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What is Atheism? How is Atheism Defined?: The more common understanding of atheism among atheists is "not believing in any gods." No claims or denials are made - an atheist is any person who is not a theist. Sometimes this broader understanding is called "weak" or "implicit" atheism. There is also a narrower sort of atheism, sometimes called "strong" or "explicit" atheism. Here, the atheist explicitly denies the existence of any gods - making a strong claim which will deserve support at some point. Who Are Atheists? What Do Atheists Believe?: There are a lot of misunderstandings about who atheists are, what they believe, and what they don't believe. People become atheists for many different reasons. Being an atheist isn't a choice or act of will - like theism, it's a consequence of what one knows and how one reasons. Atheists are not all angry, they aren't in denial about gods, and they aren't atheists to avoid taking responsibility for their acts. It s not necessary to be 2
afraid of hell and there are advantages to being an atheist. What's the Difference Between Atheism & Agnosticism?: Once it is understood that atheism is merely the absence of belief in any gods, it becomes evident that agnosticism is not, as many assume, a "third way" between atheism and theism. The presence of a belief in a god and the absence of a belief in a god exhaust all of the possibilities. Agnosticism is not about belief in god but about knowledge - it was coined originally to describe the position of a person who could not claim to know for sure if any gods exist or not. Is Atheism a Religion, a Philosophy, an Ideology, or a Belief System?: Because of atheism's long-standing association with freethought, anti-clericalism, and dissent from religion, many people seem to assume that atheism is the same as anti-religion. This, in turn, seems to lead people to 3
assume that atheism is itself a religion - or at least some sort of anti-religious ideology, philosophy, etc. This is incorrect. Atheism is the absence of theism; by itself, it isn't even a belief, much less a belief system, and as such cannot be any of those things. Why Do Atheists Debate Theists? Is Atheism Better than Theism?: If atheism is just disbelief in gods, then there is no reason for atheists to be critical of theism and religion. If atheists are critical, it means they are really anti-theists and anti-religious, right? It's understandable why some might come to this conclusion, but it represents a failure to appreciate the cultural trends in the West which have led to the high correlation between atheism and things like religious dissent, resistance to Christian hegemony, and freethought. What if You Are Wrong? Aren t You Afraid of Hell? Can You Take the Chance?: 4
The logical fallacy argumentum ad baculum, literally translated as "argument to the stick," is commonly translated to mean "appeal to force." In this fallacy an argument is accompanied by the threat of violence if the conclusions are not accepted. Many religions are based upon just such an tactic: if you don't accept this religion, you will be punished either by adherents now or in some afterlife. If this is how a religion treats its own adherents, it's not a surprise that arguments employing this tactic or fallacy are offered to nonbelievers as a reason to convert. Godless Living, Political Activism, Fighting Bigotry: How Do Atheists Live?: Godless atheists are a part of America just like religious theists. They have families, raise children, go to work, and do all the same things that others do, except for one difference: so many religious theists can't accept how atheists go about their lives without gods or religion. This is one reason why atheists, skeptics, and secularists can experience so much discrimination and bigotry that they have to hide what they really think from others 5
around them. This injustice can be difficult to deal with, but godless atheists do have something to offer America. Atheism is a Denial of God That Requires Faith: The most common misunderstanding about atheism is the definition. Many insist that atheism is really the denial of the existence of God, but there are two errors here. First, it pretends that atheism is exclusively about their god, the god common to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Second, it focuses on a narrow sub-set of atheism and atheists to the exclusion of all others. Standard dictionary definitions list "denial of God or gods" second; first comes "disbelief in god or Gods." Disbelief is not the same as denial, it's either the absence of belief or the presence of skepticism. Atheists Choose to Disbelieve in God: I frequently hear the claim that atheists choose atheism, usually for some morally blameworthy reason like a desire to avoid taking responsibility for their sins. My 6
response is basically the same every time: You may not believe me, but I didn't choose any such thing, and I can't just 'choose' to start believing. Maybe you can, but I can't. I do not believe in any gods. Evidence would make me believe in some god, but all the playacting in the world isn't going to change that. It's arguable, in fact, that no beliefs are choices that people can simply change their minds about. What is a "Real" Atheist? How Do "Real" Atheists Behave?: One effective means for critiquing a belief system and/or its adherents is to point out significant contradictions between how believers behave and the ideals they espouse. These contradictions can suggest that they don't really believe what they say, that the ideals aren't taken seriously, that the system teaches worse things, etc. Atheists do this with religion frequently, but can religious theists do it with atheism? They try by presuming to say how "real" atheists would or would not 7
behave. These arguments fail because atheism isn't a philosophy that compels any particular behavior. More People Have Been Killed in the Name of Atheism & Secularism than Religion: A common criticism raised by atheists against religion is how violent religion and religious believers have been in the past. People have slaughtered each other in large numbers because of differences in religious beliefs or because of other differences which are justified and intensified through religious rhetoric. Either way, religion has a lot of blood on its hands. Can the same be said for atheists and atheism? Haven't atheists killed more people in the name of atheism than religious theists have killed in the name of their religion? No: atheism isn't a philosophy or ideology. Atheists Haven't Experienced the True God or True Religion: Atheists have constructed many trenchant critiques of both religion and theism over the years. Some of these 8
critiques can be responded to reasonably, but others are much more difficult to address in anything like an adequate manner. Sometimes, it may be easier to simply find a way to dismiss atheists entirely and thus avoid having to address any of their critiques in the first place. Common ways of doing this are to argue that atheists have never had any of the relevant and necessary experiences to teach them about God and religion. If they did, they would understand and believe. Do Atheists Have No Reason to be Moral? Are There No Atheistic Moral Standards?: For most religious theists, their religion and god provide the basis for their entire understanding of morality and values. Because of this, some find it inconceivable that atheists who don't believe in any gods and who have no religion could possibly have a basis for morality or even understand what true moral behavior really is. Many go further and argue that this is a good reason to reject atheism, that it leads to immoral behavior, that it cannot account for the existence of morality, etc. None of these 9
arguments hold up because they are based on false premises. Atheists Lead Meaningless Lives of Despair Without Love or Beauty: Some theists who cannot defend theism or criticize atheism through logic or evidence are left attacking the alleged implications of atheism. If they cannot prove that atheism unreasonable, they hope to prove that the consequences of atheism are so abhorrent that no one will want to take the chance. One popular target is to claim that atheism leads to hopelessness and despair, that atheism makes life meaningless, or that atheism eliminates reasons to be moral. None of this is true, but even if it were that wouldn't make their theism or religion more likely to be true. Atheists Worship Satan, Themselves, Money, or Some Other God: 10
The claim that atheists replace worship of God with worship of something else ranges over man possible objects for worship: Satan, themselves, humanity, etc. In addition to being wrong, these myths share the belief that worship is somehow fundamental to human existence such that it simply isn't possible for a person to live a decent life without worshipping something. This is false, though. No matter how important religion or theism is to someone, this isn't a good reason to conclude that they are also important to everyone else, even those who deny having any god or religion. Atheism is a Product of Rebellion & Pride: There are many myths about atheism and atheists which claim that people are atheists due to some sort of rebellion (against god, religion, church, families, fathers, etc.) or pride. These myths come primarily from Christians whose religious mythology gives an important place to rebellion against divine rules as the origin of evil in the world (Satan is depicted as having rebelled against God). At most, these myths might be true of 11
some but not all or even most atheists; even if true, however, none of these myths would have any implications for the truth or reasonableness of atheism itself. Atheists Want to Impose their Secular Religion on America: There is a popular belief with America's Christian Right that secularism is an atheistic conspiracy and an attempt by atheists to impose a secular religion on America. This would undermine Christians' religious liberty and force them to conform to atheists' secular, possibly communist, vision for America. None of this is even remotely correct: most atheists are not religious, secularism by definition cannot be a religion, atheists are not trying to undermine religious liberty, and secularism protects all Americans' religious liberty - including Christians' liberty. 12