Philosophy 2F- Atheism

Atheism-

being without a belief in God/ Gods

Flew- weak atheism

absence of belief in God because the subject has never really been thought about e.g. a child

Flew- strong atheism

conscious denial of God’s existence and never comes through lack of thought

Protest atheism

argues that if there were a God it would be a malevolent one

New atheism

belief that religion is a threat to the human race, anti-theist, says religion is bad

Agnosticism

not knowing about the things beyond the physical world

Strong agnosticism

it is impossible to know whether God exists because our knowledge is limited

evidence is not just lacking it’s just not possible

Weak agnosticism

existence of God is currently unknown but is not necessarily unknowable

4 horsemen of the rise of new atheism

Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens

Rise of new atheism

As a result of 9/11 because of the religious extremism involved in it

Positive view of New Atheism

21st century movement among atheists which is openly critical of theism, and is less accommodating to religious traditions, beliefs and institutions

Negative view of new atheism

a militant, fundamentalist movement dedicated to the eradication of religion,

New Atheist criticism of religion- non thinking

It teaches people to blindly accept God’s teaching without thought

faith is “blind trust”- Dawkins

New Atheist criticisms of religion- infantile World view

it’s like believing in santa and we need to grow out of it, it was suited to the previous age where people didn’t understand the world, like how children don’t understand the world, but we do now

New Atheist criticisms of religion- impedes scientific progress

In the past it has impeded Galileo’s progress and stopped scientific progress being published to the public

Religious challenges to New Atheism- rejection of incompatibility of science and religion

John Polkinghorne- religion and science can work together, sees anthropic fine tuning as evidence of God, laws of the universe adapted to create perfect conditions for human life

NOMA- non overlapping magisterial- religion and science can co-exist if they stay in their own areas, science explains the how, religion explains why

POMA- partially overlapping magisterial- religion giver purpose to the science of how things work (McGrath)

Religious challenges to New Atheism- Increase in fundamentalist religious activity relating to morality and community

Christian Right in America are influencing policies on same sex marriage, abortion

The Christian Institute (UK) campaign on social and moral issues with a focus on biblical inerrancy

Ken Ham- believes OT is literally true, emphasises importance of scripture over secular science

Intelligent design- alternative scientific approach where features of the universe are explained by an intelligent cause

Religious challenges to New Atheism- rise of religious apologists in the media

Christian apologists affirm and represent the reasonableness of Christian faith

Robert Barron- Says Atheism is bad as it masks our desire for God, Atheism is a fantasy as it says we can do what we want

WLC- social media presence to promote the christian message