Implicit and explicit atheism

A diagram showing the relationship between the definitions of weak atheism/strong atheism and Implicit/explicit atheism. See also: Definition of atheism

Implicit atheism and explicit atheism are types of atheism coined by the atheist George H. Smith. Smith belonged to the objectivist school of atheist thought. See also: Schools of atheist thought.

Implicit atheism as defined by Smith is "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it", while explicit atheism is "the absence of theistic belief due to a conscious rejection of it".

The concept of implicit atheism is related to the concept of weak atheism. Weak atheism is an individual merely lacking a belief in God/gods. Using this broad definition of definition of atheism, there are atheists who assert that babies are atheists. See also: Definition of atheism

The concept of explicit atheism is related to the term strong atheism. Strong atheism (sometimes called "positive atheism" by its adherents), is a type of atheism that denies that God/gods exists.

Diminished usefulness of the terms implicit/explicit atheism

As can be seen below, due to various research findings in the social sciences, global desecularization, the increase of religious immigration to the Western World and other developments, the usefulness of the terms implicit and explicit atheism has diminished.

Apathy, purpose and religiosity/cognitive processing

Even in atheistic Japan, researchers found that Japanese children see the world as designed.

While some individuals give more thoughtful deliberation on the issue of the existence of God and the purpose of life than others (see: Atheism and apathy and Apatheism), it is common for atheists/agnostics to dwell on the issue of purpose (see: Atheism and purpose).

Also, notable atheists have had the characteristic of variability and instability when it came to maintaining thoughts in accordance with atheism. For example, Jean-Paul Sartre was one of the leading proponents of atheism of the 20th Century.

Yet, Jean-Paul Sartre made this candid confession:

“

As for me, I don’t see myself as so much dust that has appeared in the world but as a being that was expected, prefigured, called forth. In short, as a being that could, it seems, come only from a creator; and this idea of a creating hand that created me refers me back to God. Naturally this is not a clear, exact idea that I set in motion every time I think of myself. It contradicts many of my other ideas; but it is there, floating vaguely. And when I think of myself I often think rather in this way, for wont of being able to think otherwise.

”

Even in atheistic Japan, researchers found that Japanese children see the natural world as designed and purposeful and believe some kind of intelligent being is behind that purpose.

One of the most popular arguments for God's existence is the teleological argument. Derived from the Greek word telos, which refers to purpose or end, this argument hinges on the idea that the world gives evidence of being designed, and concludes that a divine designer must be posited to account for the orderly world we encounter. See also: Evolution and Intelligent design and Creation science

Late in Charles Darwin's life, Darwin told the Duke of Argyll that he frequently had overwhelming thoughts that the natural world was the result of design. In a letter to Asa Gray, Darwin confided: "...I am quite conscious that my speculations run quite beyond the bounds of true science."

The evolutionist Charles Darwin wrote in his private notebooks that he was a materialist, which is a type of atheist. In his autobiography Charles Darwin wrote about the diminishment of his religious faith and Darwin stated that he was an agnostic. Darwin's worldview is best described as agnosticism/weak atheism (see: religious views of Charles Darwin)

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states:

“

In 1885, the Duke of Argyll recounted a conversation he had had with Charles Darwin the year before Darwin's death: In the course of that conversation I said to Mr. Darwin, with reference to some of his own remarkable works on the Fertilization of Orchids, and upon The Earthworms, and various other observations he made of the wonderful contrivances for certain purposes in nature — I said it was impossible to look at these without seeing that they were the effect and the expression of Mind. I shall never forget Mr. Darwin's answer. He looked at me very hard and said, “Well, that often comes over me with overwhelming force; but at other times,” and he shook his head vaguely, adding, “it seems to go away. ”(Argyll 1885, 244)

”

On October 17, 2014, the New York Times published an article entitled Does everything happen for a reason? which declared:

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But research from the Yale Mind and Development Lab, where we work, suggests that this can’t be the whole story. In one series of studies, recently published in the journal Cognition, we asked people to reflect on significant events from their own lives, such as graduations, the births of children, falling in love, the deaths of loved ones and serious illnesses. Unsurprisingly, a majority of religious believers said they thought that these events happened for a reason and that they had been purposefully designed (presumably by God). But many atheists did so as well, and a majority of atheists in a related study also said that they believed in fate — defined as the view that life events happen for a reason and that there is an underlying order to life that determines how events turn out. These atheists’ responses weren’t just the product of living in America’s highly religious society. Research done at Queen’s University in Belfast by the psychologists Bethany Heywood and Jesse Bering found that British atheists were just as likely as American atheists to believe that their life events had underlying purposes, even though Britain is far less religious than America. In other studies, scheduled to be published online next week in the journal Child Development, we found that even young children show a bias to believe that life events happen for a reason — to “send a sign” or “to teach a lesson.” This belief exists regardless of how much exposure the children have had to religion at home, and even if they’ve had none at all.

”

Atheism and the brain

See also: Atheism and the brain and Denials that atheists exist

As noted above, implicit atheism as defined by Smith is "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it", while explicit atheism is "the absence of theistic belief due to a conscious rejection of it".

Below are relevant quotes from a science magazine/journal:

“Atheism is psychologically impossible because of the way humans think... They point to studies showing, for example, that even people who claim to be committed atheists tacitly hold religious beliefs, such as the existence of an immortal soul.” - Graham Lawton in the New Scientist science magazine. See also: Atheism and life after death and Atheism and death

“A slew of cognitive traits predisposes us to faith.” - Pascal Boyer, in the British science journal Nature

Diminishment of conscious thinking and atheism

Satirical graphic used by the Freedom From Atheism Foundation (FFAF). The FFAF shared Dr. Joel McDurmon's article entitled Atheists embarrassed: study proves atheism uses less brain function with their supporters.

Dr. Joel McDurmon at the organization American Vision wrote about a University of York study involving magnetism and brain function:

“

This has to be embarrassing . . . if you’re an atheist. A new study performed at the University of York used targeted magnetism to shut down part of the brain. The result: belief in God disappeared among more than 30 percent of participants. That in itself may not seem so embarrassing, but consider that the specific part of the brain they frazzled was the posterior medial frontal cortex—the part associated with detecting and solving problems, i.e., reasoning and logic. In other words, when you shut down the part of the brain most associated with logic and reasoning, greater levels of atheism result.

”

(To read about some of the functions of the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC), please read the article: Posterior medial frontal cortex)

Death anxiety and increased unconscious belief in God

See also: Atheism and death

Another limitations of the terms implicit/explicit atheism is that they merely address conscious thinking and not unconscious thinking.

Science Daily reported that "Death anxiety increases atheists' unconscious belief in God". In a Psychology Today article, Dr. Nathan A. Heflick reported similar results in other studies.

20th century and 21st century global desecularization

See also: Desecularization and Growth of global desecularization

Eric Kaufmann, a professor at Birkbeck College, University of London, using a a wealth of demographic studies, argues that there will be a significant decline of global atheism in the 21st century which will impact the Western World.

Furthermore, Smith's terms implicit atheism and explicit atheism were a product 19th century and 20th century mindset among atheists and the latter part 20th century and 21st century have seen a time of global desecularization and a time of the growth of conservative, religious immigrants to the Western World. Furthermore, the growth of global communications/travel causes societies to be less insular.

The religious scholar Corey D.B. Walker wrote:

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The dawning of the 21st century has been met by religion on a global scale. Questions about the increasing secularization of modern societies and the diminished influence of religion in public life have been replaced by inquiries into the seemingly exponential growth, diffusion, and persistence of religious practices, ideas and rituals.

”

See also: Atheists and the endurance of religion

On July 24, 2013, CNS News reported:

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Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world’s population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass."

”

On December 23, 2012, Professor Eric Kaufmann who teaches at Birbeck College, University of London wrote:

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I argue that 97% of the world's population growth is taking place in the developing world, where 95% of people are religious. On the other hand, the secular West and East Asia has very low fertility and a rapidly aging population... In the coming decades, the developed world's demand for workers to pay its pensions and work in its service sector will soar alongside the booming supply of young people in the third world. Ergo, we can expect significant immigration to the secular West which will import religious revival on the back of ethnic change. In addition, those with religious beliefs tend to have higher birth rates than the secular population, with fundamentalists having far larger families. The epicentre of these trends will be in immigration gateway cities like New York (a third white), Amsterdam (half Dutch), Los Angeles (28% white), and London, 45% white British.

”

At a conference Kaufmann said of religious demographic projections concerning the 21st century:

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Part of the reason I think demography is very important, at least if we are going to speak about the future, is that it is the most predictable of the social sciences. ...if you look at a population and its age structure now. You can tell a lot about the future. ...So by looking at the relative age structure of different populations you can already say a lot about the future... ...Religious fundamentalism is going to be on the increase in the future and not just out there in the developing world..., but in the developed world as well.

”

Growth of evangelical Christianity in secular religions. Islam and Europe

The latter part of the 20th century saw the collapse of the atheistic Soviet Union and a resurgence of religion in Russia (see: Collapse of atheism in the former Soviet Union and Growth of Protestantism in Russia).

The current atheist population mostly resides in East Asia (particularly China) and in secular Europe/Australia among whites. See: Western atheism and race

In recent times, due the religious immigration and the higher fertility rate of religious conservatives, there has been a growth of evangelical Christianity and and a growth of Islam in secular Europe (see: Secular Europe and Atheism vs. Islam).

Additionally, there is a very rapid growth of Christianity in China (see: Growth of Christianity in China).

Failure of the 20th century secularization thesis

Peter L. Berger said that the religiosity of the United States was a big exception to the secularization theory that should have caused social scientists to question the theory.

See also: Secularization thesis

Douglas S. Winnail wrote:

“

Secular leaders and scholars have been surprised by the resurgence of religion, because they put their faith in the assumption that modernization would lead to secularization and to the decline of religion. This idea—the so-called "secularization theory"—is widely accepted in academic and political circles. It assumes that as societies modernize and become more secular, religion will wither away as an archaic and useless branch of knowledge. Their assumption was that if religion became irrelevant, and human beings became more reasonable, they would dwell together in peace and happiness in a modernized world. However, human history did not follow this "reasonable" path to a secular utopia. The closing decades of the 20th century "provide a massive falsification of the idea" that modernization and secularization will lead to a decline in religion. Instead, we are witnessing a massive upsurge in religion around the world (The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics, Berger, p. 6). This resurgence of religion has also played a part in an increasing number of violent conflicts around the world. Secular intellectuals and elites have been shocked by this development, because it is proving that their fundamental assumptions about human beings and human society are absolutely wrong! The modern secular notion that religion is archaic and irrelevant has caused many to overlook the importance of religion in human affairs. As a result, they have been taken by surprise by the return of religion. As Peter Berger, one of the world's leading sociologists of religion, wrote: "Those who neglect religion in their analysis of contemporary affairs do so at great peril" (Berger, p. 18). But what has spawned the modern revival of religion, and the spreading rejection of secular society?

”

See also

• Definitions of atheist and agnostic

• Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism

• Atheists doubting the validity of atheism

• Causes of atheism