Are there too many atheists in the world?

Question

Are there not enough? Would the world benefit from their eradication, or their increase in strength?

Answer 1

No, as everyone's ideas are important, and they are all equally as valid.

Answer 2

A few days ago I was reading an article somewhere (I can't remember the website or else I would cite the thing) but it said something to the effect that Atheists make up somewhere between 3 or 14% of the world's population. That's a pretty small percentage, but somehow, certain people still see them as a threat. Most Atheists are not Atheists because they want to sin, or do things that the Bible or God says they can't do, they do have morals (at least some of them) and most of them aren't that way because they want to be. You are what you are. As far as "eradicating" them goes, that's too close to being another type of holocaust or something, like Hitler did with the Jews. People are people regardless of their religion, ethnicity or beliefs and should be accepted as such, but more often than not, they aren't.
Personally, I don't necessarily want to "convert" other people to believing, or in this case not believing the same things that I do. It's not that I do or don't beleive in a Higher being, it's that I just don't care. But, I think everyone has the right to make up their own mind about the existence or absence of God, or anything else for that matter.

Answer 3

Of course not.

There are no studies that show that atheists are causing disruptions in the world, or that they are causing wars and whatnot. All I can see them doing is stating their beliefs (or lack of them), and then moving on with their lives.

Personally, I think the world needs to forget about religion and focus on life without it. I know that that will never happen, but religion is a major weakness of the human race. It is a major cause of war, and it does not truly serve a purpose in life anymore. Hundreds of years ago it was used to unite people and empires, helping hold cultures together. Now, however, it has no purpose other than to fight science advancements and start wars based upon something that can't even be proved to exist.

Sure, religion can stick around. I just hope that the focus drops off a lot in the near future. Otherwise, it might be the end of the human race.

(Ironically, many atheists are scared to admit their lack of religious belief for fear of persecution or discrimination in some places, namely the United States. So, I find it amusing that people are wondering if there are "too many.")

Answer 4

If it's NOT OK to suggest the eradication of Christians, Jews, Muslims (or any other religious group) then it is not OK to ask it about Atheists. That said, I am OK with asking it either way, mainly because I am an Atheist and don't get bent over opinions/suggestions/general discourse.

Given all that, I refuse to answer a question such as this based on the total lack of relevance to the real world and it's incredible silliness, pointlessness and other nesses. :P

Answer 5

Too many in what sense? Too many to suit you? Too many to suit me?

How can there be too many to suit me, for example, when I have no way of knowing for sure how many in fact there are because it's none of my business and I have no right to ask?

Why isn't it fatuous to ask whether the world would benefit from their eradication when it would be criminal to eradicate them? Or to ask whether the world would benefit from their increase in strength when there is no way to force, compel, or coerce an increase in their strength?

A life span of a million years would not be long enough to justify wasting our time agonizing over such questions.

Chapter 25 of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," by Douglas Adams, begins with the story of how "many millions of years ago a race of hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings . . . got so fed up with the constant bickering about the meaning of life . . . that they decided to sit down and solve their problems once and for all.

"And to this end they built themselves a stupendous super computer which was so amazingly intelligent that even before its data banks had been connected up it had started from 'I think therefore I am' and got as far as deducing the existence of rice pudding and income tax before anyone managed to turn it off.

"It was the size of a small city."

After the super-computer had been turned on by two programmers and had identified itself as "Deep Thought," it asked for its assignment. The programmers responded that the assigned task was to provide "The Answer" to "The Great Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything."

Deep Thought, after giving the matter some thought, responded that it would be possible to provide "The Answer" but that it would take seven and one-half million years to do so and that they would not like it when they heard it.

And so it came to pass that seven and one-half million years later the two who had been designated to ask Deep Thought for The Answer approached the computer and asked for it. Deep Thought hesitated and finally, after much hemming and hawing, managed to squeeze The Answer out word by word with great effort.

"All right," said Deep Thought, "The Answer to the Great Question . . . of Life, the Universe and Everything . . . is . . . is . . . 42."

Answer 6

O.K. first off when the sub-text to the question "should they be eradicated" is just uncalled for! Atheists are people to and in the Christian bible it says "love they neighbor" not "love they Christian neighbor." And to answer your question, yes, i think the world would be better off with more atheists. Why? Because look what religion does to people and i really mean LOOK. Education gets stunted because of church ideas, millions and millions have died or have been killed in the name of god or gods. We need atheists that believe in the real and are not diluted by the root of all evil.

Answer 7

Yes, but one must keep in mind that atheism is as much a religion as Christianity or any of the others. I doubt that the world would be a better place without them because some new group would spring up in their place. As for their claims to objectivity, atheists spend just as much time defending their position that there is no God as theists spend saying there is a God. Hence an agenda, objectivity lost.

Answer 8

Maybe yes or maybe not. What I mean is that if the majority became atheist, then we will not have all these issues and wars based on religion. On the other hand, if people were not afraid of going to hell (even if it does not exist), we probably would have a lot more murders, rapes, etc. So I guess we have to choose the lesser evil, which I am not sure which one it is.

Answer 9

More would be better. We need more free thinkers in the world. Just blindly leaving everything up to a higher power is not reasonable. Everyone needs to realize that it is up to them. That would only be really achievable if atheists had a voice, and to have a voice there need to be a larger number.

Answer 10

I agree with Luis, there aren't enough atheists. Otherwise we would be facing the real issues at face-value. How about giving up some of that land that's used for churches,synagogues and mosques for some housing for the poor and the homeless...the very people whose soul they claim to represent.

Answer 11

Athiests are needed. Their questions make us question what we believe, and in questioning, we find more answers.

To believe without questioning is fanaticism, and a road to ruin.

The Bible says that there is a time and a place for every purpose under heaven. The Tao says that balance in all things is necessary. So too with belief and disbelief.