Is there any such thing as an Atheist Fundamentalist?

Question

I have met athiests who preach their viewpoints almost as fanatically as other religious nuts....could these people be atheist fundamentalists?

Answer 1

I don't know if fundamentalist is the right word for it, but yes, there are a lot of extreme Atheists.

Like religious people there are Atheists who are happy to believe what they want and leave others alone, and there are some fanatics that try to force their beliefs on everyone else and hate anyone who disagrees with them.

Answer 2

There are those who are extremely passionate about it. I am myself spending way more time talking about religion then I ever used to. I think this is a reaction to religious fundamentalism which has arisen in various branches of religion. This is an unhealthy thing in many people's perception and has gone largely unchecked by the more middle of the road believers. Whenever you have a situation like that I think it is somewhat healthy to have a counterbalance. I am glad the voices are out there. Lets face it many people are impressionable regardless of the veracity of what they are being told. If all they hear are fundamentalist preachers and that atheists are evil a lot will absorb that uncritically.

When atheists start saying ban religion or take away Bibles, not allow personal icons to be worn, discriminate against the religious, or shut down all churches, and other crap like that then I agree its gone to far. That to me is atheist fundamentalism. I support freedom of personal belief just not the imposition of it on others. To be honest I really don't think there are many atheist who want or think these sorts of things. They just want religious and nonreligious tolerance and respect for diversity.

Answer 3

There are no real 'fundamentals' of atheism, so strictly speaking you can't be a fundamentalist. But the word has begun to be used for anyone who is deeply committed to a world-view of some sort, so from that angle it kinda fits.

Some atheists have proposed there's a scale of atheism, from 'weak' or 'soft' to 'hard' or 'strong' atheists.

I guess I'm a 'strong atheist': I'm entirely convinced that there are no gods, and utterly opposed to all religion, which I see as an evil and dangerous influence on society.

CD

Answer 4

"Like Muslim or Christian fundamentalists who stick to each and each nuance in the Quran or the Bible?" What might an atheist fundamentalist stick to then, precisely? Atheism is purely the shortcoming of a theory in a god. What nuances of that are there to stick to? Being an atheist does not say something a pair of individual different than that they don't have a theory in a god. the belief of an atheist fundamentalist does not make any coherent experience to me - it fairly is like the belief of an "obsessive non-stamp collector"

Answer 5

I think most rational Atheists cannot flatly say that "God does not exist, that is an absolute fact - 0% probability". Rather, it is by our very reasoning and rationality that we base things on probability and evidence. Personally I think that it is extremly unlikely that God does not exist, but I can't rule that out for sure, and I doubt anyone will be able to. We can, however, state as fact that God does not exist as it appears in Scripture. This isn't Agnosticism - that is for people who consider God's existance as more like a 50/50% split.

I think those 'fundamentalist Atheists' of which you speak (those that argue God doesn't exist as an absolute) are misguided.

Answer 6

No, atheists do not have an equivalent of the Bible nor beliefs to be fundamentalist about, atheists simply do not share the theists belief in God or Gods and that's all there is to it.
Of course there are antitheists and they go a step further but that it is something other than plain atheism, antitheists not only do not share the theists belief in God but they see theistic belief as potentially and sometimes literally dangerous and destructive ...positively parasitic.

Answer 7

Good for you! You've noticed!

Basically, it comes down to this: people can be divided into 2 categories - quarrelsome and agreeable.

Fundamentalism, dear friends, does not require a particular religion or the lack of it.

Nor do good manners and breeding. Much underestimated these days.

Answer 8

The words Athiest and Fundamentalist don't go together!

Fundamentalist
fun·da·men·tal·ism (fŭn′də-mĕntl-ĭz′əm)

n.
1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

2.
a. often Fundamentalism An organized, militant Evangelical movement originating in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century in opposition to Protestant Liberalism and secularism, insisting on the inerrancy of Scripture.

b. Adherence to the theology of this movement.

Answer 9

Passion and fanaticism has nothing to do with it, in order for the belief to be fundamental there has to be some authority who declares something to be true, and we take that as absolute truth. Indoctrination. Atheism has none of that.

Answer 10

The fundamental basis of atheism is the non-belief of the existence of a god and all things supposedly created by him.