Atheists and unreasonableness

Brain researchers have conducted a number of studies focusing on the differences between atheists and the religious. See: Atheism and the brain

If naturalism is true, then we ought not to trust our capacity for reason for the human brain would be a byproduct of blind/unintelligent natural forces. Therefore, believing in naturalism is self-defeating.

In short, atheism/naturalism and reason are incompatible (see: Atheism and reason). See also: Intelligent design and Evolution

Atheism, irrationality and logic

See also: Atheism and irrationality and Atheism and logic and Atheism and incoherency

A common and legitimate criticism of the atheist worldview is that atheism is irrational (See: Atheism and irrationality and Atheism and incoherency).

See also: List of logical fallacies that atheists commonly commit at: Atheism and logical fallacies

Atheism and open-mindedness

See also: Atheism and open-mindedness and Atheism and dogmatism and Atheism and intolerance and Atheism and groupthink

Research indicates that atheists are less open-minded (see: Atheism and open-mindedness).

Atheism and critical thinking

See also: Atheism and critical thinking

Tony Wichowsk of the Christian Apologetics Alliance wrote:

“

,,,I have encountered numerous atheists and other critics of Christianity who by all accounts have stopped thinking critically themselves. The common perception among them is that by being critical of religion (particularly Christianity in the west), they are exercising critical thinking. However, critical thinking implies not only questioning authority and commonly held views, but your own views as well. Critical thinking has often been popularly described as “thinking about thinking.” Stephen Brookfield is an award winning expert on education and teaching critical thinking skills. Below is his definition of what critical thinking really is. "Critical thinking describes the process we use to uncover and check our assumptions. First we need to find out what our assumptions are. We may know some of these already (these we call explicit assumptions) but others we are unaware of (implicit assumptions)…. Once we know what our assumptions are, we enter the second phase of critical thinking, that of research. We try to check out our assumptions to make sure they are accurate and valid… The William Lane Craig third and final phase of critical thinking puts the first two stages into practice by applying our analysis to our decisions. Decisions based on critical thinking are more likely to be ones we feel confident about and to have the effects we want them to have.” – Stephen Brookfield Developing critical thinkers: Challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting. (1987, Page 9) If an atheist wants to be a good critical thinker, and not simply a cynic, I would recommend that he or she would do as Brookfield suggests, and check their assumptions. This might entail opening a book by an apologist that they do not like, such as William Lane Craig or a conservative text critic like Daniel B Wallace, and be open minded that they might have some things right. Checking multiple sources that disagree with each-other and weighing the evidence in your mind is sometimes tedious, but in the end it is worth it.

”

The fallacy of exclusion is a logical fallacy where "Important evidence which would undermine an inductive argument is excluded from consideration. The requirement that all relevant information be included is called the 'principle of total evidence'.". Atheists avoiding and ignoring the many legitimate arguments against atheism and for theism are engaging in fallacious reasoning (see also: Rebuttals to atheist arguments).

Atheists, unreasonableness and social skills

See also: Atheism and social/interpersonal intelligence

Atheist killer Devin Patrick Kelley

The atheist PZ Myers, quoting fellow leftist Alex Nichols, said that jibes associating outspoken atheists with neckbeards (among other things) caused many liberals/leftists to leave the atheist tent and those who remained for the most part lacked in social skills and self-awareness. See also: Atheism and social outcasts

According to an international study done by William Bainbridge, atheism is frequent among people whose interpersonal social obligations are weak and is also linked to lower fertility rates in advanced industrial nations (See also: Atheism and fertility rates).

An ex-atheist wrote: "As an Atheist for 40 years, I noticed that there is not just a wide variety of Atheist positions, but there exists an actual battle between certain Atheist factions." See also: Atheist factions and Schools of atheist thought

Jacques Rousseau wrote in the Daily Maverick: "Elevatorgate..has resulted in three weeks of infighting in the secular community. Some might observe that we indulge in these squabbles fairly frequently."

In terms of politics and atheist infighting, there is friction between right-wing atheists (and right of center atheists) and secular leftist. See: Atheism and politics and Western atheism, schisms and political polarization

In 2017, atheist David Smalley has indicated that leftist/progressive atheists were "killing the atheist movement" through being contentious and divisive. Smalley indicated that the atheist movement was disintegrating.

The website Atheism and the City wrote about the 2018 cancellation of the first major atheist conference to be held in New York City:

“

But none of this is going to happen now because the event has just been canceled. The reasons why are complicated, but it started out difficult enough. The atheist community has splintered into a million shards in recent years. There are the atheist feminists and the atheist anti-feminists, the social justice warrior atheists and the anti-social justice warrior atheists. The pro-PC atheists and the anti-PC atheists. There are pro-Trump atheists and anti pro-Trump atheists. Atheists are split over gamergate, elevatorgate, whether we should organize, or whether we should even call ourselves atheists at all. The divisions go on and on.

”

In 2017, the atheist PZ Myers, quoting fellow leftist Alex Nichols, wrote:

“

...the growing popularity of jibes associating outspoken atheists with fedoras, neckbeards, and virginity, led to an exodus of liberals and leftists from the “atheist” tent. Those who remained for the most part lacked in social skills and self-awareness, and the results were disastrous.

”

David Silverman, ex-president of the American Atheists organization.

At the 2018 American Atheists convention, the ex-president of the American Atheist organization David Silverman declared:

“

It is a hard time to be an atheist activist. This has affected us. And it has affected our community... ...it has really affected us. We are suffering a level of defeatism that I have never seen before... And people are reacting to each other now. And so that is causing a division. Lots and lots of division in our movement. Hard, bad division... And that has resulted in a splintering and factioning of the movement that I have never seen before and none of us have. In other words, we're in a bad situation and it's getting worse.

”

Numerous atheists have declared that the "atheist movement is dead/dying" (see: Decline of the atheist movement)

Blair Scott about atheist infighting with the atheist movement

See also: Atheist movement and Atheism and anger and Atheism and bitterness

Blair Scott served on the American Atheists board of directors. Mr. Scott formerly served as a State Director for the American Atheists organization in the state of Alabama. On December 1, 2012 he quit his post as a director of outreach for the American Atheist due to infighting within the American atheist movement.

Mr. Blair wrote: "I have spent the last week mulling over what I want to do at this point in the movement. I’m tired of the in-fighting: at every level. I am especially tired of allowing myself to get sucked into it and engaging in the very behavior that is irritating..me."

Atheist Neil Carter on the biting and critical nature of atheists

The atheist Neil Carter wrote: "Friends of mine have noted lately how biting and critical the atheist community can be, not only toward outsiders, but even toward its own members. Has there ever been a subculture more prone to eating its own than this one? I really don’t know."

Atheist Eddie Tabash on atheist cantankerousness

See also: Atheism and social skills and Atheism and emotional intelligence and Views on atheists

The American atheist activist Eddie Tabash said in a speech to the Michigan Atheists State Convention, "Since we are a bit of a cantankerous, opinionated lot...".

Atheist PZ Myers on current rifts within the atheist movement

The atheist PZ Myers said about the current rifts in the atheist movement: "So deep and wide we’ve separated into two continents."

Journal of Contemporary Religion on schisms within U.S. atheism

See also: American atheism

The Journal of Contemporary Religion says about schisms within atheism: "The persistence of internal schisms and regular outbreaks of in-fighting within the atheist movement also ensure that much energy is effectively wasted on parochial concerns and further undermine attempts to establish a genuine sense of group cohesion."

The Journal of Contemporary Religion say that internal divisions within the American atheist movement have to do with:

“

internal divisions within the movement around issues relating to goals, strategies, and direction. These can be seen most notably in debates about the formation of a collective ‘atheist’ identity, in disputes about the effectiveness of confrontationalism and accommodationism, and in concerns about the movement’s ethnic, racial, and gender profile.

”

See also: Atheism and women and Western atheism and race

Atheism and sociopathy

See: Atheism and sociopathy

Atheism and immorality

See also: Atheism and morality

The perverse and cruel atheist Marquis de Sade in prison, 18th century line engraving.

Not possessing a religious basis for morality, which can provide a basis for objective morality, atheism is fundamentally incapable of providing a coherent system of morality (see: Atheism and morality). See also: Atheism and ethics and Atheism and the problem of evil

For example, atheists have been the biggest mass murderers in history (see: Atheism and mass murder). Dr. R. J. Rummel's mid estimate regarding the loss of life due to atheistic communism is that communism caused the death of approximately 110,286,000 people between 1917 and 1987 (See also: Atheism and communism).

Atheism and various types of immorality:

• Atheism and human rights violations

• Atheism and sexual immorality articles

• Atheism and violence articles

• Atheism and theft crimes

• Atheism and deception articles

• Atheism and unforgiveness articles

• Atheism and animal abuse

• Atheism and various types of immorality

Atheism and mental illness

See also: Atheism and mental illness

The prestigious Mayo Clinic found that that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better physical health, mental health, health-related quality of life and other health outcomes.

Atheism and mental illness is an increasingly important topic of study in light of the growing list of atheist shooters and serial killers.

Global News reported:

“

Children who are raised with religious or spiritual beliefs tend to have better mental health into their adulthood, a new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found. According to the study’s findings, people who attended weekly religious services or prayed or meditated daily in their childhood reported greater life satisfaction in their 20s. People who grew up in a religious household also reported fewer symptoms of depression and lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder.

”

See also: Atheism and depression

Atheism and depression

See also: Atheism and depression and Atheism and loneliness

Atheists have a higher suicide rate than theists. Please see: Atheism and suicide

Concerning atheism and depression, a University of Michigan study involving 19,775 individuals found that religious people are less likely than atheists to suffer depression when they are lonely. See also: Atheism and suicide

The Telegraph reported: "Patients with a strong “intrinsic faith” (a deep personal belief, not just a social inclination to go to a place of worship) recover 70 per cent faster from depression than those who are not deeply religious."

In addition, in many atheistic cultures in the developed world, there are considerable problems with loneliness (see: Atheism and loneliness). Furthermore, many atheists feel isolated within theistic cultures (see: Atheism and social outcasts).

Atheism and suicide

See also: Atheism and suicide

The journal article A global perspective in the epidemiology of suicide, published in the academic journal Suicidologi, found that "At 25.6, the total suicide rate is markedly highest in Atheist countries (e.g. China) which included in this analysis countries where religious observances had been prohibited for a long period of time (e.g. Albania)."

Atheism and psychopathy

The serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer engaged in cannibalism.

Psychopathy is strongly correlated with crime, violence, and antisocial behavior. See also: Irreligion, psychopathy, crime, violence and antisocial behavior

See also: Atheism and psychopathy

A psychopath is someone with an anti-social personality disorder characterized by violent, perverted or immoral behavior often leading to criminality. Psychopaths have little or no concern for other people. Some psychopaths equate love with sexual arousal.A few studies have found that there is a positive correlation of atheism and psychopathy (see: Atheism and psychopathy.

Atheism, autism, schizophrenia and genetic mutations

See also: Atheists and genetic mutations

Left-handedness is a good indicator of a high mutational load. People who are left-handed higher incidences of autism and schizophrenia. A study found that atheists are more likely to be left-handed (see: Atheists and genetic mutations).

For additional information, please see:

• Atheists and genetic mutations

• Atheism and autism

Secular leftists and psychogenic illness

See: Secular leftists and psychogenic illness

Vox Day on unreasonable atheists

See also: Atheism and autism and Atheists and genetic mutations and Atheism and the brain and Atheism and intelligence

Vox Day

Vox Day frequently points out that atheists are neurologically atypical and are more prone to having autism and that they are "socially autistic". See also: Atheism and autism and Atheists and genetic mutations

In 2011, the University of Boston published a study on the correlation between atheism and high-functioning/mild autism.

On September 19, 2011, the Discover Magazine website had an article indicating that there were empirical results showing a positive correlation between atheism and high functioning autism and the article declared:

“

This is why the empirical results on the correlation between atheism and high functioning autism are important... ...some people were angry that I seemed to suggest that atheists were antisocial weirdos. Well, there is some data to back that up.

”

Vox Day wrote:

“

Anklebiters are a brain-damaged form of midwit. They are almost always atheist, further pointing towards the atypical neurological profile required for that, they are usually male, and they tend to be unexpectedly poorly educated and badly read despite their observable intelligence. Most importantly, they lack the normal ability to admit failure, back up, and start over that normal individuals possess. And lacking it, they therefore lack any ability to improve their arguments or even to question any of their adopted beliefs. That's why anklebiters are always disappearing when trounced, only to reappear again and make the exact same arguments that have already been dismissed. The problem, as BT notes, is that this renders them immune to dialectic, and they tend to ignore pure rhetoric because they are not emotionally invested in their nonsense arguments. The more virulent form, the trolls, are sociopathic and have no meaningful human emotions to which one can appeal. In effect, anklebiters are little more than genetically human bots, which is why there is no point in arguing with them or insulting them. They are not capable of adding anything to the discourse, so as soon as an anklebiter is identified, they are best ignored by the commenters and spammed by the moderators. There is no reason to concern oneself with how they look to the average stranger, because a) it's not your problem, b) MPAI, and c) their own bizarre behavior will expose them sooner or later.

”

"America is a nation of believers, and together we are strengthened by the power of prayer." - President Donald Trump See also: Donald Trump and American atheists

According to the article Social-Sexual Hierarchy Revisited:

“

About six years ago, Vox Day published his socio-sexual hierarchy. Alpha – The top of the hierarchy. President Donald Trump is an Alpha. He’s confident, boisterous, and handsome... Delta – The normal guy. Most men are Deltas... Gamma – These men would be low-end Deltas if they did not think of themselves as being secretly Alpha. They are secret kings in their own mind and believe themselves to be worthy of admiration, which is often undeserved... They are also on the unattractive side in terms of looks but don’t seem to understand or accept this. Of all people in this hierarchy, the Gamma needs the most improvement but often times rejects criticism or even helpful advice, instead believing themselves to be gods among men. Very dangerous if given any kind of power. Omega – The low-end of the tier. Omegas are usually unattractive, introverted, and unsuccessful with women.

”

Vox Day also wrote:

“

I know, I know, it's simply astonishing news that women hate atheists. Even atheist women don't like them. Jen has slammed Richard Dawkins for some comments here. I can confirm that those comments were actually from Richard Dawkins. I also have to say that I agree with Jen and disagree with Richard. Richard did make the valid point that there are much more serious abuses of women's rights around the world, and the Islam is a particularly horrendous offender. Women have their genitals mutilated, are beaten by husbands without recourse to legal redress, are stoned to death for adultery, are denied basic privileges like the right to drive or travel unescorted. These are far more serious problems than most American women face. However, the existence of greater crimes does not excuse lesser crimes, and no one has even tried to equate this incident to any of the horrors above... The elevator incident demands…a personal rejection and a woman nicely suggesting to the atheist community that they avoid doing that. And that is what it got. That is all Rebecca Watson did. For those of you who are outraged at that, I ask: which part of her response fills you with fury? That a woman said no, or that a woman has asked men to be more sensitive?... Look, it's hardly news that atheist guys are creepy gammas, for the most part. That's why they are much less likely to get married or have children. Even the small number of atheist girls don't like atheist guys; the ludicrous internecine kerfluffle was kicked off by a male atheist hitting on female atheist in an elevator... Dawkins, who as a scientific celebrity surmounted his natural gamma status some time ago, was naturally confused by all this extravagant feminized foolishness, and pointed out how stupid it all was. This caused more hissy fits to be directed his way; Dawkins, being the coward that he has shown himself to be on numerous occasions, was naturally quick to crumble. Now, I don't think it's absolutely necessary to be hapless with women to be an atheist... No wonder they're so furious at God. He created all those lovely women with those beautiful breasts and they aren't even allowed to even talk to them in elevators.

”

Vox Day also wrote:

“

The dichotomy between the theoretical sexual freedom of the male atheist provided by his belief system and his actual sexual limitations caused by his sub-standard attractiveness to women suggests that male atheists, on average, are more inclined to be gamma/omega males whose sexual options are more restricted than the norm. This hypothesis is supported by observing the consistently gamma behavior of male atheists on this site and around the Internet in general.

”

See also:

• Atheism and lust
• Atheists and physical attractiveness
• Atheism and sexuality
• Atheism and social skills
• Atheism and social outcasts

Scientific American quote of physicist Marcelo Gleisler on the unreasonableness of atheists

See also: Atheism and science and Atheism and consciousness

Marcelo Gleiser

The Scientific American in its article entitled Atheism Is Inconsistent with the Scientific Method, Prizewinning Physicist Says quotes Templeton Prize winning physicist Marcelo Gleiser declaring:

“

I honestly think atheism is inconsistent with the scientific method. What I mean by that is, what is atheism? It’s a statement, a categorical statement that expresses belief in nonbelief. “I don’t believe even though I have no evidence for or against, simply I don’t believe.” Period. It’s a declaration. But in science we don’t really do declarations. We say, “Okay, you can have a hypothesis, you have to have some evidence against or for that.”... When you look out there at the other planets (and the exoplanets that we can make some sense of), when you look at the history of life on Earth, you will realize this place called Earth is absolutely amazing. And maybe, yes, there are others out there, possibly—who knows, we certainly expect so—but right now what we know is that we have this world, and we are these amazing molecular machines capable of self-awareness, and all that makes us very special indeed. And we know for a fact that there will be no other humans in the universe; there may be some humanoids somewhere out there, but we are unique products of our single, small planet’s long history.

”

See also

• Rebuttals to atheist arguments
• The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
• Causes of atheism
• Atheism and arrogance
• Atheism and anger
• Atheism and groupthink
• Atheism and motivation
• Atheism and knowledge

Books on the unreasonableness of atheism

• Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics by William Lane Craig, Crossway Books; 3rd edition (June 30, 2008)
• I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, Crossway Books; STIFF WRAPS edition (March 12, 2004)
• There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind by Anthony Flew (2007) with Roy Abraham Varghese (ISBN 978-0-06-133529-7)
• A Defense of the Integrity of Antony Flew's "There is a God" From His Own Letters by Anthony Horvath, Publisher: Athanatos Christian Ministries, September 3, 2011 [1]
• The folly and unreasonableness of atheism demonstrated from the advantage and pleasure of a religious life, the faculties of humane souls, the structure of animate bodies, & the origin and frame of the world by Richard Bentley (1662-1742)

External links

• Unreasonable Doubt by Jim Spiegal, Christianity Today
• Irrational Disbelief: The Hypocrisy of Scientific Atheism, Crisis Magazine
• The Human Limitations of Unreasonable Atheism