Is Atheism Viable?

Question

Atheism is, essentially, a negative position. It is not believing in a god, or actively believing there is no God, or choosing to not exercise any belief or non-belief concerning God, etc. Whichever flavor is given to atheism, it is a negative position.

"Since atheism cannot be proven and since disproving evidences for God does not prove there is no God, atheists have a position that is intellectually indefensible."

Faith, however, is not something atheists like to claim as the basis of adhering to atheism. Therefore, atheists must go on the attack and negate any evidences presented for God's existence in order to give intellectual credence to their position. If they can create an evidential vacuum in which no theistic argument can survive, their position can be seen as more intellectually viable. It is in the negation of theistic proofs and evidences that atheism brings its self-justification to self-proclaimed life.

Answer 1

I totally agree! Well said!

I expected the thumbs down...wow, so many atheists! tsk, tsk...

Answer 2

I'm a Christian, but I'm telling you this because you're embarrassing me. This is just the kind of thing that makes them think we're nuts. You're trying to disguise rambling nonsense as a logical argument. It makes no sense. First of all, what does having a "negative position" mean? I DON'T believe a meteor will crash into Earth today killing us all-- do I hold a "negative position"? Or, conversely, I DO believe the tree in my backyard will start sprouting money tomorrow". Do I hold a "positive position" here?

"Since atheism cannot be proven and since disproving evidence for God does not prove there is no God, atheists have a position that is intellectually indefensible.

This is ridiculous. Atheism needs no "proof". It is not incumbent upon anyone to PROOVE something doesn't exist unless it can FIRST be proven TO exist. It is God that cannot be proven or disproved. Do you believe there are invisible pink elephants flying in the skies? Which makes MORE sense-- that YOU have to prove there are NOT, or I have to prove there are?

Let us have faith, but please stop insisting that atheism is "intellectually indefensible". You're on VERY thin ice.

Answer 3

So very very wrong. I'm surprised that you are not ashamed of yourself.

1: Atheism is not a 'negative' position, it is merely a position taken which clearly states that we deny the existence of something that isn't there. That, to me, is positive thinking. Just as we deny the existence of the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, aliens in our midst and any other non-existent entity.
2: Nonsense to say that atheism cannot be proven, as atheism certainly exists. Maybe you needed to word it better. Maybe you meant that the ideal of atheism, the unacceptance of any god, cannot be proven. No again, our ideal stands as solid existence. Your follow up sentence is also garbage. It is intellectually defensible that, since there is zero evidence for and plenty of evidence against, that, logically, there is no god. That is abundantly clear.
3: Your diatribe about faith is equally as nonsensical. The fact is that, in the main, thousands upon thousands of atheists couldn't give a flying fig about whether you live a life of delusion or not, as long as religion of any kind does not interfere with education and government. Your having faith in the premise that something exists when it doesn't does not disturb me at all. I feel pity but that's about it. I don't have the need to prove the non-existence of a god and, I think that I can speak for all atheists, neither does any one of us. If you are disturbed that atheists exist and are a challenge to your fantasies, it is down to you to prove to us that your god is real if you wish us to become as you. You know full well that that is not going to happen.
Until such time as you can demonstrate to mankind that any god out there is actual, no-one with any applied intelligence is going to believe you. None of us will be holding our breath waiting for that to occur.
All gods throughout history have been an invention of man. Any current manifestations are equally as imaginary. To believe otherwise is the product of delusion and, more often than not, the result of childhood indoctrination. Mental cruelty to children with no doubt, foisting lies upon the impressionable and trusting children and so perpetuating the myth. Religion is a curse upon mankind.

By the way, I wrote all this off the top of my head and nothing has been copied from anywhere else. Can you say the same?

Answer 4

"Since atheism cannot be proven and since disproving evidences for God does not prove there is no God, atheists have a position that is intellectually indefensible" This statement totally ignores the laws of logic both in application and in trying to justify its assertion.

Atheists, or at least I, would be happy to review actual scientific evidence for the existence of god. The keyword here is scientific as theistic arguments are generally circular i.e. the bible is right because it says it is or faith based i.e "I believe, therefore it is right". Evidence would be something like the Egyptians recording a time when the Pharaoh stopped the sun or caused it to move backwards.

Essentially these statements sound "good" or intellectual but are a illustration of you can prove anything if you start with a false premise.

Edit:
Understand that belief or faith does not change facts. You can believe that Paul Revere was the one warning the colonists be shouting "the british are coming!" but the reality is he was one of three and most likely did not shout as that would have warned the loyalists.

Answer 5

Why don't you list your source? I'm sure CARM.org would like the publicity. I think they need it, seeing as the intellectually vacuous arguments they post chase away anyone with a firm grasp on reality and the uses of logic.

It would be intellectually indefensible if the atheist was making a positive claim. The atheist is only asking that the positive claim be shown to be true, and until then they are not believing it to be true. This is the same position you, yourself, hold in regards to every other religion.

Answer 6

No it is not a negative position. Atheism is not a position at all. On the contrary, all adherents to a faith are in the negative position. If you say your god is the only real one then you are negative to someone who says no you're wrong their god is the real one. Atheists on the other hand have no position. We simply don't see any evidence that either one of you are correct. Not saying you're wrong, which would be a negative position, just have no reason to believe you are right. You may very well be right but you simply haven't provided me the evidence to convince me so far. So what is negative about my position? I positively look forward to observing any and all evidence.

Answer 7

Unfortunately, you've got it backwards. You're asking atheists to prove a negative position, which is a logical impossibility. In reality, the burden of proof lies on the party making the positive assertion, ie the statement that a god or gods actually exist.

Also, theism or atheism are points of view, and can't be "proven", as such. The proof is in the assertion of evidence, and again, burden of proof falls on the positive stance.

Good try, though.

Answer 8

To the atheists that claim as fact that God doesnt exist, you are 100% correct.

All they can do is gather available evidence in their favor and make a judgment based on faith since they cannot prove without a doubt their worldview is making 100% correct assumptions.

Answer 9

There is nothing wrong with not believing. In fact, since belief is aquired throughout life, it is important to remember that everyone is born without it.... human and badger alike.

It doesn't need to be defended because there is nothing to defend. Non-existence is the only viable default state of all things until it can be demonstrated that they do in fact exist... for the only alternative is to consider all things existant and potentially overload the brain in the process!


On the other hand.... you seek to defend that which cannot be proven by any means... and whose only measurable feature is its complete and utter absence.
And you think to call Atheism indefensible....
Silly human.

Answer 10

"Atheism is, essentially, a negative position."

And that's where I stopped reading. Because when your first statement is an outright lie, the rest that follows won't be much better.
You've made up your mind about what Atheism is (or in this case, is not) and nothing will change that.
By all means, enjoy your ignorance. But don't for a moment think we'll let something like that slide....

Answer 11

Of course both theism and atheism act on faith. God can never be proved or disproved. I just happen to lean toward the atheist side because the likelihood of the existence of a supernatural being seems overwhelmingly unlikely, in light of the available evidence.

When it comes down to it, I suppose I'm really an agnostic, leaning toward atheist. That's because, to me, and with all due respect to my atheist brethren, agnosticism is the only intellectually defensible position.

In fact, I think we're all agnostics -- theists and atheists alike. The rest is just opinion.