II.

Arguments for Atheism

Atheism is defended by a number of considerations. First, atheists will reject traditional attempts to prove the existence of a god. Second, atheists will reject the propriety of a leap of faith, or unsupported claim to the existence of such a being. For atheism, bare faith is not a virtue, but a vice, for it is extravagant and irresponsible to believe in things when there is no reason to do so. In everyday life this is obvious, and we ought to apply the same standards whatever the subject of belief. Atheists typically hold that human beings are drawn to religions by fear of the unknown, against which we defend ourselves in the vain belief that proper prayers and sacrifices can ward off illness, disease, famine, and death. The atheist sees this as immature and regrettable.

Atheists may also try to show that it is highly unlikely that any god exists, since the features ascribed to the deity are too improbable, just as the doings of Santa Claus are too improbable for grown-ups to believe that anyone could perform them. Thus it seems highly improbable that an all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful Being would allow the multitude of evils that beset animal and human existence. The standard religious reply—that these are mysteries that it is not open to us to fathom—leaves a concept of God sufficiently far removed from human life not to be worth serious attention.

Finally, atheists will typically stress the dangers of religious belief. These dangers may vary with the exact religion in question, but both in history and in the contemporary world, belief in the jealous, vengeful God of the Bible and the Koran spawns sectarianism and intolerance, bigotry and self-righteousness. There are passages in holy texts that literally command intolerance and hatred of those who are different, contempt of women and shame at sexuality, mistrust of science and reason, and subordination of all other ethical duties to the supreme obligation of the particular religious body or Church.