2F - Atheism

Who (it is said) was the first atheist?

Diagoras of Melos

In Ancient Greek, what doe 'Atheistic' mean?

'godless' or 'disrespecting the local Gods'

What is the biblical mention of atheism?

Ephesians 2:12 - 'atheoi', 'without God'

When was the term 'atheist' coined and what did it mean?

- The Renaissance
* It was an insult as it implied a lack of moral restraint

How did the Age of Enlightenment affect atheism?

- It encouraged people to think for themselves
* Appealed to both human reason and scientific methods to find truth

How did increased travel/communications give credence to atheism?

- Aware of other religions and the contradictions
* Argued that the religion you follow is dependent on where you are born and has little to do with truth

How did the French Revolution affect atheism?

The church was seen as an outmoded institution that propped up the monarchy

Who/when was the last person to be jailed in the UK for atheism?

- George Holyoake
* 1842

Who/when was the first openly atheist MP?

- Charles Bradlaugh
* 1886

What is negative (weak) atheism?

- The atheist does not make the claim that God does not exist
- Theist makes the assertion ∴ bears burden of proof
- Does not believe, but does not assert as true that no deities exist

What is positive (strong) atheism?

Both the atheist and theist give reasons to defend belief

What is protest atheism?

A revolt against God on moral grounds

What is New Atheism (antitheism)?

Religion = a threat to survival of human race

What is strong agnosticism?

- Impossible to know whether God exists as our knowledge is limited
- Evidence is never possible

What is weak agnosticism?

- Existence = currently unknown but not necessarily unknowable
- Judgement must be withheld until evidence becomes available
- The common form of agnosticism, indicating a suspension of a decision

What triggered New Atheism?

- 9/11
* Religion is seen as dangerous/deluded/harmful

Who are 'The Four Horsemen (of the Non-Apocalypse)' and what books did they write?

- Sam Harris (first person to express the view): 'The End of Faith'
- Richard Dawkins: 'The God Delusion'
- Daniel Dennet: 'Breaking the Spell'
- Christopher Hitchens: 'God is Not Great'

Who created the term 'New Atheism'?

- Gary Wolf
* Wrote an article for 'Wired' about Harris, Dawkins and Dennet

Explain the New Atheism criticism: Non-thinking.

- Faith, by nature, = opposed to trust, blind trust
- Faith + r. = irrational
- Faith = intellectually irresponsible
- Adults force belief on children as they are taught to believe unquestioningly
- Leads to fanaticism (9/11 hijackers believed in going to paradise) ∴ religion = to blame, not the extremists

Give a quote from Dawkins on non-thinking.

"Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence...Faith is not allowed to justify itself by argument."

Explain the New Atheism criticism: Infantile worldview.

- Religious view of reality = deficient, impoverished.
- Science offers a bold, brilliant vision.
- New Atheism rejects idea of supernatural as it fails to do justice to the grandeur of the world.

Give a quote from Dawkins on the infantile worldview.

The universe presented by organised religion = "extremely limited"

Explain the New Atheism criticism: Impedes scientific progress.

- Scientific theories = based on evidence = rational
- Religion turns away from evidence∴ = irrational
- Blind faith/religious fundamentalism subvert science
- Blind faith in truth of holy book = axiomatic for believers ∴ if evidence contradicts book, evidence is wrong.
- When a science book is wrong, it is corrected; not the case with holy books
- Religion stops intellect and ruins scientific education
- Religion furthers the idea that unquestioning faith is a virtue.

Give a quote from Dawkins on impeding scientific progress.

"Cowardly...to say that something you don't understand is to do with a supernatural occurrence."

Explain the response to religion and science not being compatible.

- John Polkinghorne: different levels of explanation are needed to provide a rich whole
- Alister McGrath: Both show good reasons for thinking something is right without confirmation. Dawkins fails to make the distinction between "total absence of supporting evidence" and "absence of totally supporting evidence."
- Religion + science complement rather than contradict. E.g. Big Bang could have been both.

Explain the response to the lack of depth.

Arguments from New Atheism lack substance - akin to a tabloid headline (sound convincing, lack substance)

Explain McGrath's challenge concerning definition.

New Atheism (antitheism) defines itself for what it is against, rather than what it is for

Explain the response of there being no new ideas.

- The ideas are neither 'new' nor part of a 'movement'
- It is simply the publishing of atheist material by well-known atheists.
- Only thing giving it any strength was the fact that a number of well-known people were connecting atheist ideas to terrorist attacks

Explain the response of New Atheism attacking religion.

- It stirs religious hatred, especially towards Islam.
- Studies have shown a direct connection between rise in New Atheism and Islamaphobia
- Religion = damaging for society; religion's key teachings are about positive changes to society.
- Cardinal William Levanda: New Atheism misrepresents the doctrines of the church + is the main form of discrimination against Christians

Explain the increase in fundamental activity.

- Fundamentalism = unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs.
- Upsurge in Islamic + Christian fundamentalism

What has the rise of New Atheism led to?

- An increase in religious apologists affirming the reasonableness of the Christian faith.
- Much public discussion