Essay about Atheism

Therefore, the only reason one has to behave ‘morally’ is because god, the bible or Jesus says you should. Moreover, the consequences of behaving in contradiction to Christian values or behaving ‘immorally’ involve punishment by god whether it be in this life or the after-life. This philosophy sheds some light on why atheism is feared, despised and misunderstood as well as why atheists are persecuted in America. If there is no god to answer to or no consequences for ‘bad behavior’, why then, would anyone behave in a good moral fashion? What is to prevent deviant behavior, if there is no god? These questions are the main basis for the Christian argument which maintains that atheists are untrustworthy, immoral or amoral, social deviants and therefore lesser human beings. Some have gone as far to say that atheists are unpatriotic, un-American and do not even have the right to be acknowledged as citizens of the United States.

Atheist religions include Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Scientology. Atheism is the non-belief in god, so Atheists have no belief in god (Crabtree). Atheism is not so much a religion, but a belief. “Atheism isn 't, therefore, ‘a religion’ and nor should it be capitalized, any more than ‘monotheist’ or ‘polytheist’ should be” (Crabtree). Christians do not identify themselves as monotheist. They identify themselves as Christians or their specific denominations. For this reason, Atheists should not be radicalized as an extreme religion or rather extreme lack of religion. About 13 million (nearly 6 percent of Americans) describe themselves as atheist or agnostic (Smith). It is unrealistic that any person out of this 13 million will become a future President.

Having a Worldview is essential when it comes to how a person lives from day to day. A worldview is an initial set of expectations to which one pledges, this serves as a basis for accepting and understanding reality and will also deeply shapes how one will act (Waddell, 2015). There are different worldviews and they each have different beliefs. Atheism is a worldview that does not believe in God or any spiritual realm and leans more towards scientific theories. Pantheism worldview is quite the opposite, they are very spiritual and believe all is God. Even though they are so spiritual their God doesn’t have a relationship with humanity. Theism is a worldview that has three different religions that consist of Judaism, Christianity, and

Having completed the unit of philosophy of religion, you are now ready to respond to an article written by an actual atheist.  This article, titled “On Being an Atheist,” was written by H. J. McCloskey in 1968 for the journal Question.  McCloskey is an Australian philosopher who wrote a number of atheistic works in the 1960s and 70s including the book God and Evil (Nijhoff, 1974). In this article, McCloskey is both critical of the classical arguments for God’s existence and offers the problem of evil as a reason why one should not believe in God.

Some say Atheism is a moral issue but in an Atheist’s perspective, it is discrimination. A deity often represents morals and meaning, according to those who believe in them. With the lack of a supreme being, it creates the idea that Atheists lack moral. This creates a false view of Atheists being unethical. This idea towards Atheism is often used to persecute Atheists. For instance, a message saying “ATHEISTS, AGNOSTICS AND NON BELIEVERS ARE THE TRUE CRIMINALS OF THE WORLD COMMUNITY” was posted on a Christian-based website called http://www.tencommandments.org. This type of attitude towards Atheism is often found in Christians because of of their

Having completed the unit of philosophy of religion, you are now ready to respond to an article written by an actual atheist. This article titled “On Being an Atheist,” was written by H. J. McCloskey in 1968 for the journal Question. McCloskey is an Australian philosopher who wrote a number of atheistic works in the 1960s and 70s including the book God and Evil (Nijhoff, 1974). In this article, McCloskey is both critical of the classical arguments for God’s existence and offers the problem of evil as a reason why one should not believe in God. Please note the following parameters for this paper:

Atheism is a topic covered extensively by many theologists and philosophers throughout history. Western culture assumes atheists are neither religious nor spiritual, but atheism is practiced in many forms. For example, atheism is considered a component of several other belief systems. Buddhism in India is often considered nontheistic because of its absence of a creator god. In addition, several branches of Hinduism are also considered nontheistic due to rejecting the notion of God, or the rejection of a personal creator. Jainism is another religion that does not believe in a God as creator or maintainer of life. Atheists can hold any number of moral and spiritual beliefs, and their belief system regarding God or deities can be varied (Wikipedia 2011).

1. McCloskey refers to the arguments as “proofs” and often implies that they can’t definitively establish the case for God, so therefore they should be abandoned. What would you say about this in light of my comments on the approaches to the arguments in the PointeCast presentation (Lesson 18)?

When it comes to religion a theist should be an individual who after being presented with all the facts for and against the existence of a God,subtracts these opposing groups of evidence and comes to the conclusion that their is a God. An atheist should be an individual whom after conducting the same process comes to the conclusion that their is not a

Being an atheist can be difficult. It was my choice to become an atheist but I don’t have any desire to sway others to become atheists, it’s their choice. One of the things that are difficult for me is when the topic of religion is discussed. I understand people are entitled to their own opinions and I don’t think someone who believes in a god is wrong. However, I dislike when stereotype atheist as sinful and wicked people. It’s difficult to defend to others without seeming rude or hostile. Another thing that is difficult for me is when people try to preach their religion to me. I understand some religions teach that their religion is the only truth, and they want everyone around them to embrace it. However, it’s difficult to tell a person you don’t believe in their god without them getting offended and receiving negative comments.

There are many types of atheistic beliefs, but overall Atheism is the disbelief in the existence of a god or gods (Merriam-webster.com). In Jesse Smith’s journal, “The Scientific Study of Religion” he investigates the roots of American Atheism and how it is rising in today’s society. In his journal he states, “There have been atheists in this country since its inception, but an expressed atheist presence in U.S. society has never been anything other than a very small minority” (Smith 80). He further states, “Within the last decade explicitly atheist groups all across the country proliferated and became conspicuous. These groups have become increasingly interconnected, and an expanding network-an American atheist community- is developing a more recognizable place in American culture” (Smith 80). Atheism is at the peak of its existence and is growing every day. In 2012 this atheist group even made the newspaper for its rally to be held at the National Mall in Washington D.C. The article written by John Watts states, “The National Mall will play host to a rally for atheists on Saturday, March 24, that is being referred to as the “Woodstock for nonbelievers”, and this event is intended to be celebratory” (Watts). This event turned out to be the largest ever gathering of nonbelievers in one place (huffingtonpost.com). This growing movement is called New Atheism.

There have been numerous debates between the religious and atheists, and all seem to end with the same conclusion: neither side changed at all. Atheism is defined as the rejection of the God hypothesis. Atheism is not a religion, a worldview or a belief system; they are just denying religious claims that fail to provide evidence. Christians follow the teachings of “Jesus Christ” written in the bible. They believe god created the earth in seven days and that he will soon send his son, Jesus to earth to take the faithful to heaven. Deep analyzation of evolution, creationism, and the bible will surely reveal the truth.

They believe in God the father, the son of God (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. They believe Jesus died for our sins, was resurrected, and ascended. They feel that the Church is holy and sacred, and they commune saints. Due to their sacred texts, Christians believe that there will be a second coming of Christ, everyone will go before God on Judgement Day, and that those who believed and were faithful will be saved. Atheism has a solid belief that there are no deities or supernatural beings. Not only do they oppose Christianity, but nearly every religion that there is.

In the article, “On Being an Atheist”, H.J. McCloskey discusses the reasons of why he believes being an atheist is a more acceptable than Christianity. McCloskey believes that atheism is a more rational belief versus having a God who allows people to suffer so he can have the glory. He believes to live in this world, you must be comfortable. The introduction of his article, he implements an overview of arguments given by the theist, which he introduces as proofs. He claims that the proofs do not create a rationalization to believe that God exists. He provides 3 theist proofs, which are Cosmological argument, teleological argument, and the argument of design. He also mentions the presence of evil in the world. He focuses on the existence

People in our society today who have the atheist point of view on religion, which is the belief that there is no god, are going against the so-called norms of society, and therefor are seen as deviant. Deviance is just an idea. Society determines what is deviant by the ideas they hold of what should be the norm. Atheism is seen as a negative deviance, or below the norm. They have a status that is placed on them in society. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they believe in evil, although that is how it is sometimes viewed from people in society who have a specific religion or faith. Atheism, which is not a new idea, has been evolving in our society, and is the reason for problems leading to debate and court cases, and for