ATHEISM

What is atheism?

Atheism is a term for people who have no faith in gods.

The word 'atheism' goes back to the ancient Greek adjective ἄθεος (átheos). It literally means "without God" (or "godless").

The life philosophy of an atheist is based on real world and scientific experience, regardless of any arbitrary assumption about authority and creed.

Typically, this also adds meaning when it comes to taking responsibility for people and nature because it does not expect a god to intervene when things go wrong.

Many atheists cite a complete lack of evidence for gods or other supernatural beings. As well as on a scientific basis, atheism can also be based on philosophical, social or historical reasons. However, there are no ideologies or behavioral practices that atheists cling to.

What about agnosticism?

Atheism can be compared to agnosticism, which says that the existence of God can not be logically refuted. The main difference between atheism and agnosticism is primarily related to faith and knowledge.

Forms of atheism and agnosticism

Both atheism and agnosticism are often described in a "strong" and a "weak" form.

Weak agnosticism: I know nothing about God.
Strong Agnosticism: No one knows anything about God.
Weak Atheism: I hold back belief in God and wait for evidence.
Strong Atheism: There is already enough evidence to be sure that God does not exist.

These descriptions are for the sake of clarity and many would probably be a position between two of the top
Take points, or a variation of a single.

Against which gods do atheists speak out?

A fundamental problem with religions is that there is no universally accepted definition of God. For the three major monotheistic religions - Christianity, Islam, and Judaism - the term "god" typically includes a supernatural being that created the universe and can possess every conceivable perfection: omniscience, all-roundness, goodness.

More traditional beliefs attach some supernatural powers to God. Quite often it is claimed that the Assumption of a supernatural God is an irrefutable hypothesis (which means unverifiable). This means that the truth about any statement made about God is indeterminable - and therefore without scientific meaning.

To make things even more complicated, descriptions of God are understood by some to be literally true, but others are metaphorical or outdated. The rules according to which one part of a religious text must be considered metaphorical and other than literal are fundamentally unclear. Atheists generally believe that literal descriptions about God are untrue and metaphorical are meaningless or meaningless.

But is not atheism evil?

Most people are raised to believe in God, so the very idea of leaving this imaginary being is frightening. Psychologically it can be very difficult to become an atheist, thanks to the everlasting ideological influence over many years.

There can also be strong social and family pressure to challenge the beliefs of the group. Not infrequently, believers' atheists are falsely portrayed as sinful and immoral - which, like many other regularly repeated dogmas, can easily be completely refuted on the basis of actual evidence.

Criticism of Atheism

What follows now is a brief overview of some common criticisms of atheism, which fall into three categories
can be summarized.

• Estimation of the truth content
• Consequences of non-belief
• The behavior of atheists

Estimation of the truth content

"The fools speak in their hearts:" It is not a god. "" [Psalm 14: 1, Luther Translation]

To call someone a fool does not make him one. The degree of folly depends only on the weight of the evidence that speaks against the statement. There is no evidence for God, but very many against it.

"People who have experienced God KNOW just that God exists!"

But if so, which god is it then? People of every religion, and also atheists without religion, sometimes experience spiritual moments. This only shows us the power of the brain to produce strong emotions, sensations and hallucinations. Coupled with existing expectations, this creates the conditions for religious experiences of all kinds.

Inner experiences can certainly feel very profound and have powerful, long lasting effects, but they are not proof of God.

"Atheists are just as dogmatic as believers because atheism is based on assumptions that make it just another religion."

To expect proofs before you believe something is not an assumption. It's just rational, common sense. It is dogmatic to believe something for which there is no evidence.

Unlike religion, atheism has no Scripture, no dogmatic creed, and no sacred text to follow. Most people who become atheists become so because of their own thinking and their own research.

Consequences of non-belief

Pascal's bet

The French philosopher Blaise Pascal said that a person should bet that God exists because one has everything to gain but nothing to lose. The bet makes some great assumptions by assuming that the person chooses the right god and that God values ​​faith (or the presumption to believe) instead of honesty or critical thinking.

But Pascal's bet is also wrong in that she claims that religion costs nothing. Religion consumes parts of our limited real life, costs money when given to churches, and adds real guilt and fear to the lives of many individuals.

Most importantly, belief in a non-existent power can lead to harmful decisions based on wrong assumptions and religiously-inspired misinformation. Thus, even the basics of wagering are wrong, and it is better to decide by true evidence if there is a God.

Consequences for society

Faith in God should improve the health, happiness and life span of the individual. In reality, studies show that religious countries have more homicides, childhood and adult mortality, sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy, and abortions.

The behavior of atheists

"Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot were all atheists, so their criminal machinations are on the Attributed to atheism. "

This old, exhausted argument is proven to be wrong:

• Hitler was never an atheist. He was born into a Catholic family and never renounced Catholicism.
• Stalin was an ex-seminarian who used his country's deep-seated subservience to religious authorities to support his dictatorial goals.
• Mao's mother was a devout Buddhist and wanted a religious career for her son. He became a strict Marxist instead.
• Pol Pot, who attended České Miche, a Catholic school in Phnom Penh, may have become an atheist, but his crime was not driven by it.

Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot were Marxist-Leninists. All three tried to control religion in order to suppress alternative views that threatened their personal political sects. Their kind of communism was essentially a secular religion that required submission to "the state," instead of God.

"Atheists say we are just a collection of atoms, so there can be no morality. That means we can do what we like. "

Morality is about living in a fair society and treating other people with care and respect. The atheistic societies of our planet, like those in Scandinavia, are very moral and their share of pregnant teenagers, abortions and divorces is low. Basic human morality is actually innate.

Summary

Atheism is about understanding and appreciating the universe as it really is, rather than what we want to imagine. We use science and facts from the real world to inform and guide us.