alt atheism faq introduction to atheism archive name atheism introduction alt atheism archive name introduction last modified april version begin pgp signed message an introduction to atheism by mathew mathew mantis co uk this article attempts to provide a general introduction to atheism whilst i have tried to be as neutral as possible regarding contentious issues you should always remember that this document represents only one viewpoint i would encourage you to read widely and draw your own conclusions some relevant books are listed in a companion article to provide a sense of cohesion and progression i have presented this article as an imaginary conversation between an atheist and a theist all the questions asked by the imaginary theist are questions which have been cropped up repeatedly on alt atheism since the newsgroup was created some other frequently asked questions are answered in a companion article please note that this article is arguably slanted towards answering questions posed from a christian viewpoint this is because the faq files reflect questions which have actually been asked and it is predominantly christians who proselytize on alt atheism so when i talk of religion i am talking primarily about religions such as christianity judaism and islam which involve some sort of superhuman divine being much of the discussion will apply to other religions but some of it may not what is atheism atheism is characterized by an absence of belief in the existence of god some atheists go further and believe that god does not exist the former is often referred to as the weak atheist position and the latter as strong atheism it is important to note the difference between these two positions weak atheism is simple scepticism disbelief in the existence of god strong atheism is a positive belief that god does not exist please do not fall into the trap of assuming that all atheists are strong atheists some atheists believe in the non existence of all gods others limit their atheism to specific gods such as the christian god rather than making flat out denials but isn t disbelieving in god the same thing as believing he doesn t exist definitely not disbelief in a proposition means that one does not believe it to be true not believing that something is true is not equivalent to believing that it is false one may simply have no idea whether it is true or not which brings us to agnosticism what is agnosticism then the term agnosticism was coined by professor huxley at a meeting of the metaphysical society in he defined an agnostic as someone who disclaimed strong atheism and believed that the ultimate origin of things must be some cause unknown and unknowable thus an agnostic is someone who believes that we do not and cannot know for sure whether god exists words are slippery things and language is inexact beware of assuming that you can work out someone s philosophical point of view simply from the fact that she calls herself an atheist or an agnostic for example many people use agnosticism to mean weak atheism and use the word atheism only when referring to strong atheism beware also that because the word atheist has so many shades of meaning it is very difficult to generalize about atheists about all you can say for sure is that atheists don t believe in god for example it certainly isn t the case that all atheists believe that science is the best way to find out about the universe so what is the philosophical justification or basis for atheism there are many philosophical justifications for atheism to find out why a particular person chooses to be an atheist it s best to ask her many atheists feel that the idea of god as presented by the major religions is essentially self contradictory and that it is logically impossible that such a god could exist others are atheists through scepticism because they see no evidence that god exists but isn t it impossible to prove the non existence of something there are many counter examples to such a statement for example it is quite simple to prove that there does not exist a prime number larger than all other prime numbers of course this deals with well defined objects obeying well defined rules whether gods or universes are similarly well defined is a matter for debate however assuming for the moment that the existence of a god is not provably impossible there are still subtle reasons for assuming the non existence of god if we assume that something does not exist it is always possible to show that this assumption is invalid by finding a single counter example if on the other hand we assume that something does exist and if the thing in question is not provably impossible showing that the assumption is invalid may require an exhaustive search of all possible places where such a thing might be found to show that it isn t there such an exhaustive search is often impractical or impossible there is no such problem with largest primes because we can prove that they don t exist therefore it is generally accepted that we must assume things do not exist unless we have evidence that they do even theists follow this rule most of the time they don t believe in unicorns even though they can t conclusively prove that no unicorns exist anywhere to assume that god exists is to make an assumption which probably cannot be tested we cannot make an exhaustive search of everywhere god might be to prove that he doesn t exist anywhere so the sceptical atheist assumes by default that god does not exist since that is an assumption we can test those who profess strong atheism usually do not claim that no sort of god exists instead they generally restrict their claims so as to cover varieties of god described by followers of various religions so whilst it may be impossible to prove conclusively that no god exists it may be possible to prove that say a god as described by a particular religious book does not exist it may even be possible to prove that no god described by any present day religion exists in practice believing that no god described by any religion exists is very close to believing that no god exists however it is sufficiently different that counter arguments based on the impossibility of disproving every kind of god are not really applicable but what if god is essentially non detectable if god interacts with our universe in any way the effects of his interaction must be measurable hence his interaction with our universe must be detectable if god is essentially non detectable it must therefore be the case that he does not interact with our universe in any way many atheists would argue that if god does not interact with our universe at all it is of no importance whether he exists or not if the bible is to be believed god was easily detectable by the israelites surely he should still be detectable today note that i am not demanding that god interact in a scientifically verifiable physical way it must surely be possible to perceive some effect caused by his presence though otherwise how can i distinguish him from all the other things that don t exist ok you may think there s a philosophical justification for atheism but isn t it still a religious belief one of the most common pastimes in philosophical discussion is the redefinition game the cynical view of this game is as follows person a begins by making a contentious statement when person b points out that it can t be true person a gradually re defines the words he used in the statement until he arrives at something person b is prepared to accept he then records the statement along with the fact that person b has agreed to it and continues eventually a uses the statement as an agreed fact but uses his original definitions of all the words in it rather than the obscure redefinitions originally needed to get b to agree to it rather than be seen to be apparently inconsistent b will tend to play along the point of this digression is that the answer to the question isn t atheism a religious belief depends crucially upon what is meant by religious religion is generally characterized by belief in a superhuman controlling power especially in some sort of god and by faith and worship it s worth pointing out in passing that some varieties of buddhism are not religion according to such a definition atheism is certainly not a belief in any sort of superhuman power nor is it categorized by worship in any meaningful sense widening the definition of religious to encompass atheism tends to result in many other aspects of human behaviour suddenly becoming classed as religious as well such as science politics and watching tv ok so it s not a religion but surely belief in atheism or science is still just an act of faith like religion is firstly it s not entirely clear that sceptical atheism is something one actually believes in secondly it is necessary to adopt a number of core beliefs or assumptions to make some sort of sense out of the sensory data we experience most atheists try to adopt as few core beliefs as possible and even those are subject to questioning if experience throws them into doubt science has a number of core assumptions for example it is generally assumed that the laws of physics are the same for all observers these are the sort of core assumptions atheists make if such basic ideas are called acts of faith then almost everything we know must be said to be based on acts of faith and the term loses its meaning faith is more often used to refer to complete certain belief in something according to such a definition atheism and science are certainly not acts of faith of course individual atheists or scientists can be as dogmatic as religious followers when claiming that something is certain this is not a general tendency however there are many atheists who would be reluctant to state with certainty that the universe exists faith is also used to refer to belief without supporting evidence or proof sceptical atheism certainly doesn t fit that definition as sceptical atheism has no beliefs strong atheism is closer but still doesn t really match as even the most dogmatic atheist will tend to refer to experimental data or the lack of it when asserting that god does not exist if atheism is not religious surely it s anti religious it is an unfortunate human tendency to label everyone as either for or against friend or enemy the truth is not so clear cut atheism is the position that runs logically counter to theism in that sense it can be said to be anti religion however when religious believers speak of atheists being anti religious they usually mean that the atheists have some sort of antipathy or hatred towards theists this categorization of atheists as hostile towards religion is quite unfair atheist attitudes towards theists in fact cover a broad spectrum most atheists take a live and let live attitude unless questioned they will not usually mention their atheism except perhaps to close friends of course this may be in part because atheism is not socially acceptable in many countries a few atheists are quite anti religious and may even try to convert others when possible historically such anti religious atheists have made little impact on society outside the eastern bloc countries to digress slightly the soviet union was originally dedicated to separation of church and state just like the usa soviet citizens were legally free to worship as they wished the institution of state atheism came about when stalin took control of the soviet union and tried to destroy the churches in order to gain complete power over the population some atheists are quite vocal about their beliefs but only where they see religion encroaching on matters which are not its business for example the government of the usa such individuals are usually concerned that church and state should remain separate but if you don t allow religion to have a say in the running of the state surely that s the same as state atheism the principle of the separation of church and state is that the state shall not legislate concerning matters of religious belief in particular it means not only that the state cannot promote one religion at the expense of another but also that it cannot promote any belief which is religious in nature religions can still have a say in discussion of purely secular matters for example religious believers have historically been responsible for encouraging many political reforms even today many organizations campaigning for an increase in spending on foreign aid are founded as religious campaigns so long as they campaign concerning secular matters and so long as they do not discriminate on religious grounds most atheists are quite happy to see them have their say what about prayer in schools if there s no god why do you care if people pray because people who do pray are voters and lawmakers and tend to do things that those who don t pray can t just ignore also christian prayer in schools is intimidating to non christians even if they are told that they need not join in the diversity of religious and non religious belief means that it is impossible to formulate a meaningful prayer that will be acceptable to all those present at any public event also non prayers tend to have friends and family who pray it is reasonable to care about friends and family wasting their time even without other motives you mentioned christians who campaign for increased foreign aid what about atheists why aren t there any atheist charities or hospitals don t atheists object to the religious charities there are many charities without religious purpose that atheists can contribute to some atheists contribute to religious charities as well for the sake of the practical good they do some atheists even do voluntary work for charities founded on a theistic basis most atheists seem to feel that atheism isn t worth shouting about in connection with charity to them atheism is just a simple obvious everyday matter and so is charity many feel that it s somewhat cheap not to say self righteous to use simple charity as an excuse to plug a particular set of religious beliefs to weak atheists building a hospital to say i do not believe in god is a rather strange idea it s rather like holding a party to say today is not my birthday why the fuss atheism is rarely evangelical you said atheism isn t anti religious but is it perhaps a backlash against one s upbringing a way of rebelling perhaps it is for some but many people have parents who do not attempt to force any religious or atheist ideas upon them and many of those people choose to call themselves atheists it s also doubtless the case that some religious people chose religion as a backlash against an atheist upbringing as a way of being different on the other hand many people choose religion as a way of conforming to the expectations of others on the whole we can t conclude much about whether atheism or religion are backlash or conformism although in general people have a tendency to go along with a group rather than act or think independently how do atheists differ from religious people they don t believe in god that s all there is to it atheists may listen to heavy metal backwards even or they may prefer a verdi requiem even if they know the words they may wear hawaiian shirts they may dress all in black they may even wear orange robes many buddhists lack a belief in any sort of god some atheists even carry a copy of the bible around for arguing against of course whoever you are the chances are you have met several atheists without realising it atheists are usually unexceptional in behaviour and appearance unexceptional but aren t atheists less moral than religious people that depends if you define morality as obedience to god then of course atheists are less moral as they don t obey any god but usually when one talks of morality one talks of what is acceptable right and unacceptable wrong behaviour within society humans are social animals and to be maximally successful they must co operate with each other this is a good enough reason to discourage most atheists from anti social or immoral behaviour purely for the purposes of self preservation many atheists behave in a moral or compassionate way simply because they feel a natural tendency to empathize with other humans so why do they care what happens to others they don t know they simply are that way naturally there are some people who behave immorally and try to use atheism to justify their actions however there are equally many people who behave immorally and then try to use religious beliefs to justify their actions for example here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance jesus christ came into the world to save sinners but for that very reason i was shown mercy so that in me jesus christ might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life now to the king eternal immortal invisible the only god be honor and glory forever and ever the above quote is from a statement made to the court on february th by jeffrey dahmer the notorious cannibal serial killer of milwaukee wisconsin it seems that for every atheist mass murderer there is a religious mass murderer but what of more trivial morality a survey conducted by the roper organization found that behavior deteriorated after born again experiences while only of respondents said they had driven intoxicated before being born again had done so after conversion similarly had used illegal drugs before conversion after two percent admitted to engaging in illicit sex before salvation after freethought today september p so it seems that at best religion does not have a monopoly on moral behaviour is there such a thing as atheist morality if you mean is there such a thing as morality for atheists then the answer is yes as explained above many atheists have ideas about morality which are at least as strong as those held by religious people if you mean does atheism have a characteristic moral code then the answer is no atheism by itself does not imply anything much about how a person will behave most atheists follow many of the same moral rules as theists but for different reasons atheists view morality as something created by humans according to the way humans feel the world ought to work rather than seeing it as a set of rules decreed by a supernatural being then aren t atheists just theists who are denying god a study by the freedom from religion foundation found that over of the atheists who responded became atheists because religion did not work for them they had found that religious beliefs were fundamentally incompatible with what they observed around them atheists are not unbelievers through ignorance or denial they are unbelievers through choice the vast majority of them have spent time studying one or more religions sometimes in very great depth they have made a careful and considered decision to reject religious beliefs this decision may of course be an inevitable consequence of that individual s personality for a naturally sceptical person the choice of atheism is often the only one that makes sense and hence the only choice that person can honestly make but don t atheists want to believe in god atheists live their lives as though there is nobody watching over them many of them have no desire to be watched over no matter how good natured the big brother figure might be some atheists would like to be able to believe in god but so what should one believe things merely because one wants them to be true the risks of such an approach should be obvious atheists often decide that wanting to believe something is not enough there must be evidence for the belief but of course atheists see no evidence for the existence of god they are unwilling in their souls to see many if not most atheists were previously religious as has been explained above the vast majority have seriously considered the possibility that god exists many atheists have spent time in prayer trying to reach god of course it is true that some atheists lack an open mind but assuming that all atheists are biased and insincere is offensive and closed minded comments such as of course god is there you just aren t looking properly are likely to be viewed as patronizing certainly if you wish to engage in philosophical debate with atheists it is vital that you give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are being sincere if they say that they have searched for god if you are not willing to believe that they are basically telling the truth debate is futile isn t the whole of life completely pointless to an atheist many atheists live a purposeful life they decide what they think gives meaning to life and they pursue those goals they try to make their lives count not by wishing for eternal life but by having an influence on other people who will live on for example an atheist may dedicate his life to political reform in the hope of leaving his mark on history it is a natural human tendency to look for meaning or purpose in random events however it is by no means obvious that life is the sort of thing that has a meaning to put it another way not everything which looks like a question is actually a sensible thing to ask some atheists believe that asking what is the meaning of life is as silly as asking what is the meaning of a cup of coffee they believe that life has no purpose or meaning it just is so how do atheists find comfort in time of danger there are many ways of obtaining comfort from family friends or even pets or on a less spiritual level from food or drink or tv that may sound rather an empty and vulnerable way to face danger but so what should individuals believe in things because they are comforting or should they face reality no matter how harsh it might be in the end it s a decision for the individual concerned most atheists are unable to believe something they would not otherwise believe merely because it makes them feel comfortable they put truth before comfort and consider that if searching for truth sometimes makes them feel unhappy that s just hard luck don t atheists worry that they might suddenly be shown to be wrong the short answer is no do you many atheists have been atheists for years they have encountered many arguments and much supposed evidence for the existence of god but they have found all of it to be invalid or inconclusive thousands of years of religious belief haven t resulted in any good proof of the existence of god atheists therefore tend to feel that they are unlikely to be proved wrong in the immediate future and they stop worrying about it so why should theists question their beliefs don t the same arguments apply no because the beliefs being questioned are not similar weak atheism is the sceptical default position to take it asserts nothing strong atheism is a negative belief theism is a very strong positive belief atheists sometimes also argue that theists should question their beliefs because of the very real harm they can cause not just to the believers but to everyone else what sort of harm religion represents a huge financial and work burden on mankind it s not just a matter of religious believers wasting their money on church buildings think of all the time and effort spent building churches praying and so on imagine how that effort could be better spent many theists believe in miracle healing there have been plenty of instances of ill people being healed by a priest ceasing to take the medicines prescribed to them by doctors and dying as a result some theists have died because they have refused blood transfusions on religious grounds it is arguable that the catholic church s opposition to birth control and condoms in particular is increasing the problem of overpopulation in many third world countries and contributing to the spread of aids world wide religious believers have been known to murder their children rather than allow their children to become atheists or marry someone of a different religion those weren t real believers they just claimed to be believers as some sort of excuse what makes a real believer there are so many one true religions it s hard to tell look at christianity there are many competing groups all convinced that they are the only true christians sometimes they even fight and kill each other how is an atheist supposed to decide who s a real christian and who isn t when even the major christian churches like the catholic church and the church of england can t decide amongst themselves in the end most atheists take a pragmatic view and decide that anyone who calls himself a christian and uses christian belief or dogma to justify his actions should be considered a christian maybe some of those christians are just perverting christian teaching for their own ends but surely if the bible can be so readily used to support un christian acts it can t be much of a moral code if the bible is the word of god why couldn t he have made it less easy to misinterpret and how do you know that your beliefs aren t a perversion of what your god intended if there is no single unambiguous interpretation of the bible then why should an atheist take one interpretation over another just on your say so sorry but if someone claims that he believes in jesus and that he murdered others because jesus and the bible told him to do so we must call him a christian obviously those extreme sorts of beliefs should be questioned but since nobody has ever proved that god does not exist it must be very unlikely that more basic religious beliefs shared by all faiths are nonsense that does not hold because as was pointed out at the start of this dialogue positive assertions concerning the existence of entities are inherently much harder to disprove than negative ones nobody has ever proved that unicorns don t exist but that doesn t make it unlikely that they are myths it is therefore much more valid to hold a negative assertion by default than it is to hold a positive assertion by default of course weak atheists would argue that asserting nothing is better still well if atheism s so great why are there so many theists unfortunately the popularity of a belief has little to do with how correct it is or whether it works consider how many people believe in astrology graphology and other pseudo sciences many atheists feel that it is simply a human weakness to want to believe in gods certainly in many primitive human societies religion allows the people to deal with phenomena that they do not adequately understand of course there s more to religion than that in the industrialized world we find people believing in religious explanations of phenomena even when there are perfectly adequate natural explanations religion may have started as a means of attempting to explain the world but nowadays it serves other purposes as well but so many cultures have developed religions surely that must say something not really most religions are only superficially similar for example it s worth remembering that religions such as buddhism and taoism lack any sort of concept of god in the christian sense of course most religions are quick to denounce competing religions so it s rather odd to use one religion to try and justify another what about all the famous scientists and philosophers who have concluded that god exists for every scientist or philosopher who believes in a god there is one who does not besides as has already been pointed out the truth of a belief is not determined by how many people believe it also it is important to realize that atheists do not view famous scientists or philosophers in the same way that theists view their religious leaders a famous scientist is only human she may be an expert in some fields but when she talks about other matters her words carry no special weight many respected scientists have made themselves look foolish by speaking on subjects which lie outside their fields of expertise so are you really saying that widespread belief in religion indicates nothing not entirely it certainly indicates that the religion in question has properties which have helped it so spread so far the theory of memetics talks of memes sets of ideas which can propagate themselves between human minds by analogy with genes some atheists view religions as sets of particularly successful parasitic memes which spread by encouraging their hosts to convert others some memes avoid destruction by discouraging believers from questioning doctrine or by using peer pressure to keep one time believers from admitting that they were mistaken some religious memes even encourage their hosts to destroy hosts controlled by other memes of course in the memetic view there is no particular virtue associated with successful propagation of a meme religion is not a good thing because of the number of people who believe it any more than a disease is a good thing because of the number of people who have caught it even if religion is not entirely true at least it puts across important messages what are the fundamental messages of atheism there are many important ideas atheists promote the following are just a few of them don t be surprised to see ideas which are also present in some religions there is more to moral behaviour than mindlessly following rules be especially sceptical of positive claims if you want your life to have some sort of meaning it s up to you to find it search for what is true even if it makes you uncomfortable make the most of your life as it s probably the only one you ll have it s no good relying on some external power to change you you must change yourself just because something s popular doesn t mean it s good if you must assume something assume something it s easy to test don t believe things just because you want them to be true and finally and most importantly all beliefs should be open to question thanks for taking the time to read this article mathew for information about pgp send mail to pgpinfo mantis co uk
