Difference between revisions of "Atheism"
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For the purposes of discussion within Issuepedia, our [[Issuepedia:working definition|working definition]] will be that atheism is the belief that the existence of any being generally matching [[God]]'s description is at best unlikely, and that there is no evidence that belief in such a being is in any way necessary. This definition encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. | For the purposes of discussion within Issuepedia, our [[Issuepedia:working definition|working definition]] will be that atheism is the belief that the existence of any being generally matching [[God]]'s description is at best unlikely, and that there is no evidence that belief in such a being is in any way necessary. This definition encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. | ||
===Arguments and Opinions=== | ===Arguments and Opinions=== | ||
| − | Theists often ask atheists to defend their non-belief, which is silly; people are not normally required to | + | Theists often ask atheists to defend their non-belief, which is silly; people are not normally required to explain their disbelief in [[wikipedia:Russell's teapot|things which cannot be proven either way]]. The only ''necessary'' response to "Why don't you believe in God?" is "[[arguments for the existence of God|Why should I?]]". |
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| + | There are, however, some good [[reasons God is not a good explanation|reasons not to depend on God as an explanation]] for natural phenomena, ''whether or not'' [[God]] actually exists. | ||
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==Links== | ==Links== | ||
===Reference=== | ===Reference=== | ||
Revision as of 00:47, 7 January 2007
Overview
Atheism is the belief that there is no such thing as a deity (or deities); it is the opposite of theism. Some definitions of atheism allow for the possibilities that an atheist simply has no opinion on the existence of deities, or believes the existence of deities to be something humans cannot know, but these latter usages are more often called agnosticism.
For the purposes of discussion within Issuepedia, our working definition will be that atheism is the belief that the existence of any being generally matching God's description is at best unlikely, and that there is no evidence that belief in such a being is in any way necessary. This definition encompasses both atheism and agnosticism.
Arguments and Opinions
Theists often ask atheists to defend their non-belief, which is silly; people are not normally required to explain their disbelief in things which cannot be proven either way. The only necessary response to "Why don't you believe in God?" is "Why should I?".
There are, however, some good reasons not to depend on God as an explanation for natural phenomena, whether or not God actually exists.
Links
Reference
Groups
Facts
- 2006-12-24 10 myths - and 10 Truths - About Atheism by Sam Harris
Opinion
- 2006-11-16 Why Are Atheists So Angry?: this is actually the first part of a well-written multi-round dialogue between atheist Sam Harris and believer Dennis Prager. Unfortunately, Prager's responses seem to be mostly diversionary, including an ad hominem attack on Bertrand Russell [W] which does nothing to answer Harris's posing of Russell's celestial teapot [W] analogy. He does seem to get more real about the dialogue towards the end, however.