johngalt

Alright. Now that i have your attention, i have a few questions. Could anyone tell me some recent arguments for and against atheism? I have to write a paper in school, and i just need a few arguments and a little detail on each one. If anyone knows a website, i would be happy to try it out. Thanks in advance!

Jobar

Ah... johngalt, this whole forum is about atheism. You're asking for water in the midst of a rainstorm!

Pick any topic here, or in our General Religious Discussions forum, or in BC&A, or S&S- why, there are even some good ones in our more social forums, sometimes.

If you are looking for a particular *sort* of argument, just name it.

And I think this ought to be in GRD, so I'm moving it.

beyelzu

for theism there is first cause and objective morality.

for atheism there is burden of proof and lack of evidence. there is also the problem of evil. contradictions in the bible. the fact that the god in the bible is immoral.

I ate Pascal's Wafer

I agree that the burden of proof, lack of evidence for the supernatural, and the problem of evil lend support for an atheistic perspective.

However, I don't agree that contradictions in the Bible or the nature of the Bible-god support atheism. Such findings only serve to show that the xian deity does not exist, or that the xian deity is morally corrup. Contradictions in the Bible do not falsify the possibility of the existence of Allah, Vishnu, any of the Greek pantheon, or any number of other conceptions of god. Thus, it's not so much an argument for atheism as it is an argument against xianity. That the xian deity is immoral doesn't even do that, as there is no reason to assume that supernatural deities have to act in the manner which we consider moral. They can exist while still doing such horrid acts, though in doing so they would not be worthy of our respect.

-Nick

malookiemaloo

The main philosophical argument for the existance of a deity is, in my view, if God did not exist we would never mention Him.

As far as I can see from the Sec. Web, the main pro-atheist argument is that God does not regulary make grandiose appearances on planet earth once a week or so.


m

Aquila ka Hecate

malookiemaloo:

Quote:

The main philosophical argument for the existance of a deity is, in my view, if God did not exist we would never mention Him.

By that logic, then:
Zeus,Cerridwen, Cernunnos,The Morrigan,Hecate and Plush Cthulu exist.

So do:
Unicorns(invisible,pink),gnomes,zephyrs,undines,sa lamanders,pixies and trolls.

DoubleDutchy

Arguments for theïsm

Not bad as a starter.

Stephen T-B

There's belief in god and certainty of god.
Belief tends to be what a child has because that's what its been taught; sometimes belief continues into adulthood, as a kind of habit.
Certainty of god takes over from belief as a result of psychological needs, the great range of these needs accounting for the fact that concepts of god's nature and of what god requires of us vary widely and minutely.

Atheists and agnostics have no certainty of god because they have no need of gods. Agnostics can therefore be indifferent as to whether any such things exist, and atheists are able to deny their existence altogether.
Consequently, gods are contentious in a way that phenomena with a physical existence or a unanimously-agree existence are not. The person who doesn’t believe in trucks would discover his mistake by stepping out in front of one. The person who doesn’t believe in Sundays would discover his mistake when he tried going to a bank on one. The person who doesn’t believe in red would discover his mistake when he crossed a red light during rush hour.

The person who doesn’t believe in gods will never, while still alive, discover his mistake (if it is a mistake.)

What can we conclude from this?
That gods don’t exist in any terms which we are able to understand as a consequence of our interactions with the physical universe; they are an untestable hypothesis.
If the theist is entitled to insist that they do in fact exist, the atheist is equally entitled to insist that it is only human need which gives them their existence.

Argument can never settle the matter and is therefore useless.

Stephen T-B

PS
The Christian’s God is part of the pantheon of deities which are worshiped around the world, and in the absence of an impartial arbiter, claims that any one of them is superior to the others remain just that.

malookiemaloo

No. They were all considered Gods. The fact that they are not is irrelevant.


m