One of the biggest issues that most atheists have with the Abrahamic religions is the anti-intellectualism that they perpetuate. It isn’t hard to miss. For example, the majority of Christians in America are ignorant and proud. The fact that the most idiotic President in our nation’s history was elected mainly because of the support of the Christian fundamentalists speaks volumes. A quick look back at history also shows that the Church and various organized religions have done everything they could to restrict science and knowledge. At every stage of scientific achievement, fervent religious believers were always there persecuting those who wished to expand human knowledge and human progress. One of the humanities biggest loses came pretty early on too. In 415 CE a Christian mob brutally murdered Hypatia of Alexandria (I would go into more details about the brutality of that murder, but it is a bit graphic). She was one the bright lights of Science in her time. Even today, almost half of Christians in America stand against the science of evolution and medical stem cell research.
The fact is that the more religious someone is, the less value they tend to place on science and education. According to the National Academy of Sciences, 93% of scientists express disbelief or doubt in the existence of a personal deity. 72% outright disbelieve in a personified deity. These are among the brightest minds on Earth. Both Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking (widely considered the two smartest men who every lived) had issue with the personified deity of the Abrahamic religions. These men joined the company of many of the most intellectual founding fathers such as Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and other.
The concept of “faith” is a slap in the face to science and intellectual curiosity. Faith stops questions while science encourages questions. Faith provides dishonest, unsupportable, and unquestioned certainty while science leaves every conclusion open to re-evaluation with additional evidence and discoveries. With faith, no education is necessary. In fact, education seems to often be a determent to faith. This is one of the biggest reasons why Christian fundamentalists are so keen on censorship and control. Even in the Bible, the character of Jesus elevates blind faith above intellectual rigor, reason, and evidence.
“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed.” – John 20: 29
This is not the only instance in which the Bible attacks the intellect. Corinthians is full of such examples. “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise” - 1 Corinthians 1:27 and 5 “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” - 1 Corinthians 2:5. There are many more examples where those came from. Just pick up your Bible and read it for yourself.
Science, reason, and intellectualism support the concepts of continued questioning, education, and human curiosity. Through the scientific method, the rules of logic, and the thirst to understand, people of reason are continually pushing the boundaries of human knowledge and helping to make life better and longer for us all. Yet, example after example, the Bible and the Abrahamic religions stand against the intellect and continue to propagate ignorance, fear, and unreason. Between the Creation Museum and the absolute unquestioning certainty of a divine deity, religion remains one of the biggest oppositions to human progress and the greatest threat to intellectualism and humanity’s continued survival on this planet.
Atheism 101 Articles:
Atheism 101: What is the difference between atheism and agnosticism?
Atheism 101: Is there moral grounding without God?
Atheism 101: The Purpose of Life
Atheism 101: Is the Bible the inspired word of God?
Atheism 101: The anti-intellectualism of religion
Atheism 101: Why has Christianity demonized nudity, sex and sexuality?
Atheism 101: Does it take more faith to be an atheist?
Atheism 101: What came before the Universe?
Atheism 101: How to respond to the ex-atheist
Comments
"Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and … know nothing but the word of God."~ Martin Luther (Works Vol. 12)
"Whoever wishes to be a Christian, let him tear out the eyes of his reason." ~ Martin Luther (Works, Vol. 11, p.285)
"Those who assert that 'the earth moves and turns'...[are] motivated by 'a spirit of bitterness, contradiction, and faultfinding;' possessed by the devil, they aimed 'to pervert the order of nature'." ~ John Calvin, sermon no. 8 on 1st Corinthians
"The pursuit of knowledge, unless sanctified by a holy mission, is a pagan act and therefore vile." ~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), the most influential Christian of his time
"And the Son of God died; it is by all means to be believed, because it is absurd. And He was buried and rose again; the fact is certain because it is impossible." ~ St. Tertullian (about 155 to 225 CE)
I, too, struggle with the anti-intellectualism within religious traditions. No doubt it exists, and no doubt it is harmful.
But there is a wealth of important things to learn from the Tanakh and New Testament, as well as the many treatises written on the topic of theology, philosophy, and religion. Such works are key parts of the Western intellectual tradition, and they should be read and discussed in an honest and open fashion. It would be wrong to evaluate these works only within the prism of the (false) dichotomy of reason and faith. It would be terrible for these writers to be dismised with the presumptuous wave of our hands because they do not agree with our agendas.
Myles, I agree with you that many religious works can teach us quite a few things, but it seems that the Bible is unteaching people with anti-intellectualism. The fact is that billions of Christians believe that the Bible is the infallible word of the Creator of the Universe. That is my issue. If people treated the Bible the way they treat the Iliad and the Odyssey, I wouldn't have a problem. But billions of people believe that the Bible is true. That's beyond anti-intellectual, it is just stupid.
So you have an issue with some interpreters of the Bible, though I understand that you condemn the entirety of Christendom? Your usual strawman is fundamentalist Christianity - why not engage other Christian theologies and philosophies? How about Paul, Augustine, Aquinas, Ignatius, Luther, and Calvin?
It is easy to 'prove' that things that happened in the Bible are not physically possible. But I think that's a rather shallow argument against Chrstianity or indeed theism. I mean, a ten year old could tell you that the very first two chapters of Genesis are contradictory or that the Noah cycle follows narrative patterns found in almost all cultures.
(Pardon - I need two boxes to finish my thought).
But whether or not the Bible (and, by the way, I urge you to view the Bible not as a cohesive whole, but as individual books) passes our modern scientific test is to completely miss the point. The document was not made for that - instead, think about how and why these documents had meaning for cultures both ancient and modern. Like the Iliad and Odyssey, it has immense meaning and will continue to do so - and as such deserves to be read and respected in order to get a fulfilling reading out of it.
Wow! Take a look at the blog the Philly Protestant examiner put up last nite. He wants us to read you and Jake Jones.
Um all I have to say is:
Jefferson and Franklin were Deists NOT atheists who accepted the value of the bible on other merits (Jefferson bibles edit out the miricales, they don't edit out God)
Isaac Newton was a Christian
Einstein rejected a personal God yes, but his rejection of God in any sense is a little more debatable.
Gregor Mendell, to whom we owe the laws of inheretence that form the basis of modern genetics (as opposed to agnostic Charles Darwins theories of inheretence which have since been found wanting) was a Catholic monk.
Most notably the director of the human genome project manages to both be a scientist, proponent of Evolution and an evangelical Christian.
Dogmatic beliefs, whether its Christians lost in a rigid understanding of the Bible or atheists lost in Communism or anti religious bigotry (Dawkins and Randi despite their claims show enormous hatred of religion to the point of historical revisionism to prove their ideology) is what's really dangerous.
Might I recommend a future article about how many of the prevalent religions make second class citizens and/or slaves out of women? The Bible/Koran/Torah was written by men, for men, from a mans point of view and translation. Whether or not you believe there was divine inspiration for the bible, one cannot ignore the fact that it is has been written, translated, interpreted and maintained by men, throughout the ages. As a result, thousands of women of intelligence, who stood up for themselves, who chose to live unmarried by themselves, with healing knowledge, mid-wives, etc. have been burned, tortured and killed through the ages, to reduce them and terrorize them, into the mindless slaves of men, all in the name of God. Elevating and celebrating the unique contributions women can make, would bring better balance to a warring world dominated by patriarchal agendas.
I'd like to know how do atheists account for the majesty of the Universe? In other words, who/what do you believe created Life? Who/What continues to work the infinite miracles witnessed and experienced in our every day existence?
Also, do athesits believe in he concept of other-wordly intervention, such as angels, guardian angels, spiritual guides?
Carla: "I'd like to know how do atheists account for the majesty of the Universe?"
"Majesty" is a subjective judgment.
"In other words, who/what do you believe created Life?"
What a leading question! Life on planet Earth, which circles one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy, which is one of over 100 billion galaxies, can be explained by natural processes.
"Who/What continues to work the infinite miracles witnessed and experienced in our every day existence?"
Miracles? I haven't seen any.
"Also, do athesits believe in he concept of other-wordly intervention, such as angels, guardian angels, spiritual guides?"
Most do not.
A Holiday Thought...
Aren’t humans amazing Animals? They kill wildlife - birds, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers, groundhogs, mice and foxes by the million in order to protect their domestic animals and their feed.
Then they kill domestic animals by the billion and eat them. This in turn kills people by the million, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative - and fatal - - health conditions like heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and cancer.
So then humans spend billions of dollars torturing and killing millions of more animals to look for cures for these diseases.
Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals.
Meanwhile, few people recognize the absurdity of humans, who kill so easily and violently, and once a year send out cards praying for "Peace on Earth."
~Revised Preface to Old MacDonald’s Factory Farm by C. David Coates
Staks,
There is definitely an alternative, intellectual point of view. I wrote an article entitled, "When atheists attack" that addresses this very issue.
Check it out if you want to see some different ideas.
Staks,
I hadn't realized that was how Jimmy Carter got elected. That's interesting.
Thanks,
John
John, I hope you aren't being serious. While I certainly have my issues with Carter (politically, personally, and his job as President), he certainly was not stupid.
Hi Staks,
Who is the "stupid" president you're referring to?
John
DuckPhup:
This is an FYI for you: Tertullian is not, nor ever has been considered a saint by the Catholic Church or any other church for that matter. He was born in Carthage about 155 A.D. and lived to approximately 240 or 250 A.D. But he wrote between 197 and 220 A.D. He began as a Christian and ended his life as a heretic. The particular heresy he fell into is called Montanism. He said a lot of things that were anti-Christian because he became a Montanist and continued writing. But again, he is not a saint and was in fact a heretic. (See “The Faith of Our Fathers” Vol. 1, W.A. Jurgens, 1970, Liturgical Press)
I’m not sure about the validity of the other quotes you noted because you didn’t reference any source.
John
Really John, you are ironically "playing dumb" on this one? George W. Bush.
Blind faith is not in the Bible. The dialogue w/ Thomas was not about blind faith. Many Christians are also scientists, and all scientists practice faith, as none of them are omniscient. www. examiner.com/x-26772-San-Francisco-Apologetics-Examiner~y2009m12d4-Reasons-for-faith-101--Do-faith-and-science-conflict
Maryann, you claim that all scientist rely on faith because they don't know everything? Really? That is just absurd. Think about that one the next time you use any type of product of science and expect it to work... including the internet.
Oh and Maryann, I like how you really didn't address any of the issues raised in my article, but simply used my article as a forum to spam on. Always keeping it classy Maryann.
In response to this article--these supposed anti-intellectual religious people you're talking about were ultimately responsible for forming places like Oxford and Harvard. John Harvard was a devout English clergyman. Members of many religious orders, including Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians, settled in Oxford in the mid-13th century, gained influence, and maintained houses for students. Thank God for the Christians who paved the way for intellectualism, so that you could one day become literate and spew your lies. I recommend that you do some reading of Dr. R.C. Sproul in the meantime. I'd love to see you locked in a room with him for an hour, so you could find out how much you don't know.
Vala, I think it is a rather large stretch to claim that Christians "paved the way for intellectualism." Of course there were individual people who were very intellectual and ignored much of the Bible and the Church's anti-intellectual rhetoric. People have a remarkable ability to compartmentalize their religious beliefs.
Perhaps you have forgotten about a little thing called THE DARK AGES!
"One of the biggest issues that most atheists have with the Abrahamic religions is the anti-intellectualism that they perpetuate. It isn’t hard to miss. For example, the majority of Christians in America are ignorant and proud."- This is unsubstantiated opinion not fact.
"A quick look back at history also shows that the Church and various organized religions have done everything they could to restrict science and knowledge." -Just more nonsense from pseudo-intellectual who does know history. Devout Christians founded the first learning institutions in the US, including many of the top universities in the US, like Harvard and Yale; they similarly founded the first hospitals and charities. Things which help humanity. Religious beliefs were central in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
I could go on dissecting this erroneous, bigoted rant but there really is no point; you are what you claim to hate - a close-minded fundamentalist unable to consider or respect views apart from your own and those which support it, unable to give credit to those you consider not only your adversaries but also your inferiors.
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