Atheism: the basis of Atheism and Agnosticism

False beliefs

Eg, God is powerless, although benevolent- or denying expectations and propositions made in the bible.

Fear of accountability

fear of the moral and spiritual accountability which usually accompanies religious belief.

Hatred of religious belief/ believers

holds more hatred rather than disbelief.

Weak Atheism

it is simple scepticism, the absence of belief in the existence of God.

Burden of proof

many atheist adopt the position that the burden of proof lies with the theist to prove that, despite the lack of evidence in support of God's existence and the wealth of evidence which appears to count against it, God exists.

Atheism

means 'without/ no God'.

Loss of faith

some have experiences unanswered prayers, false teachers and bad experience of religion, contradictory teachings and lack of logical coherence.

Atheists in western culture

- assumed to have no religious or spiritual beliefs. However some religious and spiritual beliefs that deny a creator God have been described as broadly atheistic. - there is no one ideology, set of beliefs or practices that al atheists adhere to, any more than theists do.

Organised Religion

- dislike or distrust of organised religion, which leads to a rejection of belief in God. - religious systems are can be satisfactorily explained in terms of social, psychological, or political factors.

View of state affairs in the world

- evil and suffering in the world count decisively against the existence of God. - 'the existence of the world without a God seems to be less absurd than the presence of God, existing in all his perfections, creating an imperfect man to make him run the risk of hell'.

Philosophical problem of atheism

- if X cannot be proved to exist, then X does not exist. (This view is a strong empirical position which rejects belief in anything which cannot be empirically demonstrated). - if X cannot be proved to exist, then X cannot be proved not to exist. (This position renders both theism and atheism equally unsound from a philosophical perspective). - If X cannot be proved not to exist, then X must exist (if arguments against the existence of God fail, then by default God must exist). - if X cannot proved to exist, then X may exist (failure to disprove the existence of God does not render his existence necessarily, but it is probable.

Strong Atheism

- is an explicitly held belief that God does not exist. It is often expressed as antitheism. - an antitheist offers strong arguments against the religious belief of others, considering them wrong or dangerous, rather than simply choosing not to believe for themselves.

Agnosticism

- it is not possible to know whether God exists, or to know his nature. - agnostics may claim to be open to the possibility of knowledge leading to belief rather than non-belief., but may be able to say what it would take for then to do so. Here, it is possible to say that agnosticism is merely another form of atheism.

David Hume on the status and character of positive knowledge

- only knowledge of regular, observable sequences and connections could constitute positive knowledge; it did not imply knowledge of causes, powers, natures, essences or purposes. - agnostics are called believers so that they are taken seriously.

Beliefs on God

- there is no such being to whom the description of God can be given. - God is a metaphysical term, it is meaningless even to ask the questions about the distance of God, let alone believe in it. - Atheistic claims were considered no more meaningful than theistic claims.

Experiences of God

- they can be accounted for in other ways. - Samuel Butler: 'Theist and atheist- the fight between then is as to whether God shall be called God or have some other name'. - whilst an atheist may claim that a mystical experience is the result of feverish hallucination, the theist claims that they are direct experiences of the divine.

Oppression of religion

view that belief in God serves only to support those who are emotionally, intellectually or psychologically weak.

Delusion

view that believers of God are deluded or have been deluded by religious leaders for their own unscrupulous purposes.