| Atheist Resources | |||||||||||||||||
| ATHEISM IN DEFENSE OF REASON |
This page is dedicated to providing necessary and informative resources for atheists and those who wish to maintain rationality and objectivism. The framers' fear of democracy compensating the "popular passions" and neglecting the rights of minority preferences has become a reality. Below are some of the most fundemental issues regarding the struggle to maintain the rational imperative and to protect individual rights from religious enchroachment. ATHEISM IS BY DEFAULT THE ONLY LOGICAL STANCE TO TAKE WHEN FACED WITH THE ALTERNATIVES OFFERED BY WORLD RELIGIONS. The Rational Imperative: I. Definitions of Essential Terms 1. Atheism - The abscence of a belief in God, without theism. 2. Rational Imperative- The direct and constant application of logical and rational scrutiny to all phenomena in order to negate the suffering of irrational beliefs and actions. ESSENTIAL TERMS UNDER CONSRUCTION The beliefs of an alternate reality and supernatural deity, both of which cannot be falsified by logical inquiry, are fundamentally irrational and virtually amount to mere nonsense. Any beliefs in accordance with these faulty premises can only come to irrational and nonsensical conclusions. The Christian concept of God is a primitive and exhausted model for explaning the origins of man. Typical Difficulties When Confronted With Christianity: BIBLE AS FICTION: The Bible, like all other tales of the mythic and the supernatural, is a work of FICTION. People who are apt to discern between fiction and reality would probably conclude that epic literary works such as Beowulf and Homer's Odyssee are works of fiction, and yet many of these same people would testify to the literal truth of the Bible. Thus the problem with harboring irrational beliefs; Christians cannot distinguish fiction from reality. BELIEF IN THE SUPERNATURAL: Most people would scoff at the belief in witches, fairies, and goblins for that matter so what makes angels, demons, and God so easy to accept? Belief in the supernatural is a contradiction in terms, supernatural meaning "beyond the laws of nature" is something which blatantly stated cannot exist within the natural world, and it would be impossible for entities confined by the laws of nature (human beings) to perceive of anything supernatural. This questions the validity of those who claim to have had contact with God. THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD: The characteristics of God as stated in the Bible, such as omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent, are all perfect examples of contradictions. Example: If God exists in all places all the time (omnipresent) then does he exist within me, and if so how do we differentiate between me and God? Am I God? These inherent contradictions are present wherever God is defined which would then lead to the assumption that the concept of God is contradictory in nature. From this usually stems the argument that God is undefinable, or human beings, leading such an infantile mode of existence cannot possibly know God. When an object is labeled as "undefinable" that is a definition albeit a vague definition. And if God is unknowable to humans then how do so many Christians acknowledge his presence? Faced with even the most elementary forms of logic and scrutiny these arguments always end up being based on faith and intuition, two such concepts that do not function beyond speculatory or arbitrary reasoning, hardly the fundamental foundations to base one's value sysem. Defining the concept of God is a prerequisite for the intelligibility of the belief in God. MORALITY WITHOUT GOD: Christians have a difficult time understanding that morality is independent of religion. Being moral by no means implies religious affiliation, athiesm is an excellent example of this. In contrast, a Christian, by adopting the morality of a collective institution, has dismissed himself of the responsibility to develop individual moral decisions. "Atheism however is not the destruction of morality, it is the destruction of supernatural morality" -- George H. Smith | ||||||||||||||||
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If we accept that the dogma of Christianity is devoid of rational thought and that it thrives upon the ignorant then why are there so many adherents to the religion? As children most Americans are discouraged from developing critical thinking skills especially in relation to religious inquiries. Applying scrutiny and investigation into religious hear-say is often frowned upon and the consequences may even result in punishment due to harboring rational tendencies. Although these children are susceptable to such spoon fed beliefs they are ironically taught to not question them. And through the generations a precedent of religous conformity is established along with the taboo of free thought and rational analyzation in the face of Christian dogma. THE CHRISTIAN NEUROSIS: A neurosis occurs when a person is unable to deal with reality and instead fabricates an unhealthy worldview. Religions such as Christianity are obvious examples of such a psychological condition. Amongst Christianity harboring a neurosis is a condition which has merely been deemed socially acceptable due to its influential position amongst contemporary society. This condition has become inevitably acceptable if not essential because it is an intergral and fundamental element of the religion. Christianty has been successful in adopting practitioners who possess neurosis because it is the foundation of the religion. In this sense it draws upon those who seek acceptance within a specific group which has made it acceptable to practice unhealthy worldviews as a method of escape from reality. FEAR: A very typical reason of worship is due to fear, fear of eternal suffering. A common tactic among ministers in to basically frighten the congregation into the arms of God through the imagery of hell. This inherent gullibility apparent amongst the fantasy prone "religious minded" is taken advantage of by doomsday prophets and melodramatic sermons, and also plays a key factor in the attraction to the fantastic and irrational claims made in the Bible concerning the Christian ethos. An excellent literary example of this shock value verbosity can be witnessed in the third chapter of Joyce's "Protrait of the Artist as a Young Man," who relates a longwinded narrative on hell to reveal such tactics. ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY: Christianity and most of the major religions of the world such as Judaism and Islam, all developed out of pastoral societies where there was a senior male at the head of these societies. The Freudian "father figure" can be now understood as it actually manifested during the formations of these religions. Also typical of pastoral societies (and with the history of Christianity) there was a sharp gender inquality which seemed to have spilled over into the religions. Religion presents itself deceptively as a psychological crutch in which worshippers confide in and use to dismiss their responsibilities of developing their own moral decisions. | Psychology of Religious Development | ||||||||||||||||
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| Evolution vs. Creationism |
CREATIONISM HAS BEEN DENIED ACCESS TO PUBLIC EDUCATION AS A PLAUSIBLE MECHANISM FOR EXPLAINING THE ORIGINS OF EARTH AND MAN The Creationists attempt to combine the ridiculously irrational claims of "special creation" with current scientific research concerning the origins of life have made them the proverbial laughing stock of the scientific community. Christianity's usefullness has once again been challanged by the explorations of science in its determiniation to seek out verifiable data where Christianity's crude and irrational interpretations of natural phenomenon have brought forth myth. The fact that their are such absurd utterances of nonsense (on the part of the "Christian scientist") as Creation/Evolution debates is an example of how an institution such as Christianity has no intelligible service to offer due to its inherently flawed structure. Various supreme court rulings within the past decade have rested in favor of biologic evolution as the principle theory guiding the origins and diversity of life on earth. Here are a few of the most recent significant court decisions: -Freiler v. Tangipahoa Parish Board of Education- District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana rejected a policy requiring teachers to read aloud a disclaimer that urged students not to be dissuaded from the Biblical concept of creationism whenever evolution was taught -- 1997 -Peloza v. Capistrano School District- Declared that the First Amendment right of teachers to free exercise of religion is not violati led by the school district requirement that evolution be taught in biology classes -- 1994 -Webster v. New Lenox School District- Declared that a school district may prohibit a teacher from teaching creation science, and that religious beliefs are not injected into the school curriculum -- 1990 -Edwards v. Aguillard- Ruling defeated Louisiana's "Creationism Act" a statute that previously prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools unless accompanied by instuction in "creation science" -- 1987 -McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education- Declared a "balanced treatment" statute of introducing creation science as an alternative concept with evolution unconstitutional -- 1982 Evolution, a concept that was introduced nearly 140 years ago, and yet still among the majority of "religious minded" people this concept is impossible to fathom. Going along with the history of American anti-intellectualism this can be easily understood, but can no longer be incouraged by religious institutions. Information concerning court decisions obtained with permission from: "Seven Significant Court Decisions Regarding Evolution/Creation Issues"-An online publication from the National Center for Science Education. | ||||||||||||||||
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