Would Society be happier without Christianity?

Which scholars would argue that Society would be happier without Christianity?

• Sigmund Freud

• Richard Dawkins

What do Freud and Dawkins advocate for?

secularisation - development of society towards the removal of religion and the promotion of reason through scientific methods

Why do Freud and Dawkins promote secularism?

idea of God is an illusion - result of wish-fulfilment

• Christianity is infantile, repressive and causes conflict

Who is Freud?

athiest psychoanalyst

What did Freud claim that religion causes?

Neuroses

What does Freud believe science will eventually do?

answer all key questions - psychoanalysis will ‘cure’ people of religious belief

What is religion according to Freud?

wish-fulfilment - infantile result of the Oedipus Complex

• at this stage a boy learns he cannot sexually possess his mother and feels jealousy towards his father

• resentment is repressed into the subconscious mind - projected onto the idea of God, the ultimate father figure

What is God according to Freud?

the ultimate father-figure

How does Freud describe religion?

“universal obsessional neurosis”

• religion is unhealthy and leads to negativity within society - religion has been the cause of many of society’s conflicts

What quote does Bertrand Russell use to describe religion?

“religion is a disease born of fear and a source of untold misery to the human race”

Who is Dawkins?

evolutionary biologist known for his rejection of a need of a creator God - give evidence for evolution and increased the understanding of scientific principles

Why does Dawkins believe that unanswered questions about the universe should not be filled with an unsubstantiated belief in God?

instead should be filled with trust that science is on the way to finding the answers

What quote does Dawkins say which criticises using God as an explanation of meaning?

“there is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point”

What are Dawkins three explanations for why religion is problematic for society?

• causes war and conflict

• holds back children

• ignorance

How does religion hold back children according to Dawkins?

form of child abuse

• parents label their children before they can think for themselves

What is Dawkins analogy on Santa Claus?

argument against the promotion of supernatural beliefs to children

• belief in God should be abandoned just as children abandon belief in Santa Claus upon reaching intellectual maturity

How does religion create ignorance according to Dawkins?

problematic that Christians do not believe in science (e.g. evolution and the Big Bang) - world was created literally as an account of the book of Genesis

• evidence suggests otherwise!

What is the “God of the gaps” argument?

religion is irrational because it is the result of scientific ignorance - science is replacing religion

• God used to be the explanation of all natural phenomena (e.g. disease was explained by divine providence or punishment in ancient times)

• as scientific knowledge develops, these natural processes became explained - thereby progressively filling in the gaps where the God explanation had excited

• belief in God is no longer necessary!

How does Alister McGrath responds to Freud and Dawkins ideas?

many reasonable people have converted long after childhood - not infantile

How does Antony Flew respond to Freud and Dawkins ideas?

originally an atheist - converted due to modern design arguments that were based on modern scientific discoveries

• religion cannot just be an irrational belief causes by the indoctrination of children (Dawkins analogy is unsuccessful)

How are Freud and Dawkins criticised?

right in that there are some infantile reasons that some people believe in God - overgeneralisation to think that it’s universal to all religious believers

• ignore other obvious and important motivations for religious belief (e.g. moral guidance)