This is a question atheists are often asked by others, though sometimes theists throw it at us in the form of an unalloyed statement of fact. The truth, however, is a little more complicated than that. There are the so-called "hard" or "strong" atheists who state, as an article of faith, that God(s) does not exist. Communists, assert this as part of their political dogma. Most of us today, however, are "soft" atheists. We state that we do not believe in God(s) and there's a world of difference between that and categorically stating "there ain't no sech animul." The "soft" atheists acknowledge that the universe is too large a place for absolute proof of god(s)' nonexistance to be obtained (depending, of course, on how you define "god." Some definitions can be shown to be logically impossible). "Soft" atheists therefore generally say something to the effect that the currently available evidence offers no compelling reason to postulate a supernatural entity is behind anything we see in the real world. That's what most modern atheists, myself included, believe.A dogma is an authoritative principle, belief, or statement of ideas or opinion, especially one considered to be absolutely true. We value reason and self-correcting logic systems such as scientific naturalism; and we don't value them out of dogmatic certainty, but because they demonstrably work as methods for understanding the world around us. It's not, therefore, an article of faith for us. We leave absolute certainty to those for whom truth is written with a capital "T" and is "revealed" rather than uncovered.
Photo credit:
1) Poster from the 1999 movie, Dogma.
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Comments
Well said, Hugh.
Being more inclined toward the "soft" side of atheism I am, non the less, encouraged by the recent resurgence of assertive atheism.
I spend little time thinking about religion, or about the absence thereof, but I find scientific explanations of the universe much more compelling than the religious explanations. Religion seems to be a crutch used by believers to help them get through our brief journey from null to void. Their time would be better spent enjoying this wonderful ball of dirt we call home, as opposed to preparing for a mythical "life after death".
I have "The God Murders" website. Because I have no real evidence of any God, I admit to being an Atheist. Because I take issue with the Biblical God, some claim I am a hard Atheist. Some believers ask me why I have such a website if I don't believe in the God I take issue with. My 10,000 hours or Bible study and debate serves as tools for Atheists should they be confronted by practicing believers. Regards, G
Indeed, well put..
Wouldn't what you have written for "soft atheist" be closer to agnostic view than to an aethistic view?
Hello Will. The difference between an atheist (soft or otherwise) and an agnostic is that one has taken a position and the other hasn't. You don't have to say that there absolutely are no gods in order to justify saying that you don't believe there are any. Like the agnostic, I don't know but, unlike the agnostic, I don't grant both sides of the equation equal probability.
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