Difference between revisions of "Atheism"

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==About==
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==Overview==
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[[category:isms]][[category:concepts]][[category:working definitions]][[Atheism]] is the belief that there is no such thing as a [[deity]] (most commonly referred to as "[[God]]"), or that the existence of such is unlikely enough that it can be ignored when making important decisions. Atheism is the opposite of [[theism]], which holds that the existence of one or more deities (and, usually, the supposed views and intentions of that deity) is an important factor to consider in at least some major real-world decisions.
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[[category:isms]][[category:concepts]][[category:working definitions]][[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]].
 
  
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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.
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Atheism is compatible with [[agnosticism]], the belief that it is not possible for humans to know whether any deities exist.
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In practice, [[atheism]] equates to a rejection of [[dogma]], especially where it is religious in nature, and an embrace of [[rationality]] as a guiding principle for making decisions based on real-world [[evidence]].
 
===Arguments and Opinions===
 
===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 [[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?]]".
 
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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Whether or not [[God]] actually exists, however, answering that "[[God did it]]" does not actually explain anything.
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===Related Pages===
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* [[organized atheism]]
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* [[troll phrase]]s:
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** [[atheist bigotry]]
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** [[atheist intolerance]]
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** [[atheist supremacy]]
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** [[atheist religion]] (or [[atheism is a religion]])
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===Notes===
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An argument often used against atheism is that atheists have been among the worst perpetrators of atrocity, with the prime examples being [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Stalin]], and/or [[Pol Pot]]. The implication that Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot were atheists, however, is actually untrue; Hitler was a [[Adolf Hitler/religion|very vocal Catholic]], Stalin was born, raised, and educated in [[Russian Orthodox Catholicism]], and Pol Pot was born, raised and educated [[Catholic]]. (More sources needed.)
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
 
===Reference===
 
===Reference===
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* {{wikipedia|Atheism}}
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* {{wikipedia}}
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===Groups===
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** ''see also: [[wikipedia:ignosticism|ignosticism]], [[wikipedia:theological noncognitivism|theological noncognitivism]]
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* {{conservapedia}} has a rather distorted view (no surprise); e.g. "Since atheism is denial of the existence of God or gods, it is important first to identify in which God and/or gods the atheist denies." The word "atheism" ''means'' belief in ''no'' god(s).
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** This article is locked for editing, and therefore cannot be collaboratively corrected.
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** [[conservapedia:Conservapedia:Public Awareness of the Atheism Article|Public Awareness of the Atheism Article]]: "Conservapedia wishes to increase public awareness of its atheism article to counter the many atheist websites targeting young people."
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** [[conservapedia:Debate: should atheists be barred from Conservapedia?|Debate: should atheists be barred from Conservapedia?]]: some interesting claims about atheism
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* {{rationalwiki}}
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** [[rational:Conservapedia:Atheism|Conservapedia:Atheism]]: A point-by-point discussion/refutation of Conservapedia's Atheism article
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** Conservapedia has [[Conservapedia/censorship|blocked]], via their spam filter, the posting of any mention of RationalWiki.
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* {{!in|lwwiki}} redirects to [[lwwiki:religion|religion]] (as of 2009-11-23; confirmed 2010-07-13)
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* {{dkosopedia}}
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* {{!in|sourcewatch}}: no equivalent article (as of 2008-04-26)
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===Filed Links===
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{{links/news}}
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===Groups / Projects===
 
* [http://www.daylightatheism.org/ Daylight Atheism]
 
* [http://www.daylightatheism.org/ Daylight Atheism]
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* [http://www.goosetheantithesis.blogspot.com/ Goosing the Antithesis] blog: "We promote rational individualism, and are opposed to those who assert incoherent supernatural claims."
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* [http://evilatheistconspiracy.org/ the evil Atheist conspiracy]: difficult to categorize; appears to be a collection of videos on various atheism-related topics. Longer on presentation than content.
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* [http://outcampaign.org/ The OUT Campaign]
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** [http://outcampaign.org/RichardDawkinsIntroduction introduction] by [[Richard Dawkins]]
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* [http://wvcsr.org/ Whole Valley Church of Sanity and Reason]: videos, [http://www.wvcsr.org/Quotes/Quotes.htm quotes], and other atheism-related resources
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* '''Local''':
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** [http://atheists-of-utah.org/ Atheists of Utah]
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===Blogs===
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* [http://atheistplanet.blogspot.com/ Atheist Planet]: mostly videos
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===Documentaries===
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* [[wikipedia:The Atheism Tapes|The Atheism Tapes]]: 2005 BBC TV series by Jonathan Miller
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* [[wikipedia:The Root of All Evil?|The Root of All Evil?]]: 2006 British TV series by [[Richard Dawkins]] (the title was not Dawkins's choice, and he insisted on adding the question mark)
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===Facts===
 
===Facts===
 
* '''2006-12-24''' [http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/10-myths-and-10-truths-about-atheism1/ 10 myths - and 10 Truths - About Atheism] by [[Sam Harris]]
 
* '''2006-12-24''' [http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/10-myths-and-10-truths-about-atheism1/ 10 myths - and 10 Truths - About Atheism] by [[Sam Harris]]
 
===Opinion===
 
===Opinion===
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* '''2006-11-16''' [http://www.jewcy.com/dialogue/monday_why_are_atheists_so_angry_sam_harris 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 {{wpbackup|Bertrand Russell}} which does nothing to answer Harris's posing of Russell's {{wpbackup|celestial teapot}} analogy. He does seem to get more real about the dialogue towards the end, however.
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* '''2007-03-12''' [http://www.hanlonsrazor.org/2007/03/12/why-im-not-a-friendly-atheist/ Why I'm not a "friendly" atheist]
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* '''2007-03-11''' [http://friendlyatheist.com/2007/03/11/why-im-not-an-angry-atheist/ Why I'm Not An Angry Atheist]
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* '''2006-11-16''' [http://www.jewcy.com/dialogue/monday_why_are_atheists_so_angry_sam_harris 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 {{wpbackup|Bertrand Russell}} which does nothing to answer Harris's posing of Russell's {{wpbackup|celestial teapot}} analogy. He does seem to get more real about the dialogue towards the end, however.
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* '''2006-08-15''' [http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060815_sam_harris_language_ignorance/ The Language of Ignorance] by [[Sam Harris]]: answers the [[religious]] arguments in Human Genome Project head [[Francis Collins]]'s book ''The Language of God''
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* '''2006-02-08''' [http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/200512_an_atheist_manifesto/ An Atheist Manifesto] by [[Sam Harris]]
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* [http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=sharris_26_3 The Myth of Secular Moral Chaos] by [[Sam Harris]]
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===Discussion===
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* '''2007-01-02'''+: [http://www.samharris.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3882 Rationalism, not atheism]: forum discussion on the value of the term "atheism" and various alternatives
  
 
==Related Articles==
 
==Related Articles==
 
* Most [[religion]] supposes the existence of one or more gods (theism), and hence is diametrically opposed to [[atheism]].
 
* Most [[religion]] supposes the existence of one or more gods (theism), and hence is diametrically opposed to [[atheism]].
 
* [[Atheism and religion]] often come into conflict, for obvious reasons.
 
* [[Atheism and religion]] often come into conflict, for obvious reasons.
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* [[Active atheism]] is a movement which holds that atheists should not refrain from attacking religious irrationality.
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* [[Blake's Law]] considers anyone who suggests [[atheism is a religion]] to have automatically lost the argument.
  
 
==Related Concepts==
 
==Related Concepts==
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* [[wikipedia:Deism|Deism]]
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* [[Deism]]
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* [[wikipedia:Agnosticism|Agnosticism]]
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* [[Agnosticism]] ({{wikipedia|Agnosticism}})

Latest revision as of 18:28, 18 April 2014

About

Atheism is the belief that there is no such thing as a deity (most commonly referred to as "God"), or that the existence of such is unlikely enough that it can be ignored when making important decisions. Atheism is the opposite of theism, which holds that the existence of one or more deities (and, usually, the supposed views and intentions of that deity) is an important factor to consider in at least some major real-world decisions.

Atheism is compatible with agnosticism, the belief that it is not possible for humans to know whether any deities exist.

In practice, atheism equates to a rejection of dogma, especially where it is religious in nature, and an embrace of rationality as a guiding principle for making decisions based on real-world evidence.

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?".

Whether or not God actually exists, however, answering that "God did it" does not actually explain anything.

Related Pages

Notes

An argument often used against atheism is that atheists have been among the worst perpetrators of atrocity, with the prime examples being Adolf Hitler, Stalin, and/or Pol Pot. The implication that Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot were atheists, however, is actually untrue; Hitler was a very vocal Catholic, Stalin was born, raised, and educated in Russian Orthodox Catholicism, and Pol Pot was born, raised and educated Catholic. (More sources needed.)

Links

Reference

Filed Links

Groups / Projects

Blogs

Documentaries

Facts

Opinion

Discussion

Related Articles

Related Concepts

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