The second type also known as negative atheism does not consider the existence of god and does not feel that the arguments for the existence of God are not sufficient enough to spark a belief. For the purpose of this essay, I will mostly argue from and against a positive atheist’s perspective that not only consciously refuses to believe in a God but also chooses to develop arguments. A philosophical consideration that can be raised from the question is if Atheism has the belief that there is no God then surely it can still be classed as a religion?
My definition of religion is an indoctrinated absolute belief which is accepted and followed by a large population of people. Under this definition, a religion does not need to have a theist or supernatural being as its foundation but rather a meta-narrative. The meta-narrative of Christianity is to worship God in hope for a better life in heaven. Their religious dogmas such as the bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) attempts to instruct and guide its followers on how to worship God. In the Christian faith, it is absolute that God exists.
Buddhism is based on the Meta-narrative to attain enlightenment and their religious dogmas guides its follows on how to achieve this. In the Buddhist faith, it is absolute that Enlightenment can be reached. Inhertho, atheism follows the meta-narrative that there is no god(s) or God and so follows the dogma on rejecting religious dogmas. It is then absolute that there is God in the Atheist belief. This argument can be taken further where Atkins and Darwin make the claim that religion and science are incompatible.
The Essay on Lodge’s narrative technique
Abstract: David Lodge (1936-) is highly respected and regarded as a critic and writer who is profilic in both fields in modern British. As a writer, David Lodge is mainly famous for his academic novels especially his Campus Trilogy: Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work in 70-80 in the 20 century. Campus Trilogy is regarded as the research object in the paper. This thesis attempts to make a ...
This is because Science is rational and bases its set of beliefs on empirical evidence whereas religion is irrational and bases its sets of beliefs on faith. Under this claim, atheism can be considered to be a religion as it is also incompatible with science. Where science cannot prove the existence of God (Christianity), science cannot prove the non-existent of God (Atheism).
However, this argument rests heavily on my assumption that a religion is an indoctrinated absolute belief which is accepted and followed by a large population of people.
Although this claim may be true to some extent, several philosophers and scholars would disagree with my claim that Atheism and religion are one. Karl Marx believes that religious beliefs are a product of humans’ survival in society and it is there simply there to comfort people who are going through social oppression. This makes religion a heart to the heartless world or in the words of Marx, “the opium of the people”. This implies that religion is simply an expression and consolation that distracts people from the reality of the world.
This is unlike Atheism where it interprets the natural world for what it is rather than attempting to instil meaning in the unseen. This is why it is believed that science is a correlate to the rise in Atheism, most significantly in the Western society. Science attempts to explain the natural world based on empirical evidence and in doing so, eliminates religious superstition which is very affiliated with faith and so cannot be proven empirically. Under this consideration, atheism cannot be considered to be a religion as it is rather more of an absence of religion. In saying so, atheism is the existentialism of the modern world.
Existentialism is a period of meaninglessness which was triggered by events such as WW1, WW2, Holocaust, Hiroshima and other nuclear catastrophes which claimed thousands of lives. This led people to question the significance in existing when so many can be killed and the world yet continues to exist. Most philosophers such as Sartre believed that life was meaningless and religion was not sufficient enough to provide meaning for our lives. If the possibility of such events like the Holocaust could occur then religion which, according to Marx, was supposed to be “the opium to the people” fails to fulfil its purpose and so becomes worthless.
The Essay on The Impacts of Religion on Society
The Caribbean region has a diversity of religions. As various nations settled in the Caribbean over the years they brought along with them their religious beliefs and practices. The Europeans brought Christianity and its many denominations such as roman catholic, Anglicans, Baptist and so on. Indian indentured workers brought Hinduism and Islam and the Africans brought voodoo and other spiritual ...
This led Sartre to believe that we can find meaning in our lives through the choices we make. Existentialism being similar to Atheism is a rejection of religious dogmas however the difference is where in a capitalist society, materialism and wealth have gained great importance and now forms the meaning in people’s life. From the arguments above, it can be deducted that although both Atheism and Religion are incompatible with science and are based on a similar language game, this does not necessarily put them in the same category.
However, under close considerations, I believe that Atheism cannot be considered to be an absence of religion; it is more of an opposition. A society without religion is a society without moral absolutes and this is Nihilistic. Moral absolutes such as “Do not murder” have its foundation from the Christianity, if the dogmas for this religion was to be fully rejected then this means that “Do not murder” can become relative or even seize to be a law; a world where it is neither just nor unjust to murder is impulsive.
However, some old moral absolutes which were once considered a taboo to society have now become more accepted in modern society. This includes laws such as gay rights, euthanasia, abortion… The connotation of this creeping acceptance towards what were once taboo shows how the old moral authority is losing its authority in society. This old moral authority could be seen to be the Judeo-Christian God or other religious theists. Is this then what Nietzsche meant by his statement “God is dead”?
This leads to the philosophical issue as to whether Atheism is the new authority in an increasingly secular western society. Atheism as established earlier is an opposition of religion but not a religion itself or the absence of one. There have been a few oppositions to religion in the past decade such as Existentialism and Absurdism but Atheism unlike the former and the latter seems to have a stronger influence in society. This can be seen where many leading figures in politics and the media identify themselves to be atheists.
The Term Paper on Is Atheism a Religion
Throughout the countless generations of our existence, we as a global community have pondered a variety of noteworthy enquiries. Most notably, the following come to the forefront. How did the universe come into existence? Does God exist? Does evil exist? What is the ultimate reality? The emergence of these thought provoking questions is something we as a society have become accustomed to debating. ...
Atheism is then an identity just like religion. As society is growing increasingly individualistic and detraditionalised, people do not want to be told how to behave nor do they want to be in the same category as other people; this diminishes their individuality. This led to a rejection of absolutes and meta-narratives such as religious dogmas and even atheism itself which is an opposing absolute. This rejection of modern ideas and meta-narratives is all part of a new age called post-modernism (after modernism).
Post-modernism is a confession that e do not know what we feel we know, it rejects all truth claims but at the same time accepts multiple claims to be true. A post-modernist would say that knowledge of God was possible through the interpretations of the bible as maybe the literal word of God; in the same way that atheistic claims of the non-existence of God can also be true. Os Guinness wrote that “there is no truth, only truths. There is no grand reason; only reasons… ” This acceptance of multiple truths is evident in the way society have become pluralistic towards religion and in the human rights, fair trading and anti-war activities around the world.
In contrast with post-modernism, atheism has not had a significant on the global society as it is only evident in the UK. Statistics show that number of members on new religious movements globally and churches have increased from 2. 4% to 3. 1%. This counts as evidence that resacrilisation is taking place in society so although “God [may be] dead”, there is an emergence of a renewed interest in the sacred. Under this consideration, Atheism is not the new authority in the Western society but a part of a post-modernist approach in understanding the world.
In conclusion, I feel that the rise to Atheism is only significant when other factors such as religious pluralism and secularisation are ignored. In other words, the number of Atheists is in fact rising but this does not mean that religion is falling. Thus I maintain that Atheism cannot be considered to be an absence of religion but more of an opposition. From a philosophical perspective, positive Atheism is science attempting to disprove God using theories as it cannot do so empirically. Atheism is an intellectual faith.
The Term Paper on Analysis of God Sees the Truth but Fail- Leo Tolstoy
The story is spread over a period of 26 years, where the main character Aksionov changes over time. He becomes a person whom everyone in the prison, including the guards, trust. He was liked for his meekness and his fellow prison mates respected him. He was called’ grandfather’ and ‘The saint’. He became the spokesman for petitions and was the person to whom people came to when they had quarrels ...
