-atheism-thrive-on-economic.html Does atheism thrive on economic prosperity? Does religion prosper when people are desperate and ignorant?]</ref> See also: [[Atheism and communism]] and [[Atheism and socialism]] and [[Atheism and politics]]
According to the [[University of Cambridge]], historically, the "most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninists]] to power."<ref name="Marxism-Leninsim">{{cite web|url = http://www.investigatingatheism.info/marxism.html|title =Marxism|publisher = [[University of Cambridge]]|quote=The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.|year=2008|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref> Vitalij Lazarʹevič Ginzburg, a Soviet physicist, wrote that the "[[Bolshevik]] communists were not merely atheists but, according to [[Lenin]]'s terminology, [[militant atheist]]s."<ref name="Lenin & militant atheism">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ufC9Ar8iuDcC&pg=PA161&dq=The+Bolshevik+communists+were+not+merely+atheists+but,+according+to+Lenin%27s+terminology,+militant+atheists.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1oFUUdj6PIiK0QGvq4CAAw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%20Bolshevik%20communists%20were%20not%20merely%20atheists%20but%2C%20according%20to%20Lenin's%20terminology%2C%20militant%20atheists.&f=false|title =On Superconductivity and Superfluidity: A Scientific Autobiography |author=Vitalij Lazarʹevič Ginzburg|publisher = Springer Science+Business Media|year=2009|quote=The Bolshevik communists were not merely atheists but, according to Lenin's terminology, militant atheists.|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref>  Communist [[China]] has the largest atheism population in the world and a significant percentage of Chinese are atheists (see: [[China and atheism]]). Most atheists in the world are likely [[East Asia]]ns (See: [[Asian atheism]]). However, as noted above, China is seeing an explosive growth of Christianity (see: [[Growth of Christianity in China]]).  However, prior to this, the [[Reign of Terror]] of the [[French Revolution]] established an [[atheist state]], with the official ideology being the [[Cult of Reason]]; during this time thousands of believers were suppressed and executed by the [[guillotine]].<ref name="Guillotine">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bf3m7IVAa9gC&pg=PA461&dq=France+atheism+guillotine++Christians+executed&hl=en&sa=X&ei=l4lUUaTRBufG0QGe0IHACA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=France%20atheism%20guillotine%20%20Christians%20executed&f=false|title =Christianity|author=James Adair|publisher = JBE Online Books|year=2007|quote=Although the Civil Constitution called for religious liberty, which was extended to Jews as well as Christians, many revolutionaries pushed for the establishment of a new state religion, either the Cult of Reason (atheists) or the Cult of the Supreme Being (Deists). Changes toAlthough the Civil Constitution called for religious liberty, which was extended to Jews as well as Christians, many revolutionaries pushed for the establishment of a new state religion, either the Cult of Reason (atheists) or the Cult of the Supreme Being (Deists). Changes to the calendar eliminated references to Christian holidays, and even the ancient seven-day week, and a ist of officially recognized saints included such famous thinkers such as Socrates, Jesus, Marcus Aurelius, and Jean-Jacques Rosseau. A period of political persecution, often with religious overtones, broke out, known as the Reign of Teror. Thousands of people were executed by the guillotine, including many of the original leaders of the French Revolution.|page=461|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref><ref name="France">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9WkBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA105&dq=Reign+of+Terror+atheism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HoRUUcD0NeXX0gGNo4HIDQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Reign%20of%20Terror%20atheism&f=false|title =Memoirs of the reign of George III. to the session of parliament ending A.D. 1793, Volume 5|page=105|author=William Belsham|publisher = G.G. & J. Robinson|year=1801|quote=Reign of this portentous period, it has been eloquently tenor, and energetically observed, " that the reign of atheism in France was avowed the reign of terror. In the full madness of their career, in the highest climax of their horrors, they shut up the temples of God, abolished His worship, and proclaimed death to be an eternal sleep:-in the very centre of Christendom, Revelation underwent a total eclipse, while atheism, performing on a darkened theatre its strange and fearful tragedy, confounded the first elements of society, blended every age, rank, and sex ,indiscriminate proscription and massacre, and convulsed all Europe to its centre, that the imperishable memorial of these events might teach the last generations of mankind to consider religion as the pillar of society, the parent of social order, and the safe-guard of nations." It is wonderful that, amid the horrors of this dismal period, while "the death dance of democratic revolution" was still in rapid movement, among the tears of affliction, and the cries of despair, "the masque, the song, the theatric scene, the buffoon laughter, went on as regularly as in the gay hour of festive peace."|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref><ref name="Reign of Terror">{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Tt5rqiCP1p8C&pg=PA57&dq=Reign+of+Terror+atheism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=HoRUUcD0NeXX0gGNo4HIDQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Reign%20of%20Terror%20atheism&f=false|title =Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West|author=William Kilpatrick|publisher = Ignatius Press|year=2012|quote=Actually, it's helpful to think in terms of two Enlightenments: the Enlightenment that cut itself off from God. The former led to the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the abolition of slavery, and the civil rights movement. The latter led to the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror, the suppression of church by state, and the godless philosophies of Marx and Nietzsche and their offspring-National Socialism and communism. More recently the abandonment of God has led to the regime of cultural relativism that regards rights as arbitrary constructions. It's this second Enlightenment tradition that Cardinal Ratzinger referred to when he wrote, "The radical detachment of the Enlightenment philosophy from its roots ultimately leads it to dispense with man." Actually this transition happened no "ultimately" but almost immediately. The first instance occurred when Enlightenment worship of abstract "reason" and "liberty" degenearated quickly into the mass murders committed during the antireligious Reign of Terror in France. "Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name", said Madam Rolande as she faced the statue of Liberty in the Place de la Revolution movements before her death at the guillotine. She was one of the early victims of a succession of secular systems based on rootless notions of "liberty", "equality", and "reason". As many historians have pointed out, the atheist regimes of modern times are guilty of far more crimes than any committed in the name of religion. Communist governments alone were guilty of more than one hundred million murders, most of them committed against their own people.|accessdate = 2011–03–15}}</ref>
The atheism in communist regimes has been and continues to be [[militant atheism]] and various acts of repression including the razing of thousands of religious buildings and the killing, imprisoning, and oppression of religious leaders and believers.<ref>
*[https://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/7/120250.shtml North Korean and Chinese Atrocities Against Christians Worsen]
*[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35818 China sends Bible owners to labor camp]
*[http://theworldnow.wordpress.com/tag/around-the-world/asia/china/ China: Christians Tortured While Under Arrest]</ref>  The [[John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton|Acton]] Institute states concerning [[atheism and socialism]]:{{Cquote|...a growing body of research reveals that as the welfare state grows, the church shrinks. Adam Kay of Duke University discovered that church and state have a “[https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ed70/6904ff2959ec495fb0816dcbf2c19b967fdd.pdf hydraulic relationship]”: Events “that lower [[faith]] in one of these external systems (e.g., the government) lead to subsequent increases in faith in the other (e.g., [[God]]).” Another study found that increased welfare spending “in a specific year predicted lower religiosity one to two years later.” It [https://blog.acton.org/archives/101251-gods-power-can-be-outsourced-to-the-government-study.html concluded], “The power and order emanating from God can be outsourced to the government.”...
Currently, Communist ...faith in the transcendent gets crowded out by faith in [[Chinasocialism]], the world's largest country in terms of adherents to atheism, is seeing an explosive growth of Christianity. See: ’s [[Global Christianityutopia]] and n promise of equality-of-outcome on earth. This path transformed Michael Harrington from a daily communicant volunteering in the Catholic Worker movement to the [[Global atheism|atheistic]] and [founder of the Democratic Socialists of America.<ref>[https://www.eurasiareview.com/21122019-how-socialism-causes-atheism-oped/ How Socialism Causes Atheism and its retention rate in individuals]– OpEd]</ref>}}
[[Eric Kaufmann]], an academic who specializes in demography as it relates to religion/politics, wrote:
{{cquote|Worldwide, the [[Desecularization|march of religion]] can probably only be reversed by a renewed, self-aware secularism. Today, it appears exhausted and lacking in confidence... Secularism's greatest triumphs owe less to science than to popular social movements like [[nationalism]], [[socialism ]] and 1960s [[Anarchism|anarchist]]-liberalism[[liberal]]ism. Ironically, secularism's demographic deficit means that it will probably only succeed in the twenty-first century if it can create a secular form of 'religious' enthusiasm."<ref>[http://www.sneps.net/uploadsepk/JQR%20Demography.pdf Shall the religious inherit the earth? - Eric Kaufmann]</ref>}}
'''17.''' Simplistic view of science combined with [[secular left]]ist [[utopian]]ism.<ref>[http://blog.oup.com/2016/03/growing-criticism-by-atheists-of-the-new-atheism-movement Growing criticism by atheists of the New Atheism movement] by James W. Jones, [[Oxford University]] Press's website</ref>
'''28.''' Pursuit of prestige within secular circles.<ref>Biet-Hallahmi, author of ''Atheism, A Psychological Profile'', in ''The Cambridge Companion to Atheism'', wrote, “…what these individuals [the most elite] had, in addition to their creativity and high intelligence, was a strong wish to create distance between themselves and their parents.” Dr. Paul Vitz, author of'' Faith of Fatherless'', indicated that one of the common factors he observed in the leading atheists he profiled: they were all intelligent and arrogant. Part of this is due to discrimination against [[Creation science|creation scientists]]. See: [[Suppression of alternatives to evolution]]. In addition, there is discrimination against religious conservatives in academia (see: [[Atheist indoctrination]]). See also: [[Atheism and arrogance]] and [[Atheism and intelligence]]</ref> See also: [[Atheists and the National Academy of Sciences]]
'''2029.''' '''Intellectual cowardice.''' See: [[Atheism and cowardice]]
'''30.''' In cultures not receptive to atheism, atheists appear to be more likely to be social outcasts (see: [[Atheism and social outcasts]]). In short, in certain cases, namely where atheists are already social outcasts, they have less negative social consequences by becoming atheists.
According to an international study done by William Bainbridge, [[atheism]] is common among people whose interpersonal social obligations are weak and is also connected to lower fertility rates in advanced industrial nations (See also: [[Atheism and fertility rates]]).<ref> Bainbridge, William (2005). "[http://www.religjournal.com/pdf/ijrr01002.pdf Atheism]" (PDF). Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion. 1 (Article 2): 1–26.</ref>
'''31.''' '''Rigid and limited thinking.''' See: [[Atheism and inspiration#Atheism is an emaciated and unnecessarily limiting view of the world|Atheism is an unnecessarily limiting view of the world]]
There are a number of factors which impede the spread of atheism and are causing a [[Desecularization|global resurgence of religion]] (see: [[Causes of desecularization]]).
 
== Quote ==
 
"The greatest single cause of [[atheism]] in the world today is [[Christians]] who acknowledge [[Jesus]] with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." - Brennan Manning<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ragamuffin Legacy |first=Ben| last=Simpson |work=Relevant Magazine |date=April 16, 2013 |access-date=December 21, 2018 |url = https://relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/ragamuffin-legacy }}</ref><ref>https://relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/ragamuffin-legacy</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='Ragamuffin Gospel' Author Brennan Manning Dies |last=Yoars |first=Marcus |work=Charisma News |date=April 13, 2013 |access-date=December 21, 2018 |url=https://www.charismanews.com/us/39076-ragamuffin-author-brennan-manning-dies }}</ref>
==See also==