1.
Atheism
–
Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist, in an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which, in its most general form, is the belief that at least one deity exists, the etymological root for the word atheism originated before the 5th century BCE from the ancient Greek ἄθεος, meaning without god. The term denoted a social category created by orthodox religionists into which those who did not share their religious beliefs were placed, the actual term atheism emerged first in the 16th century. With the spread of freethought, skeptical inquiry, and subsequent increase in criticism of religion, application of the term narrowed in scope, the first individuals to identify themselves using the word atheist lived in the 18th century during the Age of Enlightenment. The French Revolution, noted for its unprecedented atheism, witnessed the first major movement in history to advocate for the supremacy of human reason. Arguments for atheism range from the philosophical to social and historical approaches, although some atheists have adopted secular philosophies, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere. Since conceptions of atheism vary, accurate estimations of current numbers of atheists are difficult, an older survey by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 2004 recorded atheists as comprising 8% of the worlds population. Other older estimates have indicated that atheists comprise 2% of the worlds population, according to these polls, Europe and East Asia are the regions with the highest rates of atheism. In 2015, 61% of people in China reported that they were atheists, the figures for a 2010 Eurobarometer survey in the European Union reported that 20% of the EU population claimed not to believe in any sort of spirit, God or life force. Atheism has been regarded as compatible with agnosticism, and has also been contrasted with it, a variety of categories have been used to distinguish the different forms of atheism. Some of the ambiguity and controversy involved in defining atheism arises from difficulty in reaching a consensus for the definitions of words like deity, the plurality of wildly different conceptions of God and deities leads to differing ideas regarding atheisms applicability. The ancient Romans accused Christians of being atheists for not worshiping the pagan deities, gradually, this view fell into disfavor as theism came to be understood as encompassing belief in any divinity. Definitions of atheism also vary in the degree of consideration a person must put to the idea of gods to be considered an atheist, Atheism has sometimes been defined to include the simple absence of belief that any deities exist. This broad definition would include newborns and other people who have not been exposed to theistic ideas, as far back as 1772, Baron dHolbach said that All children are born Atheists, they have no idea of God. Similarly, George H. Smith suggested that, The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he does not believe in a god. This category would include the child with the conceptual capacity to grasp the issues involved. The fact that this child does not believe in god qualifies him as an atheist, ernest Nagel contradicts Smiths definition of atheism as merely absence of theism, acknowledging only explicit atheism as true atheism
Atheism
–
Paul Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, an 18th-century advocate of atheism. — d'Holbach,
The System of Nature
Atheism
–
Epicurus is credited with first expounding the
problem of evil.
David Hume in his
Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) cited Epicurus in stating the argument as a series of questions: "Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
2.
Criticism of atheism
–
Criticism of atheism is criticism of the concepts, validity, or impact of atheism, including associated political and social implications. Various contemporary agnostics like Carl Sagan and theists such as Dinesh DSouza have criticised atheism for being an unscientific position, oxford Professor of Mathematics John Lennox holds that atheism is an inferior world view to that of theism, and attributes to C. S. In other words, it was belief in God that was the motor that drove modern science, the leading American geneticist Francis Collins also cites Lewis as persuasive in convincing him that theism is the more rational world view than atheism. Other criticisms focus on perceived effects on morality and social cohesion, the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, a deist, saw godlessness as weakening the sacred bonds of society, writing If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. The father of Classical Liberalism, John Locke, believed that the denial of Gods existence would undermine the social order, Pope Pius XI wrote that Communist atheism was aimed at upsetting the social order and at undermining the very foundations of Christian civilization. In the 1990s, Pope John Paul II criticised a spreading practical atheism as clouding the religious and moral sense of the human heart, in his Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burke railed against atheistical fanaticism. Critics of atheism often associate the actions of 20th-century state atheism with broader atheism in their critiques, various poets, novelists and lay theologians, among them G. K. Chesterton and C. S. Lewis, have also criticized atheism. For example, Chesterton holds that He who does not believe in God will believe in anything, Atheism is the absence of belief that any gods exist, the position that there are no gods, or the rejection of belief in the existence of gods. Deism is a form of theism in which God created the universe and established rationally comprehensible moral and natural laws, deism is a natural religion where belief in God is based on application of reason and evidence observed in the designs and laws found in nature. Christian deism refers to a deist who believes in the moral teachings, the last 50 years has seen an increase in academic philosophical arguments critical of the positions of atheism arguing that they are philosophically unsound. In 1976, atheist philosopher Antony Flew wrote The Presumption of Atheism, according to Flew, the norm for academic philosophy and public dialogue was, at that time, for atheists and theists to both share their respective burdens of proof for their positions. In 2007, Analytic Philosopher William Lane Craigs described the presumption of atheism as one of the most commonly proffered justifications of atheism. And in 2010, BBC journalist William Crawley explained that Flews presumption of atheism made the case, the presumption of atheism has been the subject of criticism by atheists agnostics, and theists since Flew advance his position more than 40 years ago. Because the atheists conceptualization of rational differs from the theist, Nielsen argues, Analytic Philosopher and modal logician Alvin Plantinga, a theist, rejected the presumption of atheism forwarding a two-part argument. First, he shows that there is no objection to belief in God unless the belief is shown to be false, second, he argues that belief in God could be rationally warranted if it is a properly basic or foundational belief through an innate human sense of the divine. Alvin Plantingas argument puts theistic belief an equal footing with atheism even if Flews definition of atheism is accepted. McInerny argues that the extent of natural order is so pervasive as to be almost innate. McInernys position goes further than Plantingas arguing that theism is evidenced, William Lane Craig wrote that if Flews broader definition of atheism is seen as merely the absence of belief in God, atheism ceases to be a view and even infants count as atheists
Criticism of atheism
–
Blaise Pascal first explained his
wager in
Pensées (1669)
Criticism of atheism
–
Edmund Burke wrote that atheism is against human reason and instinct.
Criticism of atheism
–
The
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow during its 1931 demolition.
Marxist‒Leninist atheism and other adaptations of
Marxian thought on religion have enjoyed the official patronage of various one-party Communist states.
3.
Criticism of religion
–
Criticism of religion is criticism of the ideas, the truth, or the practice of religion, including its political and social implications. Historical records of criticism of religion goes back to at least 5th century BCE, in ancient Greece, in ancient Rome, an early known example is Lucretius De Rerum Natura from the 1st century BCE. Criticism of religion is complicated by the fact that there exist multiple definitions, every exclusive religion on Earth that promotes exclusive truth claims necessarily denigrates the truth claims of other religions. Religion is derived from the Latin religiō, during this time period, contact with numerous foreign and indigenous cultures with non-European languages, that did not have equivalent concepts or words for religion, became more common. In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations and it was in the 19th century that the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism first emerged. Max Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, what is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Many languages have words that can be translated as religion, but they may use them in a different way. For example, the Sanskrit word dharma, sometimes translated as religion, throughout classical South Asia, the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions. Medieval Japan at first had a union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. There is no equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities. One of its central concepts is halakha, meaning the walk or path sometimes translated as law, which guides religious practice and belief and many aspects of daily life. Lucretius, like Epicurus, felt that religion was born of fear and ignorance, and he was not against religion in and of itself, but against traditional religion which he saw as superstition for teaching that gods interfered with the world. Niccolò Machiavelli, at the beginning of the 16th century said, We Italians are irreligious, because the church and her representatives have set us the worst example. To Machiavelli, religion was merely a tool, useful for a ruler wishing to manipulate public opinion, in the 18th century Voltaire was a deist and was strongly critical of religious intolerance. Voltaire claimed the reason for these killings was that Christians wanted to plunder the wealth of those killed. Voltaire was also critical of Muslim intolerance, also in the 18th century David Hume criticised teleological arguments for religion. Hume claimed that explanations for the order in the universe were reasonable. Demonstrating the unsoundness of the basis for religion was an important aim of Humes writings
Criticism of religion
–
A sign that criticizes religion and draws attention to the
September 11 attacks, by the Connecticut Valley Atheists in Rockville's Central Park,
Vernon in December 2007. The group issued an explanatory press release, stating: "Clearly, 9/11 is the work of fanatics. However, we feel that religion even in moderation provides a foundation for fanatical groups to thrive."
Criticism of religion
–
Christopher Hitchens, journalist and author of
God is not Great
Criticism of religion
–
Karl Marx
4.
History of atheism
–
Atheism is the absence or rejection of the belief that deities exist. The English term was used at least as early as the century and atheistic ideas. Over the centuries, atheists have supported their lack of belief in gods through a variety of avenues, including scientific, philosophical, within the astika schools of Hindu philosophy, the Samkhya and the early Mimamsa school did not accept a creator-deity in their respective systems. Philosophical atheist thought began to appear in Europe and Asia in the sixth or fifth century BCE, will Durant, in his The Story of Civilization, explained that certain pygmy tribes found in Africa were observed to have no identifiable cults or rites. There were no totems, no deities, and no spirits and their dead were buried without special ceremonies or accompanying items and received no further attention. They even appeared to lack simple superstitions, according to travelers reports, the Vedas of Ceylon admitted only the possibility that deities might exist but went no further. Neither prayers nor sacrifices were suggested in any way by the tribes and these religions claim to offer a philosophic and salvific path not involving deity worship. Deities are not seen as necessary to the goal of the early Buddhist tradition, their reality is explicitly questioned. There is a fundamental incompatibility between the notion of gods and basic Buddhist principles, at least in many interpretations, within the astika schools of Hindu philosophy, the Samkhya and the early Mimamsa school did not accept a creator-deity in their respective systems. The principal text of the Samkhya school, the Samkhya Karika, was written by Ishvara Krishna in the fourth century CE, the origins of the school are much older and are lost in legend. The school was both dualistic and atheistic and they believed in a dual existence of Prakriti and Purusha and had no place for an Ishvara in its system, arguing that the existence of Ishvara cannot be proved and hence cannot be admitted to exist. The school dominated Hindu philosophy in its day, but declined after the tenth century, the foundational text for the Mimamsa school is the Purva Mimamsa Sutras of Jaimini. The school reached its height c.700 CE, and for time in the Early Middle Ages exerted near-dominant influence on learned Hindu thought. The Mimamsa school saw their primary enquiry was into the nature of dharma based on interpretation of the Vedas. Its core tenets were ritualism, antiasceticism and antimysticism, the early Mimamsakas believed in an adrishta that is the result of performing karmas and saw no need for an Ishvara in their system. Mimamsa persists in some subschools of Hinduism today, jains see their tradition as eternal. Organized Jainism can be dated back to Parshva who lived in the ninth century BCE, and, more reliably, to Mahavira, a teacher of the sixth century BCE, Jainism is a dualistic religion with the universe made up of matter and souls. The universe, and the matter and souls within it, is eternal and uncreated, the school grew out of the generic skepticism in the Mauryan period
History of atheism
–
The Dutch philosoper
Baruch Spinoza contended in the 17th century that God did not interfere in the running of the world, but rather that natural laws explained the workings of the universe.
History of atheism
–
Notre Dame of
Strasbourg turned into a Temple of Reason
History of atheism
–
Fête de la Raison ("Festival of Reason"), Notre Dame, 20
Brumaire (1793)
5.
State atheism
–
State atheism is a popular term used for a government that is either antireligious, antitheistic or promotes atheism. In contrast, a secular state purports to be neutral in matters of religion. State promotion of atheism as a public norm first came to prominence in Revolutionary France, Revolutionary Mexico followed similar policies from 1917, as did Marxist–Leninist states. The Soviet Union attempted to suppress public religious expression over wide areas of its influence, article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is designed to protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. Signatories to the convention are barred from the use of threat of force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to recant their beliefs or convert. Despite this, as of 2003 minority religions were still being persecuted in many parts of the world, theodore Roosevelt condemned the Kishinev pogrom in 1903, establishing a history of U. S. presidents commenting on the internal religious liberty of foreign countries. Jimmy Carter asked Deng Xiaoping to improve religious freedom in China, Lenin states, Religion is the opiate of the people, this saying of Marx is the cornerstone of the entire ideology of Marxism about religion. Although Marx and Lenin were both atheists, several religious communist groups exist, including Christian communists, julian Baggini devotes a chapter of his book Atheism A Very Short Introduction to discussion of 20th century political systems, including communism and political repression in the Soviet Union. Baggini argues that Soviet communism, with its oppression of religion, is a distortion of original Marxist communism. Baggini goes on to argue that Fundamentalism is a danger in any belief system, takes the form of state secularism, not state atheism. State atheism was a policy in the Soviet Union and other Marxist–Leninist states. After the Russian Civil War, anti religious movements in the Soviet Union attempted to stop the spread of religious beliefs, the Bolsheviks were particularly hostile toward the Russian Orthodox Church and saw it as a supporter of Tsarist autocracy. The attitude in the Soviet Union toward religion varied from a ban on some religions to official support of others. From the late 1920s to the late 1930s, such organizations as the League of Militant Atheists ridiculed all religions, anti-religious and atheistic propaganda was implemented into every portion of soviet life, in schools, communist organizations such as the Young Pioneer Organization, and the media. Most seminaries were closed, and publication of writing was banned. The Russian Orthodox Church, which had 54,000 parishes before World War I, was reduced to 500 by 1940, nonetheless, their knowledge of their faith and the faith of others notwithstanding, many post-Soviet populations have a large presence of religious followers. According to the CIA Factbook, however, only 17% to 22% of the population is now Christian, another 12% said they believe in God, but did not practice any religion, and 16% said they are non-believers. In Ukraine,96. 1% of the Ukrainian population is Christian, in Lithuania, the only Catholic country which was once a Soviet republic, a 2005 report stated that 79% of Lithuanians belonged to the Roman Catholic Church
State atheism
–
USSR. 1922 issue of the
Bezbozhnik (The Godless) magazine. By 1934, 28% of Eastern Orthodox churches, 42% of Muslim mosques and 52% of Jewish synagogues were shut down in the USSR.
6.
Implicit and explicit atheism
–
Implicit atheism and explicit atheism are types of atheism coined by George H. Smith. Implicit atheism is defined as the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it, explicit atheists have considered the idea of deities and have rejected belief that any exist. Implicit atheists, though they do not themselves maintain a belief in a god or gods, have not rejected the notion or have not considered it further, Smith defines implicit atheism as the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it. Absence of theistic belief encompasses all forms of non-belief in deities and this would categorize as implicit atheists those adults who have never heard of the concept of deities, and those adults who have not given the idea any real consideration. Also included are agnostics who assert they do not believe in any deities, children are also included, though, depending on the author, it may or may not also include newborn babies. As far back as 1772, Baron dHolbach said that All children are born Atheists and this category would also include the child with the conceptual capacity to grasp the issues involved, but who is still unaware of those issues. The fact that this child does not believe in god qualifies him as an atheist, atheism is not to be identified with sheer unbelief. Thus, a child who has received no religious instruction and has never heard about God, is not an atheist – for he is not denying any theistic claims, Smith observes that some motivations for explicit atheism are rational and some not. Of the rational motivations, he says, The most significant variety of atheism is explicit atheism of a philosophical nature and this atheism contends that the belief in god is irrational and should therefore be rejected. Since this version of explicit atheism rests on a criticism of theistic beliefs, for Smith, explicit atheism is subdivided further into three groups, p. The difference between Nagel on the one hand and dHolbach and Smith on the other has been attributed to the different concerns of professional philosophers, so, in philosophy, atheism is commonly defined along the lines of denial of theistic belief. The terms weak atheism and strong atheism, also known as negative atheism and their original, technical meanings, however, are different and distinct from weak and strong atheism. Strong explicit atheists assert that it is false that any deities exist, weak explicit atheists assert they do not believe in deities, but do not assert it is true that deities do not exist. Those who do not believe any deities exist, but do not assert their non-belief are included among implicit atheists, agnosticism Apatheism Ignosticism Negative and positive atheism Nontheism
Implicit and explicit atheism
–
on right
7.
Negative and positive atheism
–
The terms negative atheism and positive atheism were used by Antony Flew in 1976 and have appeared in Michael Martins writings since 1990. For example, the God of classical theism is often considered to be a supreme being who is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. Positive explicit atheists assert that it is false that any deities exist, negative explicit atheists assert they do not believe any deities exist, but do not assert it is true that no deity exists. Those who do not believe any deities exist, but do not assert such non-belief, are included among implicit atheists, all implicit atheists are included in the negative/weak categorization. Under this positive/negative classification, some agnostics would qualify as negative atheists, the validity of this categorization is disputed, however, and a few prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins avoid it. He categorizes himself as a de facto atheist but not a strong atheist on this scale, jacques Maritain used the negative/positive phrases as early as 1949, but with a different meaning and in the context of a strictly Catholic apologist. Goparaju Ramachandra Rao, better known by his nickname Gora, was an Indian social reformer, anti-caste activist and he proposed a philosophy he called positive atheism, which treated atheism as a way of life in his 1972 book, Positive Atheism. The Atheist Community of Austin uses the term positive atheism in a different sense, agnostics are not always merely implicit atheists
Negative and positive atheism
–
on right
8.
Christian atheism
–
Hamiltons Christian atheism is similar to Jesuism. He contends that it is impossible to think about God, van Buren says that We cannot identify anything which will count for or against the truth of our statements concerning God. The inference from these claims to the either meaningless or misleading conclusion is implicitly premised on the verificationist theory of meaning, most Christian atheists believe that God never existed, but there are a few who believe in the death of God literally. Thomas J. J. Altizer is a well-known Christian atheist who is known for his approach to the death of God. He often speaks of Gods death as a redemptive event, theologians including Altizer and Lyas looked at the scientific, empirical culture of today and tried to find religions place in it. In Altizers words, No longer can faith and the world exist in mutual isolation…the radical Christian condemns all forms of faith that are disengaged with the world and he goes on to say that our response to atheism should be one of acceptance and affirmation. Altizer has said that the radical Christian, believes that the ecclesiastical tradition has ceased to be Christian. He believed that orthodox Christianity no longer had any meaning to people because it did not discuss Christianity within the context of contemporary theology, Christian atheists want to be completely separated from most orthodox Christian beliefs and biblical traditions. Altizer states that a faith will not be pure if it is open to modern culture. This faith can never identify itself with a tradition or with a given doctrinal or ritual form. He goes on to say that faith cannot have any final assurance as to what it means to be a Christian. Altizer said, We must not, he says, seek for the sacred by saying no to the profanity of our age. They see religions which withdraw from the world as moving away from truth and this is part of the reason why they see the existence of God as counter-progressive. Altizer wrote of God as the enemy to man because mankind could never reach its fullest potential while God existed. He went on to state that to cling to the Christian God in our time is to evade the situation of our century. Although Jesus is still a feature of Christian atheism, Hamilton said that to the Christian atheist, Jesus is not really the foundation of faith, instead, he is a place to be. Christian atheists look to Jesus as an example of what a Christian should be, Hamilton wrote that following Jesus means being alongside the neighbor, being for him, and that to follow Jesus means to be human, to help other humans, and to further humankind. Other Christian atheists such as Thomas Altizer preserve the divinity of Jesus, in the Netherlands, 42% of the members of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands are nontheists
Christian atheism
–
6th-century
mosaic of Jesus at
Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in
Ravenna.
9.
Atheist feminism
–
Atheist feminism is a movement that advocates feminism within atheism. Atheist feminists also oppose religion as a source of female oppression and inequality, believing that the majority of the religions are sexist. The first known feminist who was also an atheist was Ernestine Rose and her open confession of disbelief in Judaism when she was a teenager brought her into conflict with her father and an unpleasant relationship developed. In order to force her into the obligations of the Jewish faith, her father, without her consent, betrothed her to a friend, instead of arguing her case in a Jewish court, she went to a secular court, pleaded her own case, and won. She lectured in England and America and was described by Samuel P, putnam 3 as one of the best lecturers of her time. He wrote that no man could meet her in debate. This was the first petition drive done by a woman in New York, Ernestine continued to increase both the number of the petitions and the names until such rights were finally won in 1848, with the passing of the Married Womens Property Act. Others who participated in the work for the bill included Susan B, anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and Frances Wright, who were all anti-religious. Ernestine later joined a group of freethinkers who had organized a Society for Moral Philanthropists, in 1845 she was in attendance at the first national convention of infidels. Ernestine Rose also introduced the agitation on the subject of womens suffrage in Michigan in 1846 and she attended the Womens Rights Convention in the Tabernacle, New York City, on September 10,1853, and spoke at the Hartford Bible Convention in 1854. It was in March of that year, also, that she took off with Susan B, anthony on a speaking tour to Washington, D. C. Anthony arranged the meetings and Ernestine Rose did all of the speaking, after this successful tour, anthony embarked on her own first lecture tour. Later, in October 1854, Ernestine Rose was elected president of the National Womens Rights Convention at Philadelphia, anthony supported her in this fight, declaring that every religion — and none — should have an equal right on the platform. When he asks for colleges to educate ministers, tell him you must educate woman and she appeared again in Albany, New York, for the State Womens Rights Convention in early February 1861, the last one to be held until the end of the Civil War. On May 14,1863, she shared the podium with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and she was in attendance at the American Equal Rights Association meeting in which there was a schism and on May 15,1869, she joined with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone to form a new organization, the National Woman Suffrage Association and she died at Brighton, England, on August 4,1892, at age eighty-two. The most prominent other people to advocate for feminism as well as atheism in the 1800s were Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In 1885 Elizabeth wrote an essay entitled Has Christianity Benefited Woman, arguing that it had in fact hurt womens rights, and stating, All religions thus far have taught the headship and superiority of man, the inferiority and subordination of woman
Atheist feminism
–
Ernestine Rose was a feminist and was an atheist, well before the label "atheist feminist" existed.
Atheist feminism
–
Elizabeth Cady Stanton in her later years
Atheist feminism
–
A portrait of
Matilda Gage
10.
New Atheism
–
New Atheism, also called evangelical atheism or is a movement promoted by some atheists of the twenty-first century. The phrase New Atheism was coined by Gary Wolf in a 2006 article in Wired magazine, darwins supporter Thomas Huxley was openly skeptical, as the biographer Janet Browne describes, Huxley was rampaging on miracles and the existence of the soul. In his hands, agnosticism became as doctrinaire as anything else--a religion of skepticism, Huxley used it as a creed that would place him on a higher moral plane than even bishops and archbishops. All the evidence would nevertheless suggest that Huxley was sincere in his rejection of the charge of atheism against himself. To inquire rigorously into the domain, he asserted, was a more elevated undertaking than slavishly to believe or disbelieve. A deep sense of religion is compatible with the absence of theology. Pope Huxley, the Spectator dubbed him, Harris was motivated by the events of September 11,2001, which he laid directly at the feet of Islam, while also directly criticizing Christianity and Judaism. Two years later Harris followed up with Letter to a Christian Nation, also in 2006, following his television documentary The Root of All Evil. Richard Dawkins published The God Delusion, which was on the New York Times best-seller list for 51 weeks, on September 30,2007 four prominent atheists met at Hitchens residence for a private two-hour unmoderated discussion. The event was videotaped and titled The Four Horsemen, the four have been described disparagingly as evangelical atheists. Harris is a co-founder of the Reason Project, Richard Dawkins is the author of The God Delusion, which was preceded by a Channel 4 television documentary titled The Root of all Evil. He is the founder of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and he wrote, I dont object to the horseman label, by the way. Im less keen on new atheist, it isnt clear to me how we differ from old atheists, christopher Hitchens was the author of God Is Not Great and was named among the Top 100 Public Intellectuals by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazine. In addition, Hitchens served on the board of the Secular Coalition for America. In 2010 Hitchens published his memoir Hitch-22, shortly after its publication, Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which led to his death in December 2011. Before his death, Hitchens published a collection of essays and articles in his book Arguably, the Four Horsemen video, convened by Dawkins Foundation, can be viewed free online at his web site, Part 1, Part 2. Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, fleeing in 1992 to the Netherlands in order to escape an arranged marriage. She became involved in Dutch politics, rejected faith, and became vocal in opposing Islamic ideology, especially concerning women, as exemplified by her books Infidel and The Caged Virgin
New Atheism
–
Clockwise from top left:
Richard Dawkins,
Christopher Hitchens,
Daniel Dennett, and
Sam Harris. According to
Richard Dawkins, "We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further."
11.
Omnipotence paradox
–
The omnipotence paradox is a family of semantic paradoxes that arise with some understandings of the term omnipotent. The paradox arises, for example, If one assumes that an omnipotent being has no limits and is capable of realizing any outcome, even logically contradictory ideas such as creating square circles. A no-limits understanding of such as this has been rejected by early theologians such as Thomas Aquinas to contemporary scholars in the philosophers of religion. The omnipotence paradox has medieval origins, dating at least to the 12th century and it was addressed by Averroës and later by Thomas Aquinas. Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite has a version of the paradox, asking whether it is possible for God to deny himself. The most well-known version of the paradox is the so-called paradox of the stone. This phrasing of the paradox is vulnerable to objections based on the physical nature of gravity. And Can God create a prison so secure that he escape from it. A common modern version of the paradox is expressed in the question. The being can create a stone it cannot lift, or it cannot create a stone it cannot lift. If the being can create a stone that it cannot lift, If the being cannot create a stone it cannot lift, then it seems it is already not omnipotent. A related issue is whether the concept of logically possible is different for a world in which omnipotence exists than a world in which omnipotence does not exist, peter Geach describes and rejects four levels of omnipotence. He also defines and defends a notion of the almightiness of God. Y is absolutely omnipotent means that Y can do everything absolutely, everything that can be expressed in a string of words even if it can be shown to be self-contradictory, Y is not bound in action, as we are in thought by the laws of logic. This position is advanced by Descartes and it has the theological advantage of making God prior to the laws of logic. Some claim that it in addition gives rise to the disadvantage of making Gods promises suspect. On this account, the paradox is a genuine paradox. Y is omnipotent means Y can do X is true if and this position was once advocated by Thomas Aquinas
Omnipotence paradox
–
Detail depicting
Averroes, who addressed the omnipotence paradox in the 12th century, from the 14th-century Triunfo de Santo Tomás by
Andrea da Firenze (di Bonaiuto).
12.
Problem of evil
–
The problem of evil refers to the question of how to reconcile the existence of evil with an omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipotent God. An argument from evil attempts to show that the co-existence of evil, attempts to show the contrary have traditionally been discussed under the heading of theodicy. Besides philosophy of religion, the problem of evil is also important to the field of theology, the problem of evil is often formulated in two forms, the logical problem of evil and the evidential problem of evil. The problem of evil has been extended to life forms, to include animal suffering from natural evils. Responses to various versions of the problem of evil, meanwhile, a wide range of responses have been made against these arguments. There are also discussions of evil and associated problems in other philosophical fields, such as secular ethics. But as usually understood, the problem of evil is posed in a theological context, the problem of evil refers to the challenge of reconciling belief in an omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent God, with the existence of evil and suffering in the world. The problem may be described either experientially or theoretically, the problem of evil is also a theoretical one, usually described and studied by religion scholars in two varieties, the logical problem and the evidential problem. Originating with Greek philosopher Epicurus, the argument from evil is as follows, If an omnipotent, omniscient. There is evil in the world, Therefore, an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God does not exist. This argument is of the modus tollens, and is logically valid, If its premises are true. To show that the first premise is plausible, subsequent versions tend to expand on it, such as modern example. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, an omnibenevolent being would want to prevent all evils. An omniscient being knows every way in which evils can come into existence, an omnipotent being has the power to prevent that evil from coming into existence. A being who knows every way in which an evil can come into existence, who is able to prevent that evil from coming into existence, If there exists an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God, then no evil exists. Both of these arguments are understood to be presenting two forms of the problem of evil. They attempt to show that the propositions lead to a logical contradiction. If God lacks any one of these qualities—omniscience, omnipotence, or omnibenevolence—then the logical problem of evil can be resolved, process theology and open theism are other positions that limit Gods omnipotence and/or omniscience
Problem of evil
–
William L. Rowe 's famous example of
natural evil: "In some distant forest lightning strikes a dead tree, resulting in a forest fire. In the fire a fawn is trapped, horribly burned, and lies in terrible agony for several days before death relieves its suffering."
Problem of evil
–
"The Deluge", by
John Martin, 1834. Oil on canvas.
Yale University
Problem of evil
–
Thetis gives her son Achilles weapons forged by Hephaestus (detail of Attic
black-figure hydria, 575–550 BC)
13.
Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit
–
The Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit is a counter-argument to modern versions of the argument from design for the existence of God. It was introduced by Richard Dawkins in chapter 4 of his 2006 book The God Delusion, according to Dawkins, this logic is self-defeating as the theist must now account for the gods existence and explain whether or how the god was created. Richard Dawkins begins The God Delusion by making it clear that the God he talks about is the Abrahamic concept of a god who is susceptible to worship. Therefore, Dawkins concludes, the kind of reasoning can be applied to the God hypothesis as to any other scientific question. After discussing some of the most common arguments for the existence of God in chapter 3, Dawkinss name for the statistical demonstration that God almost certainly does not exist is the Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit. This is an allusion to the junkyard tornado, arguments against empirically based theism date back at least as far as the eighteenth-century philosopher David Hume, whose objection can be paraphrased as the question Who designed the designer. Dawkins summarizes his argument as follows, the references to crane and this cause is seen as omnipotent, omniscient and totally free. Dawkins argues that an entity that monitors and controls every particle in the universe and listens to all thoughts and its existence would require a mammoth explanation of its own. The theory of selection is much simpler – and thus preferable – than a theory of the existence of such a complex being. Dawkins then turns to a discussion of Keith Wards views on divine simplicity to show the difficulty the theological mind has in grasping where the complexity of life comes from, Dawkins says that this scepticism is justified, because complexity doesnt come from biased mutations. Dawkins writes, as far as we know, is the only process ultimately capable of generating complexity out of simplicity, the theory of natural selection is genuinely simple. So is the origin from which it starts and that which it explains, on the other hand, is complex almost beyond telling, more complex than anything we can imagine, save a God capable of designing it. Theist authors have presented extensive opposition, most notably by theologian Alister McGrath and philosophers Alvin Plantinga, Daniel Dennett also took exception to Orrs review, leading to an exchange of open letters between himself and Orr. The philosopher Sir Anthony Kenny also considers this argument to be flawed, cosmologist Stephen Barr responded as follows, Paley finds a watch and asks how such a thing could have come to be there by chance. Dawkins finds an immense automated factory that blindly constructs watches, both Alvin Plantinga and Richard Swinburne raise the objection that God is not complex. Plantinga writes, So first, according to classical theology, God is simple, more remarkable, perhaps, is that according to Dawkinss own definition of complexity, God is not complex. According to his definition, something is complex if it has parts that are arranged in a way that is unlikely to have arisen by chance alone, but of course God is a spirit, not a material object at all, and hence has no parts. A fortiori God doesnt have parts arranged in ways unlikely to have arisen by chance, therefore, given the definition of complexity Dawkins himself proposes, God is not complex
Ultimate Boeing 747 gambit
–
The "ultimate Boeing 747 gambit" was originally proposed by
Richard Dawkins in his 2006 book
The God Delusion.
14.
Demographics of atheism
–
Accurate demographics of atheism are difficult to obtain since conceptions of atheism vary across different cultures. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, 2% of the worlds population self-identifies as atheist, according to sociologist Phil Zuckerman, broad estimates of those who have an absence of belief in a god range from 500 to 750 million people worldwide. Other estimates state that there are 200 million to 240 million self-identified atheists worldwide, with China, in Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands and East Asia, and particularly in China, atheists and the non-religious are the majority. The prevalence of atheism in Africa and South America typically falls below 10%, according to the Pew Research Centers 2012 global study of 230 countries and territories, 16% of the worlds population is not affiliated with a religion, while 84% are affiliated. Furthermore, the study noted that many of the unaffiliated. Historical records of atheist philosophy span several millennia, atheistic schools are found in early Indian thought and have existed from the times of the historical Vedic religion. Western atheism has its roots in pre-Socratic Greek philosophy, but did not emerge as a distinct world-view until the late Enlightenment, discrepancies exist among sources as to how atheist and religious demographics are changing. According to the 2012 Gallup International Survey, the number of atheists is on the rise across the world, the demographics of atheism are substantially difficult to quantify. Words like, God or atheism seldom translate well across cultures or languages, as such, it can be hard to draw boundaries between atheism, non-religious beliefs, and non-theistic religious and spiritual beliefs. Furthermore, atheists may not report themselves as such, to prevent suffering from social stigma, discrimination, because some governments have strongly promoted atheism and others have strongly condemned it, atheism may be either over-reported or under-reported for different countries. There is a deal of room for debate as to the accuracy of any method of estimation. Additionally, many of these surveys only gauge the number of people, not the number of actual atheists. For example, research indicates that the fastest growing religious status may be no religion in the United States, but this includes all kinds of atheists, agnostics, non-religious people make up 9. 66%, while one fifth of them are atheists. Statistics on atheism are difficult to represent accurately for a variety of reasons. Atheism is a compatible with other forms of identity including religions. Globally, some also consider themselves Agnostic, Buddhist, Hindu, Jains, Taoist. Some, like Secular Jews and Shintoists, may indulge in some religious activities as a way of connecting with their culture, therefore, given limited poll options, some may use other terms to describe their identity. Some politically motivated organizations that report or gather population statistics may, intentionally or unintentionally, Survey designs may bias results due to the nature of elements such as the wording of questions and the available response options
Demographics of atheism
–
Michael Newdow speaks at the Atheist Alliance International Convention. Members of secular groups are very likely to be atheists, but also more willing to hold unpopular views and explore new ideas thoroughly.
15.
Discrimination against atheists
–
Discrimination against atheists may also refer to and comprise the negative attitudes towards, prejudice, hostility, hatred, fear, and/or intolerance towards atheists and/or atheism. As atheism can be defined in various ways, those discriminated against or persecuted on the grounds of being atheists might not have considered as such in a different time or place. As of 2015,19 countries punish their citizens for apostasy, in some Islamic countries, atheists face persecution and severe penalties such as the withdrawal of legal status or, in the case of apostasy, capital punishment. Sometimes such discrimination is called atheophobia, atheistophobia, anti-atheist discrimination, lucien Febvre has referred to the unthinkability of atheism in its strongest sense before the sixteenth century, because of the deep religiosity of that era. Karen Armstrong has concurred, writing from birth and baptism to death and burial in the churchyard, as governmental authority rested on the notion of divine right, it was threatened by those who denied the existence of the local god. Those labeled as atheist, including early Christians and Muslims, were as a result targeted for legal persecution, atheistic beliefs were seen as threatening to order and society by philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas. Lawyer and scholar Thomas More said that religious tolerance should be extended to all except those who did not believe in a deity or the immortality of the soul. John Locke, a founder of modern notions of religious liberty, during the Inquisition, several of those accused of atheism or blasphemy, or both, were tortured or executed. Though heralded as atheist martyrs during the century, recent scholars hold that the beliefs espoused by Dolet. During the nineteenth century, British atheists, though few in number, were subject to discriminatory practices, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from the University of Oxford and denied custody of his two children after publishing a pamphlet titled The Necessity of Atheism. Those unwilling to swear Christian oaths during judicial proceedings were unable to give evidence in court to obtain justice until this requirement was repealed by Acts passed in 1869 and 1870, atheist Charles Bradlaugh was elected as a Member of the British Parliament in 1880. He was denied the right to affirm rather than swear his oath of office, Bradlaugh was re-elected three times before he was finally able to take his seat in 1886 when the Speaker of the House permitted him to take the oath. In Germany during the Nazi era, a 1933 decree stated that No National Socialist may suffer detriment, on the ground that he does not make any religious profession at all. During negotiations leading to the Nazi-Vatican Concordat of April 26,1933 Hitler stated that Secular schools can never be tolerated because of their irreligious tendencies. Hitler routinely disregarded this undertaking, and the Reich concordat as a whole and by 1939, in a speech made later in 1933, Hitler claimed to have stamped out the atheistic movement. The word Hitler used in speech, Gottlosenbewegung, means Godless Movement in German. The historian Richard J. Evans wrote that, by 1939, 95% of Germans still called themselves Protestant or Catholic, Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is designed to protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. Signatories to the convention are barred from the use of threat of force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to recant their beliefs or convert
Discrimination against atheists
–
Anti-atheist propaganda billboard posted in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in February 2008
Discrimination against atheists
–
Countries in which, as of 2007,
apostasy of the local or state religion was punishable by execution under national (black) or regional (dark gray) law. Currently, this occurs only in
Islamic nations.
16.
Agnosticism
–
Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the existence of God or the supernatural are unknown and unknowable. Agnosticism is a doctrine or set of rather than a religion. English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley coined the word agnostic in 1869, the Nasadiya Sukta in the Rigveda is agnostic about the origin of the universe. Agnosticism is of the essence of science, whether ancient or modern and it simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that which he has no scientific grounds for professing to know or believe. Consequently, agnosticism puts aside not only the part of popular theology. On the whole, the bosh of heterodoxy is more offensive to me than that of orthodoxy, because heterodoxy professes to be guided by reason and science, and orthodoxy does not. Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, positively the principle may be expressed, In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively, In matters of the intellect do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable, being a scientist, above all else, Huxley presented agnosticism as a form of demarcation. A hypothesis with no supporting objective, testable evidence is not an objective, as such, there would be no way to test said hypotheses, leaving the results inconclusive. His agnosticism was not compatible with forming a belief as to the truth, or falsehood, karl Popper would also describe himself as an agnostic. Others have redefined this concept, making it compatible with forming a belief, george H. Smith rejects agnosticism as a third alternative to theism and atheism and promotes terms such as agnostic atheism and agnostic theism. Agnostic was used by Thomas Henry Huxley in a speech at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1869 to describe his philosophy, early Christian church leaders used the Greek word gnosis to describe spiritual knowledge. Agnosticism is not to be confused with religious views opposing the ancient religious movement of Gnosticism in particular, Huxley used the term in a broader, Huxley identified agnosticism not as a creed but rather as a method of skeptical, evidence-based inquiry. In recent years, scientific literature dealing with neuroscience and psychology has used the word to mean not knowable, in technical and marketing literature, agnostic can also mean independence from some parameters—for example, platform agnostic or hardware agnostic. Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume contended that meaningful statements about the universe are always qualified by some degree of doubt and he asserted that the fallibility of human beings means that they cannot obtain absolute certainty except in trivial cases where a statement is true by definition. A strong agnostic would say, I cannot know whether a deity exists or not, a weak agnostic would say, I dont know whether any deities exist or not, but maybe one day, if there is evidence, we can find something out. Therefore, their existence has little to no impact on human affairs. Agnostic thought, in the form of skepticism, emerged as a philosophical position in ancient Greece
Agnosticism
–
Thomas Henry Huxley
Agnosticism
–
Robert G. Ingersoll
Agnosticism
–
Bertrand Russell
17.
Weak agnosticism
–
Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the existence of God or the supernatural are unknown and unknowable. Agnosticism is a doctrine or set of rather than a religion. English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley coined the word agnostic in 1869, the Nasadiya Sukta in the Rigveda is agnostic about the origin of the universe. Agnosticism is of the essence of science, whether ancient or modern and it simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that which he has no scientific grounds for professing to know or believe. Consequently, agnosticism puts aside not only the part of popular theology. On the whole, the bosh of heterodoxy is more offensive to me than that of orthodoxy, because heterodoxy professes to be guided by reason and science, and orthodoxy does not. Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, positively the principle may be expressed, In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively, In matters of the intellect do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable, being a scientist, above all else, Huxley presented agnosticism as a form of demarcation. A hypothesis with no supporting objective, testable evidence is not an objective, as such, there would be no way to test said hypotheses, leaving the results inconclusive. His agnosticism was not compatible with forming a belief as to the truth, or falsehood, karl Popper would also describe himself as an agnostic. Others have redefined this concept, making it compatible with forming a belief, george H. Smith rejects agnosticism as a third alternative to theism and atheism and promotes terms such as agnostic atheism and agnostic theism. Agnostic was used by Thomas Henry Huxley in a speech at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1869 to describe his philosophy, early Christian church leaders used the Greek word gnosis to describe spiritual knowledge. Agnosticism is not to be confused with religious views opposing the ancient religious movement of Gnosticism in particular, Huxley used the term in a broader, Huxley identified agnosticism not as a creed but rather as a method of skeptical, evidence-based inquiry. In recent years, scientific literature dealing with neuroscience and psychology has used the word to mean not knowable, in technical and marketing literature, agnostic can also mean independence from some parameters—for example, platform agnostic or hardware agnostic. Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume contended that meaningful statements about the universe are always qualified by some degree of doubt and he asserted that the fallibility of human beings means that they cannot obtain absolute certainty except in trivial cases where a statement is true by definition. A strong agnostic would say, I cannot know whether a deity exists or not, a weak agnostic would say, I dont know whether any deities exist or not, but maybe one day, if there is evidence, we can find something out. Therefore, their existence has little to no impact on human affairs. Agnostic thought, in the form of skepticism, emerged as a philosophical position in ancient Greece
Weak agnosticism
–
Thomas Henry Huxley
Weak agnosticism
–
Robert G. Ingersoll
Weak agnosticism
–
Bertrand Russell
18.
Strong agnosticism
–
Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the existence of God or the supernatural are unknown and unknowable. Agnosticism is a doctrine or set of rather than a religion. English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley coined the word agnostic in 1869, the Nasadiya Sukta in the Rigveda is agnostic about the origin of the universe. Agnosticism is of the essence of science, whether ancient or modern and it simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that which he has no scientific grounds for professing to know or believe. Consequently, agnosticism puts aside not only the part of popular theology. On the whole, the bosh of heterodoxy is more offensive to me than that of orthodoxy, because heterodoxy professes to be guided by reason and science, and orthodoxy does not. Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, positively the principle may be expressed, In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively, In matters of the intellect do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable, being a scientist, above all else, Huxley presented agnosticism as a form of demarcation. A hypothesis with no supporting objective, testable evidence is not an objective, as such, there would be no way to test said hypotheses, leaving the results inconclusive. His agnosticism was not compatible with forming a belief as to the truth, or falsehood, karl Popper would also describe himself as an agnostic. Others have redefined this concept, making it compatible with forming a belief, george H. Smith rejects agnosticism as a third alternative to theism and atheism and promotes terms such as agnostic atheism and agnostic theism. Agnostic was used by Thomas Henry Huxley in a speech at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in 1869 to describe his philosophy, early Christian church leaders used the Greek word gnosis to describe spiritual knowledge. Agnosticism is not to be confused with religious views opposing the ancient religious movement of Gnosticism in particular, Huxley used the term in a broader, Huxley identified agnosticism not as a creed but rather as a method of skeptical, evidence-based inquiry. In recent years, scientific literature dealing with neuroscience and psychology has used the word to mean not knowable, in technical and marketing literature, agnostic can also mean independence from some parameters—for example, platform agnostic or hardware agnostic. Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume contended that meaningful statements about the universe are always qualified by some degree of doubt and he asserted that the fallibility of human beings means that they cannot obtain absolute certainty except in trivial cases where a statement is true by definition. A strong agnostic would say, I cannot know whether a deity exists or not, a weak agnostic would say, I dont know whether any deities exist or not, but maybe one day, if there is evidence, we can find something out. Therefore, their existence has little to no impact on human affairs. Agnostic thought, in the form of skepticism, emerged as a philosophical position in ancient Greece
Strong agnosticism
–
Thomas Henry Huxley
Strong agnosticism
–
Robert G. Ingersoll
Strong agnosticism
–
Bertrand Russell
19.
Agnostic theism
–
Agnostic theism is the philosophical view that encompasses both theism and agnosticism. An agnostic theist believes in the existence of a god or God and it can also mean that there is one high ruler, but it is unknowable or unknown who or what it is. The agnostic theist may also or alternatively be agnostic regarding the properties of God, there are numerous beliefs that can be included in agnostic theism, such as fideism, but not all agnostic theists are fideists. Since agnosticism is in the rather than religious sense a position on knowledge and does not forbid belief in a deity. The classical philosophical understanding of knowledge is knowledge is justified true belief. The founder of logotherapy, Viktor Frankl, may have well exemplified this definition, seidner expands upon this example and stresses Frankls characterization of unconscious. Agnostic theism could be interpreted as an admission that it is not possible to justify belief in a god sufficiently for it to be considered known. This may be because they consider faith a requirement of their religion, Christian Agnostics practice a distinct form of agnosticism that applies only to the properties of God. They hold that it is difficult or impossible to be sure of anything beyond the basic tenets of the Christian faith and they believe that God exists, that Jesus has a special relationship with him and is in some way divine, and that God should be worshipped. This belief system has deep roots in Judaism and the days of the Church. Epistemology - from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy AGNOSTICISM - from Dictionary of the History of Ideas
Agnostic theism
–
Agnostic theism is belief but without knowledge, as shown in purple and blue (see
Epistemology).
20.
Apatheism
–
Apatheism is the philosophical view that one should be apathetic towards the existence or non-existence of god. It is more of a rather than a belief, claim or belief system. An apatheist is someone who is not interested in accepting or rejecting any claims that gods exist or do not exist, an apatheist may thus decide to live as if there are no gods. The existence of god is not rejected, but may be designated irrelevant, philosopher Trevor Hedberg has called apatheism uncharted territory in the philosophy of religion. One version considers the question of the existence or nonexistence of deities to be irrelevant in every way that matters. The existence of gods is not put aside for moral or epistemic reasons – for democratic or existential reasons, it is deemed unnecessary. This is a universalization of the democratic principle that there are no first- and second-class humans. In this version the existence of the gods is not one of the so-called grand questions in life. The term apatheist is believed to have come into use in the early 2000s, journalist Jonathan Rauch has claimed to be an apatheist. An apatheist may not have any interest in the god debate just purely because of their lack of interest on the topic, being all-powerful, if they truly wanted humans to believe, they could send a divine sign not left up to interpretation. This is also an argument with antitheists, Matt Dillahunty makes it with great frequency. Since they do not seem to care if humans believe or not, apatheists will not care until they show them a reason to, richard Dawkins has gone so far as to claim this position in interviews. Therefore, their existence has little to no impact on human affairs. It can be summarized by the statement I dont know and I dont care, the view that one should live their life with disregard towards a god or gods. Practical atheism doesnt see the god question as irrelevant, in contrast to apatheism, practical atheism Cosmic indifferentism Creator in Buddhism Indifferentism Nontheism Postchristianity Post-theism Von Hegner, Ian. Gods and Dictatorships, A Defence of Heroical Apatheism, Science, Religion and Culture, Vol.3, Issue 1,2016. Let It Be, Three Cheers for Apatheism Apatheism, Allognosticism, and the American Religious Landscape Apatheism defined on Atheism. about. com ABC New Radio, wordwatch, Apatheism Apathetic Agnostics
Apatheism
–
18th Century
French philosopher
Denis Diderot, when accused of being an atheist, replied that he simply did not care whether God existed or not.
21.
Freethought
–
In particular, freethought is strongly tied with rejection of traditional religious belief. The cognitive application of freethought is known as freethinking, and practitioners of freethought are known as freethinkers, the term first came into use in the 17th century in order to indicate people who inquired into the basis of traditional religious beliefs. Freethinkers hold that knowledge should be grounded in facts, scientific inquiry, the skeptical application of science implies freedom from the intellectually limiting effects of confirmation bias, cognitive bias, conventional wisdom, popular culture, prejudice, or sectarianism. The essay became a cry for freethinkers when published in the 1870s. Clifford was himself an organizer of freethought gatherings, the force behind the Congress of Liberal Thinkers held in 1878. Regarding religion, freethinkers hold that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of supernatural phenomena. According to the Freedom from Religion Foundation, No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, to the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth. And Freethinkers are convinced that religious claims have not withstood the tests of reason, not only is there nothing to be gained by believing an untruth, but there is everything to lose when we sacrifice the indispensable tool of reason on the altar of superstition. Most freethinkers consider religion to be not only untrue, but harmful, however, philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote the following in his 1944 essay The Value of Free Thought, What makes a freethinker is not his beliefs but the way in which he holds them. To be worthy of the name, he must be free of two things, the force of tradition, and the tyranny of his own passions. No one is free from either, but in the measure of a mans emancipation he deserves to be called a free thinker. On the other hand, according to Bertrand Russell, atheists and/or agnostics are not necessarily freethinkers. As an example, he mentions Stalin, whom he compares to a pope, what I am concerned with is the doctrine of the modern Communistic Party, and of the Russian Government to which it owes allegiance. In the 18th and 19th century, many regarded as freethinkers were deists. In the 18th century, deism was as much of a dirty word as atheism, deists today regard themselves as freethinkers, but are now arguably less prominent in the freethought movement than atheists. The pansy serves as the long-established and enduring symbol of freethought, the reasoning behind the pansy as the symbol of freethought lies both in the flowers name and in its appearance. The pansy derives its name from the French word pensée, which means thought and it allegedly received this name because the flower is perceived by some to bear resemblance to a human face, and in mid-to-late summer it nods forward as if deep in thought. In all their rule and strictest tie of their order there was but this one clause to be observed, Do What Thou Wilt, when Rabelaiss hero Pantagruel journeys to the Oracle of The Dive Bottle, he learns the lesson of life in one simple word, Trinch
Freethought
–
The pansy, symbol of freethought
Freethought
–
Robert G. Ingersoll
22.
Parody religion
–
A parody religion or mock religion is a belief system that challenges spiritual convictions of others, often through humor, satire, or burlesque. In some parody religions, emphasis is on having fun and being a convenient excuse for pleasant social interaction among the like-minded, other parody religions target a specific religion, sect, cult, or new religious movement. An example of this is the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which parodies the equal time argument employed by intelligent design, a few US states have permitted The Church of the Latter-Day Dude or Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster officiants to legally solemnise marriage. Parody religions also have sought the same reasonable accommodation legally afforded to mainstream religions, for instance, in Discordianism, it can be hard to tell whether even these serious followers are not just taking part in an even bigger joke. This joke, in turn, might be part of a path to enlightenment. I just believe in one fewer god than you do, when you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. Dawkins also created a parody of the criticism of atheism, coining the term athorism, the intention is to emphasize the claim that atheism is not a form of religious creed, but instead merely denial of beliefs. A common challenge against atheism is the idea that atheism is itself a form of faith, the theist might say No one can prove that God does not exist, therefore an atheist is exercising faith by asserting that there is no God. Dawkins argues that by replacing the word God with Thor one should see that the assertion is fallacious, the burden of proof, he claims, rests upon the believer in the supernatural, not upon the non-believer who considers such things unlikely. Athorism is an attempt to illustrate through absurdity that there is no difference between disbelieving any particular religion. A subreddit for those who wish to discuss the subject of Parody Religion
Parody religion
–
The
Invisible Pink Unicorn is a recent parody religion used to
satirize theistic beliefs. The Invisible Pink Unicorn is
paradoxically both invisible and pink.
Parody religion
–
Symbols of parody religions from left to right: 1
Invisible Pink Unicorn 2
Flying Spaghetti Monster 3
Russell's teapot
23.
Religious naturalism
–
Religious naturalism combines a naturalist worldview with perceptions and values commonly associated with religions. Areas of inquiry include attempts to understand the world and the spiritual and moral implications of naturalist views. Understanding is based in knowledge obtained through scientific inquiry and insights from the humanities, Religious naturalists use these perspectives in responding to personal and social challenges and in relating to the natural world. Naturalism is the idea or belief that natural laws and forces operate in the world. All forms of religious naturalism, being naturalistic in their beliefs, assert that the natural world is the center of our most significant experiences. Consequently, nature is considered as the value in assessing ones being. Religious naturalists, despite having followed differing cultural and individual paths, affirm the human need for meaning, humans are considered interconnected parts of Nature. Science is a fundamental, indispensable component of the paradigm of religious naturalism and it relies on mainstream science to reinforce religious and spiritual perspectives. Science is the primary tool for religious naturalism, because, scientific methods are thought to provide the most reliable understanding of Nature. Truth is sought for its own sake, and those who are engaged upon the quest for anything for its own sake are not interested in other things. Finding the truth is difficult, and the road to it is rough and he should also suspect himself as he performs his critical examination of it, so that he may avoid falling into either prejudice or leniency. Religious naturalists use the term “religious” to refer to an attitude - of being appreciative of and interested in concerns that have long been parts of religions. These include, A spiritual sense A moral sense As the source of all that is and the reason why all things are as they are, the natural world may be seen as being of ultimate importance. As in other orientations, religious naturalism includes a central story - a modern creation myth - to describe ourselves. This begins with the Big Bang and the emergence of galaxies, stars, planets, and life, why we do the things we do. What we might try to point ourselves toward, and to try to find ways to minimize problems, become our better selves, and relate to others and the world we are part of. When discussing distinctions between “religious” naturalists and “plain old” naturalists, Loyal Rue said, “I regard a religious or spiritual person to be one who takes ultimate concerns to heart, core themes in religious naturalism have been present, in varied cultures, for centuries. But active discussion, with use of name, is relatively recent
Religious naturalism
–
The interconnectivity of nature is a key postulate in religious naturalism.
Religious naturalism
–
A religious attitude towards nature
Religious naturalism
–
Lao Tzu, traditionally the author of the
Tao Te Ching
Religious naturalism
–
Ursula Goodenough
24.
Secularism
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Secularism is the principle of the separation of government institutions and persons mandated to represent the state from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. Another manifestation of secularism is the view that public activities and decisions, especially political ones, the purposes and arguments in support of secularism vary widely. In European laicism, it has argued that secularism is a movement toward modernization. This type of secularism, on a social or philosophical level, has occurred while maintaining an official state church or other state support of religion. Within countries as well, differing political movements support secularism for varying reasons, the term secularism was first used by the British writer George Jacob Holyoake in 1851. Although the term was new, the notions of freethought on which it was based had existed throughout history. Holyoake invented the term secularism to describe his views of promoting a social order separate from religion, an agnostic himself, Holyoake argued that Secularism is not an argument against Christianity, it is one independent of it. It does not question the pretensions of Christianity, it advances others, Secularism does not say there is no light or guidance elsewhere, but maintains that there is light and guidance in secular truth, whose conditions and sanctions exist independently, and act forever. Barry Kosmin of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society, according to Kosmin, the hard secularist considers religious propositions to be epistemologically illegitimate, warranted by neither reason nor experience. In political terms, secularism is a movement towards the separation of religion and this can refer to reducing ties between a government and a state religion, replacing laws based on scripture with civil laws, and eliminating discrimination on the basis of religion. This is said to add to democracy by protecting the rights of religious minorities, what all secular governments, from the democratic to the authoritarian, share is a concern about the relationship between the church and the state. Each secular government may find its own unique policy prescriptions for dealing with that concern, maharaja Ranjeet Singh of the Sikh empire of the first half of the 19th century successfully established a secular rule in the Punjab. Ranjit Singh also extensively funded education, religion, and arts of various different religions, Secularism is most often associated with the Age of Enlightenment in Europe and it plays a major role in Western society. The principles, but not necessarily the practices, of separation of church and state in the United States, Secular states also existed in the Islamic world during the Middle Ages. Due in part to the belief in the separation of church and state, the most significant forces of religious fundamentalism in the contemporary world are Christian fundamentalism and Islamic fundamentalism. At the same time, one significant stream of secularism has come from religious minorities who see governmental and political secularism as integral to the preservation of equal rights, in studies of religion, modern democracies are generally recognized as secular. This is due to the freedom of religion, and the lack of authority of religious leaders over political decisions. Nevertheless, religious beliefs are considered by many people to be a relevant part of the political discourse in many of these countries
Secularism
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The
British writer
George Jacob Holyoake (1817–1906), coined the term "secularism."
Secularism
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The
Italian law professor
Alberico Gentili (1587–1608) has been the first to divide the secularism from canon law and Roman Catholic theology.
25.
Secularity
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Secularity is the state of being separate from religion, or of not being exclusively allied with or against any particular religion. Historically, the secular was not related or linked to religion. The idea of a dichotomy between religion and the secular originated in the 18th century European Enlightenment, one can regard eating and bathing as examples of secular activities, because there may not be anything inherently religious about them. Nevertheless, some religious traditions see both eating and bathing as sacraments, therefore making them religious activities within those world views, saying a prayer derived from religious text or doctrine, worshipping through the context of a religion, and attending a religious school are examples of religious activities. The secular is experienced in diverse ways ranging from separation of religion and state to being anti-religion or even pro-religion, a related term, secularism, involves the principle that government institutions and their representatives should remain separate from religious institutions, their beliefs, and their dignitaries. Many businesses and corporations, and some operate on secular lines. This stands in contrast to theocracy, government with deity as its highest authority, Secular and secularity derive from the Latin word saeculum which meant of a generation, belonging to an age or denoted a period of about one hundred years. In the ancient world, saeculum was not defined in contrast to any sacred concerns and had a usage in Latin. It was in Christian Latin of medieval times, that saeculum was used for distinguishing this temporal age of the world from the realm of God. The Christian doctrine that God exists outside time led medieval Western culture to use secular to indicate separation from specifically religious affairs and involvement in temporal ones. This does not necessarily imply hostility to God or religion, though some use the term this way, routinization — institutionalizing through integration into the society. Differentiation — a redefined place such as when accepting its status as one religion in a plural religious field or morphing into a more generic, disengagement — the detachment of certain facets of social life from religion. Transformation — gradual change over time in a sense that Protestantism became for Christianity. Generalization — a particular kind of change in which it becomes less specific, more abstract, has moderation of controversial and divisive claims. Desacralization — culture and rationality guide people while leaving out religious beings, segmentation — the development of specialized religious institutions, which take their place beside other specialized social institutions. Secularism — the only form that leads to rejection of religion. Examples of secular used in this way include, Secular authority, which involves legal, police, and military authority, as distinct from clerical authority, or matters under church control. Secular clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, who, traditionally, do not live the lives of the regular clergy and are therefore, in a sense
Secularity
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A
Laïcité parade in
Beirut Central District,
Lebanon. See
Secularism in Lebanon.
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Secular humanism
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Secular humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or a god. It does not, however, assume that humans are inherently evil or innately good. Rather, the humanist life stance emphasizes the unique responsibility facing humanity, along with this, an essential part of secular humanism is a continually adapting search for truth, primarily through science and philosophy. Many secular humanists derive their moral codes from a philosophy of utilitarianism, ethical naturalism, or evolutionary ethics, the Happy Human is the official symbol of the IHEU as well as being regarded as a universally recognised symbol for those who call themselves Humanists. Secular humanist organizations are found in all parts of the world and those who call themselves humanists are estimated to number between four and five million people worldwide. The meaning of the phrase secular humanism has evolved over time, the phrase has been used since at least the 1930s, and in 1943, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, was reported as warning that the Christian tradition. Was in danger of being undermined by a Secular Humanism which hoped to retain Christian values without Christian faith, the release in 1980 of A Secular Humanist Declaration by the newly formed Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism gave secular humanism an organisational identity within the United States. However, many adherents of the approach reject the use of the secular as obfuscating and confusing. All too often secular humanism is reduced to a sterile outlook consisting of more than secularism slightly broadened by academic ethics. This kind of hyphenated humanism easily becomes more about the adjective than its referent, adherents of this view, including the International Humanist and Ethical Union and the American Humanist Association, consider that the unmodified but capitalised word Humanism should be used. The endorsement by the IHEU of the capitalization of the word Humanism, the American Humanist Association began to adopt this view in 1973, and the IHEU formally endorsed the position in 1989. In 2002 the IHEU General Assembly unanimously adopted the Amsterdam Declaration and this declaration makes exclusive use of capitalized Humanist and Humanism, which is consistent with IHEUs general practice and recommendations for promoting a unified Humanist identity. To further promote Humanist identity, these words are also free of any adjectives, such usage is not universal among IHEU member organizations, though most of them do observe these conventions. Historical use of the humanism, is related to the writings of pre-Socratic philosophers. These writings were lost to European societies until Renaissance scholars rediscovered them through Muslim sources, in 1851 George Holyoake coined the term secularism to describe a form of opinion which concerns itself only with questions, the issues of which can be tested by the experience of this life. The modern secular movement coalesced around Holyoake, Charles Bradlaugh and their intellectual circle, the first secular society, the Leicester Secular Society, dates from 1851. Similar regional societies came together to form the National Secular Society in 1866, holyoakes secularism was strongly influenced by Auguste Comte, the founder of positivism and of modern sociology. Comte believed human history would progress in a law of three stages from a phase, to the metaphysical, toward a fully rational positivist society
Secular humanism
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George Holyoake coined the term 'secularism' and led the secular movement in Britain from the mid 19th century.
Secular humanism
Secular humanism
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Felix Adler, founder of the
ethical movement.
Secular humanism
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David Niose, president of the
American Humanist Association, speaks at a 2012 conference.
