Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism

Charles Bradlaugh

Atheism, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and other philosophy reference works, is the denial of the existence of God. Paul Edwards, who was a prominent atheist and editor of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, defined an atheist as "a person who maintains that there is no God." See also: Definition of atheism. This traditional definition of atheism is also called strong atheism or positive atheism.

In the late 19th century and more broadly in the latter portion of the 20th century, the proposition that the definition of atheism also include a mere lack of belief in God or gods began. It is now common for atheists/agnostics and theists to debate the meaning of the word atheism. This newer definition of atheism is called weak atheism.

In terms of contemporary definitions of atheism, the Webster-Merriam Dictionary defines atheism in two ways: "1) a lack of belief or a strong disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods 2) a philosophical or religious position characterized by disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods." Oxford English Dictionies defines atheism as "Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods."

Charles Bradlaugh, in 1876, proposed that atheism does not assert "there is no God," and by doing so he diluted the traditional definition of atheism. Since 1979, many atheists have followed Bradlaugh's thinking further and stated that atheism is merely a lack of belief in any god. The motive for such a shift in meaning appears to be to an attempt to shift the burden of proof regarding the existence of God to the theism side.

In the article, Is Atheism Presumptuous?, atheist Jeffery Jay Lowder, a founder of Internet Infidels, states that "I agree (with Copan) that anyone who claims, "God does not exist," must shoulder a burden of proof just as much as anyone who claims, "God exists." In short, the attempt to redefine atheism is merely an attempt to make no assertions so no facts need be offered. The attempt to redefine atheism, however, is not in accordance with the standard definitions of atheism that encyclopedias of philosophy employ which is that atheism is a denial of the existence of God or gods. In addition, the atheist community has often used deception to promote their ideology.

Unlike Christianity, which is supported by a large body of sound evidence (see: Christian apologetics), atheism has no proof and evidence supporting its ideology. In addition, atheists/skeptics do have a tradition of making assumptions that later have proved errant. Also, prominent atheists, such as Charles Darwin (see: religious views of Charles Darwin ), have experienced doubts concerning the validity of atheism.

This redefinition blurs the distinction between saying, "There is no God", and "I don't know whether God exists or not." It lets people say, "I don't believe in God," without clarifying whether they are denying God's existence (which is atheism) or are merely uncertain about it (which is agnosticism).

Purpose of trying to dilute the definition of atheism

The purpose of all these exercises in redefinition is to try to slant the rhetorical playing field in favor of the atheists and against believers:

• By redefining atheism to include agnosticism, they both boost their numbers - there are many non-religious folks who will admit they aren't sure whether God exists, but far fewer who have the presumptousness to claim to know for a fact that He does not - and also make their case easier to make (an agnostic, to justify their agnosticism, need only overcome the positive evidence in favor of God's existence; an atheist, in addition to that, must also find positive evidence against God's existence)
• By redefining atheism so that babies are atheists, they try to falsely paint atheism as some sort of natural state, despite the fact that religion is a universal across human cultures, up until modern times; there is no traditional culture which totally lacks religious beliefs, and religious belief goes back thousands of years
• By ignoring the definition of traditional God (which refers to an omnipotent being, not a more limited being such as that found in Greek mythology), they try to claim that Christians are atheists, with respect to all the gods of mythology. However, this specious argument ignores the fact that these other supposed beings are not Gods, only gods. There can only be one God, when the definition of God includes omnipotence.

William Lane Craig on attempts to define the word atheism

William Lane Craig

William Lane Craig declared:

“

There’s a history behind this. Certain atheists in the mid-twentieth century were promoting the so-called “presumption of atheism.” At face value, this would appear to be the claim that in the absence of evidence for the existence of God, we should presume that God does not exist. Atheism is a sort of default position, and the theist bears a special burden of proof with regard to his belief that God exists.... But when you look more closely at how protagonists of the presumption of atheism used the term “atheist,” you discover that they were defining the word in a non-standard way, synonymous with “non-theist." So understood the term would encompass agnostics and traditional atheists, along with those who think the question meaningless (verificationists)... Such a re-definition of the word “atheist” trivializes the claim of the presumption of atheism, for on this definition, atheism ceases to be a view. It is merely a psychological state which is shared by people who hold various views or no view at all. On this re-definition, even babies, who hold no opinion at all on the matter, count as atheists! In fact, our cat Muff counts as an atheist on this definition, since she has (to my knowledge) no belief in God. One would still require justification in order to know either that God exists or that He does not exist, which is the question we’re really interested in. So why, you might wonder, would atheists be anxious to so trivialize their position? Here I agree with you that a deceptive game is being played by many atheists. If atheism is taken to be a view, namely the view that there is no God, then atheists must shoulder their share of the burden of proof to support this view.

”

Atheism, dogmatism and strong atheism

See also: Atheism, dogmatism and strong atheism and Atheism and open-mindedness and Atheism and dogmatism and Atheism and groupthink

Richard Dawkins was one of the founders of New Atheism.

Because the traditional definition of atheism existed for centuries, the existence of outspoken and dogmatic atheists (see: New Atheism and Atheist activist) and because atheism lacks proof and evidence that it is true, atheists are often accused of being dogmatic.

For example, in his BBC documentary The Trouble with Atheism the award-winning journalist Rod Liddle indicates:

“

Some atheists have become rather dogmatic. Terribly certain in their conviction that there is no God and anyone who thinks there is is a deluded and dangerous fool. ,,,atheists are becoming as intransigent about their own views as the people they so despise. Atheism is becoming a religion of its own. It already has its gurus and its revered sacred texts... It has its magnificent temples within which lie mysteries and unknowable truths.

”

In addition, research indicates that atheists are more dogmatic/closed-minded (see: Atheism and open-mindedness and Atheism and dogmatism).

Atheism as a religion

See also: Atheism is a religion

The British atheist Sanderson Jones is a founder of the Sunday Assembly "atheist church" movement.

Atheism is a religion and this has implications in terms of the disciplines of religion, philosophy, Christian apologetics and law. In addition, although many atheists deny that atheism is a worldview, atheists commonly share a number of beliefs such as naturalism, belief in evolution and abiogenesis.

If the view that there is no God (or are no gods) is a religion, it is argued its expression is constitutionally protected in the United States. The government cannot force atheists to recant and adopt the opposite belief.

In his BBC documentary The Trouble with Atheism the award-winning journalist Rod Liddle indicates:

“

Some atheists have become rather dogmatic. Terribly certain in their conviction that there is no God and anyone who thinks there is is a deluded and dangerous fool. ,,,atheists are becoming as intransigent about their own views as the people they so despise. Atheism is becoming a religion of its own. It already has its gurus and its revered sacred texts... It has its magnificent temples within which lie mysteries and unknowable truths.

”

If atheism is not a religion, then the expression of atheistic ideas is still covered by the First Amendment, but only by the free speech and free press clauses.

The implications go deeper, affecting public education. If atheism is a religion, then the atheism adhering to the methodological naturalism of physical science cannot be given excessive government support. That would violate the establishment of religion clause. So, evolution education would have to allow students freedom to dissent from the "orthodox" pseudoscientific view that human beings evolved from earlier forms of life without any intervention from God. It should be noted that biology courses only require knowledge of what the theory of evolution, its mechanisms, and the evidence supporting it, rather than belief that evolution occurred.

In 2013, a trend of atheist churches began and atheist church services were reported on in the New York Times, The Blaze and other major news outlets.

See also

• Implicit and explicit atheism
• Atheist worldview
• Atheism and beliefs
• Atheists doubting the validity of atheism
• Atheist factions
• Weak atheism
• Strong atheism
• Atheism and irrationality
• The question atheists fear
• Decline of global atheism
• Atheism and cowardice
• Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian
• Evidence for Christianity

External links

• Why the Burden of Proof is on the Atheist by Professor Ralph McInerny

General articles on atheism and agnosticism:

• Atheism by Creation Ministries International
• Atheism, agnosticism and humanism: godless religions by Creation Ministries International
• Atheism by Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
• Atheism, Agnosticism, and Skepticism Synopsis of Understanding Secular Religions by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart