Atheism: An introduction

Atheism and Agnosticism

Philosophy of Religion

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Information: This article gives a brief review of matters related to atheism. A version of this article was originally published on the website www.faithnet.org.uk.

Introduction

Atheists do not believe in God or deities, and can be quite dismissive of religion per se. They often argue that the reason why anything is here can be explained through natural means alone, and that is all. Agnostics on the other hand are unsure whether God exists, or not. This is because they feel there is not sufficient evidence in support of God's existence, or not.

Arguments against the existence of God

Picture of man firing a gun The Problem of Evil and Suffering: Many people who do not believe in the existence of God say that if God existed, then God would do something about evil and suffering, or not allow it to occur in the world. They say that an omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing) Being would be able to do something about all the suffering in the world, and one that was benevolent (all-good) would want to. That there is evil and suffering in the world, leads them to the conclusion that God does not exist. Some even say that further evidence for this is that people die or remain ill, even if they have been prayed for to be healed.

If God kills, lies, cheats, discriminates, and otherwise behaves in a manner that puts the Mafia to shame, that's okay, he's God. He can do whatever he wants. Anyone who adheres to this philosophy has had his sense of morality, decency, justice and humaneness warped beyond recognition. (Dennis McKinsey)

Marxism, God and Religion: Some people feel the world does not need God, and would be better off without one. Karl Marx (1818-83) argued that any form of religious belief should be removed from society, because he felt that people tended to rely on God to sort out their problems, rather than try and do so themselves. He also believed that the idea that God was in control of everything (providence), led people to think that everything occurring in the world was God's will, and was a further reason against them wanting to change anything.

Religion... is the opium of the people. (Karl Marx)

Religion and Science: Many people believe science and religion are incompatible. For example, science tell us that the world (and humans) evolved over millions of years, rather than being created over a period of seven days, or by a Deity. 'Scientists' tell us that the origin of the world can be explained without any reference to God, and through Naturalistic Evolution. Science also deals with the world around us, which all of us can see, whereas religion deals with the unseen world, which we cannot see and therefore many people would say we cannot prove exists.

Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. (Richard Dawkins)

Religion is a bad influence

Some people say that if religion is a good thing, then why is evil committed in the name of God? For instance, Christians have gone on crusades (religious wars), and in recent years atrocities have been committed by members of other faiths (E.g. The World Trade Centre attacks on 11th September, 2001). Yet many believe if God exists, then faith should inspire people to live good and moral lives. As there are numerous cases of religion being a source of intolerance and suffering - promoting religious and racial divisions amongst people and sometimes even a license to kill in the name of God - it is doubtful that God exists.

Religion prevents us from removing the fundamental causes of war; religion prevents us from teaching... co-operation. (Bertrand Russell)

Something to think about: Which of these arguments (if any), conclusively prove that God does not exist?

Responses

The Problem of Evil and Suffering: The problem of evil and suffering is a common argument used to argue that God does not exist. However, it is mistake to see it leading to atheism. The argument assumes that God would and could do something about evil and suffering, if God was omnipotent, omniscient and all-good. Yet, it might be that God exists, but is none of these. Also, not all suffering is bad for us. For example, if there was absolutely no pain and suffering in the world, what would happen if someone put their hand in a flame?

Marxism, God and Religion: Although Marxism wants to do away with God and religion, this is only to raise the status of the poor in society. Therefore, Marxism is actually more of a social criticism, rather than proof for the non-existence of God. Some Christians (such as Gustavo Gutiérrez), agree with Marx's critique of society and religion, and have developed what is now called Liberation Theology.

Religion and Science: The science verses religion debate has been going on for centuries. Yet for many people today science poses no threat to the existence of God, and maybe helps them understand how God works in the world today. For instance, science may help people refine their view of God by challenging the idea that God can break the laws of nature (miracles) at any time. Instead, they may see God as someone who works with people to make the world a better place, and as such inspires this behaviour in believers.

Religion is a bad influence: Whether one believes in God or not, it is true that religion has caused much suffering in the world. However, despite this we cannot dismiss the idea of God for this reason alone. Yet it does not follow to say that because religion has been the cause of suffering in the world, that God does not exist. Religion might have caused lots of problems, but this is often because religious leaders, who usually claim to act on behalf of God, have made bad decisions (or misinterpreted the 'will of God').