aren't these last few years the real birth of atheism?

Question

I have seen a few christians offer that one evidence of the strength of the logic of apologetics is that christianity has endured 2000 years of people trying to disprove it.

Now, the way i see it, skepticism and atheism are both remarkably NEW ideologies.

first of all, up until 300 years ago, atheism as a philoshical view was so virtually non-existant that there did not even exist a word for someone who did not believe in god. The word "Atheist" first meant someone who did whatever they wished without concern of god's laws and such.

And even though atheism has existed as a philosophy for the last few hundred years, the ideas and arguments that argue for atheism (textual criticism, empiricism, philosophical arguments, ect.) has been given almost no exposure to the common man.

even these last few generation (1940-1980's) atheism has been such a anathematical, taboo issue that most people had never been introduced to it in any meaningful way. Most people had never heard articulate arguments in support of atheism. Chances were that the any time the idea of atheism was ever brought up to most people, it was dismissed with barely even a superficial examination. It was never taken seriously and there was good reason for that. Why would many average people take too much of an effort to disprove the existence of god. Especially when atheism was quite unpopular?

Even today atheism is taboo.
Just a couple months ago, for the first time, a member of congress admitted that he is an atheist. The first one.

My point is this: aren’t these last few years, in which people have been arguing about the veracity of Christianity on the internet, print media, and tv, the real birth of atheism?
Haven’t these last five or so years been the first time where average people have been exposed to passionate and earnest skeptical contentions to faith?

Answer 1

I think it is amazing how many people misunderstood the point of your question. Of course atheist have existed to some extent through out history. Your question didn't deny that at all. It just points out that it wasn't until the last few decades that one could be open about doubting without receiving death threats. Yes, the last decade has been the real birth of atheism. Never before have so many people openly denounced the existence of the supernatural. The International Atheist Association recently held its very first convention. Great thinkers and authors from all over the world came to speak on the irrationality of religion, and thousands of atheists like myself showed up just to prove to themselves that they aren't alone anymore. Yes, this definitely is a new era for atheism.

Answer 2

"first of all, up until 300 years ago, atheism as a philoshical view was so virtually non-existant that there did not even exist a word for someone who did not believe in god."
That's just not correct. There have been atheists as long as the idea of gods have been around. When Christians were being to the lions, the Romans called them 'atheists'.


"And even though atheism has existed as a philosophy for the last few hundred years, the ideas and arguments that argue for atheism (textual criticism, empiricism, philosophical arguments, ect.) has been given almost no exposure to the common man."
Fair enough. I bet you can guess as to why that is...


"My point is this: aren’t these last few years, in which people have been arguing about the veracity of Christianity on the internet, print media, and tv, the real birth of atheism?"
I prefer to liken it to the Cambrian explosion ;-)


"Haven’t these last five or so years been the first time where average people have been exposed to passionate and earnest skeptical contentions to faith?"
Actually it's been more like fifty. The past decade has just seen a spike in curiosity.

Answer 3

while fundamentally speaking, yes, in these last few years, atheism has come into its own right, domain and sanctuary.

In times past, there have always been atheist though by and large, they acted like Christians, having been steeped in the doctrine of the church and influenced by godily men.

In more recent times, the educational system has been slowly becoming more humanism based in its teaching pushing defunct religion such as darwin.

In the current time period, you have the creation of things like the golden compass which is a direct attack, openly on the children of faith, as well as those who have not been exposed to any religious teaching. This is open warfare, the soul of children at stake.

Given that atheist do not see this as anything of substance shows how little they understand the world around them and how fragile the ecosystem of our society is.

In basically 20 years or so, our country has gone from a place where crime was low to a crime ridden sewer. If that is progress, then the atheist should re-examine what progress is. Is he safe in big cities. If his car broke down in a part of town he is not familair with, would he feel safe to walk a mile for assistance.

Social engineering is that all this is called, it is all godless and destructive.

we clearly are the last generation of christians, and the atheist will see what the world they think they want is really like. I am guessing very few will die old or of natural causes.

I like apologetics and have suggested people examine these documents when they are wondering about the bible. Josh McDowel has done a wonderful job of putting this into a document that is easy to examine at a library and see what is true.

Most will die in their sins

I have never met such close minded people as atheist, who assume they know it all.

Answer 4

That is very true. Atheism is growing really fast nowadays. Allot of people have an eagerness to look towards questioning many things today and seeking truth. Apologetics are more common in atheism today then they ever were. Part of this comes from the advancements of science and how we find other solutions to problems instead of the old,"God did it," mentality. If a man were to question the authority of religion then from now he'd be stoned to death. On another note, there are still some religious fanatics who believe that all atheists come from communism although it's been around since the dawn of man. People are born without beliefs and they still don't understand.

Answer 5

What you say holds true for the USA, but not for a lot of other so called Christian countries.

The USA is largely the odd country out where Christian beliefs are concerned. One should remember that the Plymouth Bretheren were detested in England and they had no option but to settle the New Land otherwise they would likely have been put to the sword or imprioned for their overbearing holier than thou attitudes.

Most Western European nations saw massive declines in Church numbers at the end of the Great War (WW-I) and a massive rise is both agnosticism and outright aethiesm. These declines were compounded after WW-II as even more people turned their backs on the Christian Faith and seldom if ever attend church. Though to be fair they will still call themselves "Christian"

As others have said, atheists and agnostics have been here since day one of the Christian Church, they just kept their heads low, lest they loose it in a fit of Christian zeal and kindness.

Answer 6

Nowadays the world is a much smaller place. Ten years ago you could talk to people all over the world on discussion boards such as we have today. As communication is made more free between may different group the closed off insular groups like the religious types get exposed to a whole world of views they wouldnt you get in their backwater town. Atheists have been around n big numbers for decades. The god squad are only starting to notice this now however.

Answer 7

We've never been allowed to question religion before. (And if we did, we had to find a new country in order to do it.) But before all that, people were killed if they didn't believe in Zeus. And then people were killed if they didn't believe in God. Atheists have always been "the devil" blah blah blah. Religion, in general, discourages thinking. All of your thoughts must come from a book someone else wrote, otherwise you are sinning. Because we are not threatened, we are free to think whatever we want. Many people choose not to, but I think more and more people are starting to.

Religious beliefs prohibited science in some cases, this is no longer the case, and science will finally shine a light on the flaws of all religions. To be an atheist in the past required a different level of genius. Today, it really is (or should be) obvious. But when less was understood, it was easy for philosophers to turn to Gods or spirits. I think that also contributed to the (seemingly) fewer atheists.

Answer 8

Well let me ask you a question. Now if you were to go in front of the Inquisition holy fathers - what would be your choice? Would hanging by your privates from a 10 ft rope be a choice to consider or would you claim christianity? Of course that was old fashioned, now they just tell you you will burn in hell forever. Hmmm, I wonder how it survived?

Atheism has always been around, Ingersoll was a fantastic atheist - did a lot of writing - late 1800's. Not new, society no longer allows the inquisitors. But I do wonder, they might be on the horizon....

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Read Christopher Hitchens God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and The Portable Athiest.