Attacks on Atheism

I am, for all intents and purposes, an atheist. No, I do not and cannot completely discount the existence of anything beyond the physical realm. But as of now I see no particular evidence for anything of the sort. At the very least, I am completely unconvinced of the truthfulness of any of the major religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.) and cannot see how, even if one believes in a "higher power," that they could subscribe with any certainty to one of these particular religions. Religions that all have an equal amount of supporting evidence: none. Hence, the concept of "faith," or, "believing in something in spite there being no evidence of its truthfulness." Let's be honest, there is no more evidence that Jesus was born of a virgin and resurrected than that Poseidon caused hurricanes... yet interestingly not too many people today blame Katrina on the wrath of Poseidon.

Though I've never personally been confronted by an evangelical asserting my wickedness, I have read many arguments against atheism. It's interesting that these arguments never seem to distinguish between veracity and worldly or social consequences. They disregard the fact that, even if, for example, adherence to Christianity was necessary for people to behave in morally proper ways (it's not), this would still say nothing about whether it makes truthful claims about the reality of our universe.

Anyway, one common argument against atheism (but really only its social consequences, not its veracity) invokes the terror perpetrated by the likes of rulers like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong. For the sake of argument, let's ignore the fact that it's pretty well documented that Hitler was not actually an atheist. We'll just pretend he was, because I'm going to show you it didn't matter anyway.

Cockbags like Hitler and Stalin murdered millions of innocent people and many proponents of religion like to blame it on the fact that they were atheists (because no atrocities have ever occurred in the name of religion). For many religious people, the Holocaust is a perfect example of what happens when religion is thrown out the door and atheism prevails.

But was it really a lack of belief in god that caused these atrocities? No. It was a positive belief in something else entirely. Hitler and his cohorts propagated the irrational dogma that Jews and other different "races" of people were inferior and a threat to the purity and survival of the German race.

Can you see the amazing irony in religious people using these ruthless dictators in arguments against atheism? Hitler and Stalin were successful because they appealed to people using irrational dogmas... unfounded worldviews that fashion themselves immune to all inquiry and criticism. This sounds familiar.

It's glaringly obvious that atheism was not the issue. Atheism is merely a consequence of a rational worldview that relies on reason and evidence. Reason and evidence. Two things completely shunned by religion... and two things completely shunned by the dogmas of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.

Clearly the real problems arise when reason, not religion, is thrown out the door. Religion is but one type of irrational dogma among many others... albeit one that has historically been afforded far too much immunity from criticism.

Along these lines, I highly recommend the book "The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason" by Sam Harris, an atheist, great writer, and highly intelligent person. He also writes about the issue I addressed in this post, among many other things.