Many in the media have claimed that Atheism is actually a religion, despite what many atheists may say (see Fox News, creation.com, Ceinkowsky, and many others). The people who claim that Atheism is, in fact, a religion, as doctrinal and faith-based as any religion, make compelling arguments. The people who claim that Atheism is a religion point to humanism, claiming that the Humanist Manifesto as setting up a value system for all Atheists to abide by, assert that evolution is the atheist creation story, and claim that atheists worship logic, rationality, and science in place of a god. So are they right? The short answer is no. These claims show a failure to understand Humanism, the Theory of Evolution, and science.
Atheism and humanism are NOT the same thing. Although many atheists choose to live a life that is ethical, not all atheists are humanists and not all humanists are atheists (types of Humanism). Before researching critiques of Atheism, I had never heard of Humanism, and I didn’t make any effort to memorize (or read) the list of beliefs I supposedly have. I believe that I am generally a “good” person, but I don’t believe that I require any sacred code of conduct to keep me in line. Like many atheists, I do not believe that I need the threat of eternal damnation to act morally. I treat my own moral decisions as very personal, and I don’t believe in a universal and absolute rights and wrongs.
The Theory of Evolution as proposed by Charles Darwin is admired by many atheists and religious people alike. Evolution is, to the best of current scientific understanding, the most likely explanation for one of the questions that creation stories try to answer, “How did we get here?” But Evolution is not a typical creation story. Evolution does not give purpose to our lives. Evolution does not say that humans are special, but that we are simply a member of the Animal Kingdom. The Theory of Evolution is constantly under review, and the On Origin of Species is not considered absolute truth. With the discovery of DNA, the previously unknown method by which evolution occurred was determined. Darwin is not considered a prophet. His book is not considered the word of a god. His book presented a new explanation for part of the answer to how things came to be the way they are (evolution through natural selection), evidence supporting the new explanation, and methods by which to test the explanation. And his ideas happened to be consistently supported by and expanded/adapted to fit new discoveries. Darwin unified the life sciences and he is rightfully admired in the scientific community. However, the modern evolutionary theory continues to develop with new discoveries, and happens to be backed by a ridiculous amount of concrete evidence, which makes the theory distinctly different from religion.
The definition of religion states that religion is either the service and worship of deity(ies) or the supernatural, an institutionalized system of attitudes, beliefs, and practices, or a system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith. Atheists do not worship a deity. There is no system of attitudes, beliefs, and practices adhered to by all atheists. And scientific theories are not held to with ardor and faith. In fact, as the example of General Relativity demonstrates, even the most basic-seeming theories (like Newtonian gravity) can be entirely rewritten when a better explanation for “Why things are the way they are” is offered, extensively tested, and supported. Yes, atheists who seem to “worship” science are skeptical to different ideas and explanations, but the most exciting and awe-inspiring thing about science is that science is not afraid to be wrong (read more), adjusts itself to new information. Religion, on the other hand, does not adjust itself and refuses to even consider the possibility that it may be wrong.
Atheism is simply the lack of a belief in god, and is NOT a unified group. The arguments of Humanism, the comparison of evolution to a religious creation myth, and the “worship” of science do not hold up under examination. For more on this topic, check out these fabulous articles by Richard Dawkins, Austin Cline, Jacob Fortin, and Bill Maher.
Organized atheism has:
ReplyDelete. Origin of the Universe Mythologies believed in by faith
. Origin of life Mythologies believed in by faith
. Growing number of Denominations
. Infighting among Denominations
. All other religions are considered wrong by virtue of not being atheism
. The Atheist Ten Commandments
. A goal of happiness and well-being
. Abstaining from worldly desires for Lent
. Sunday morning Church meetings of like believers
. Summer camp for kids to learn the dogma of atheism
. Omega Mission: 6 Week Indoctrination / Evangelism tool
. Codified Moral Behaviours
. TV shows where people call in to hear the “experts” explain atheism
. Evangelizing in attempts to convert
. Shunning of those who disagree
. Faith required to maintain core belief
. Donating money to advertise core beliefs
. Atheist Leaders making appeals for donations
You don't call that a religion? So be it.
Atheism lacks:
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Your premise is invalid.
Atheism ALSO lacks:
-your first two points are valid except for "believed in by faith"
-ten commandments (in any form other than satire--by this standard, "cat-lover" is a religion)
-a unified goal
-any kind of Lent
-Sunday Church meetings
-dogma
-codified moral behaviors (this I address in my blog)
-Shunning of those who disagree (because then Atheists would have to shun the majority of the world. This claim is so wild I can't even read it with a straight face)
-any faith required
And for all of the things I agree Atheism may/does have:
Political Parties, Sports teams, and Internet Fandoms have:
-Growing number of Denominations
-Infighting among denominations
-all other beliefs are considered wrong
-meetings
-TV shows or internet videos with experts to explain the _____
-attempts to convert
-donating money to advertise beliefs
-Leaders making appeals for donations
So, according to your argument, I am a member of many religions, including the Democratic Party, Michigan Football, the Chicago Cubs (talk about faith required), Doctor Who, Harry Potter, and Star Wars. I must be very religious. May the force be with you.
I have read the ten commandments of atheism. First off, it is a satire. Using the name "ten commandments" And putting things in them that anyone with any sort of common sense or decency would be able to come up with on their own. In not way is Penn Jilette's "Ten commandments of atheism" considered sacred.
ReplyDeleteBy these "Sunday mourning church for believers" I can only assume you are referring to things like meetings of the secular students alliance and the various atheist conventions around the world. Even though by no means are they required to take place on Sunday or even necessarily do.
By "Evangelizing to convert" I can only assume you are referring to efforts by people like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Christina Radd and the like. I have yet to meet or hear of a single atheist who has said anything other than "Do whatever you want just don't enforce it on me" And btw, I've met hundreds, if not thousands.
I have no idea what you speak of when you say atheist summer camps, and by no means does atheism have a dogma. Unless by dogma you mean empiricism and critical thinking. Which are by definition, not dogma. Actually, i do have an idea. You are probably talking about camp quest in Texas. Dude, that camp was created because people were sick of religious agendas in summer camp. It is advertised as secular, not atheist, and holds true to that. Research is a wonderful thing. But even if that were wrong, if it were a hard core evil atheist indoctrination camp, why would the religious also be sending children to the camp. And yes man, they do.
The only two denominations of atheism i can see are just atheism, and atheism plus. Which is a completely redundant and unnecessary movement. But that's besides the point. Atheism is a sheer lack of disbelief and even if members of our own movement seem to misunderstand that, the essence of atheism is that we see no reason for a god. No core beliefs are held universally by atheists and i can tell you that many have a great distrust if not hatred of the concept and act of faith.
Sorry, i can't respond to everything in the detail i'd want this is already hella long.
Thanks Desmond, for that hella long post. Even though I'm pretty sure we were just spammed or trolled (I can hope it was a troll, can't I?), I do believe it is important to show that we can answer uninformed accusations, so that even individuals without the sense to see through the crazy rants on their own can understand.
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