Atheism Central for Secondary Schools

"I don't have to know an answer, I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell. It doesn't frighten me."

Richard Feynman, physicist

"For many, faith is a suitable substitute for knowledge, as death is for a difficult life."

Anonymous

"It is often said, mainly by the "no-contests", that although there is no positive evidence for the existence of God, nor is there evidence against his existence. So it is best to keep an open mind and be agnostic. At first sight that seems an unassailable position, at least in the weak sense of Pascal's wager. But on second thoughts it seems a cop-out, because the same could be said of Father Christmas and tooth fairies. There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't *prove* that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?"

Richard Dawkins

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

Carl Sagan

"It is easier to suppose that the universe has existed for all eternity than to conceive a being beyond its limits capable of creating it."

Percy Bysshe Shelley

"What the mind doesn't understand, it worships or fears."

Alice Walker, "The Temple of My Familiar"

"I combat those only who, knowing nothing of the future, prophesy an eternity of pain- those who sow the seeds of fear in the hearts of men- those only who poison all the springs of life, and seat a skeleton at every feast."

Robert G. Ingersoll

"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."

Gene Roddenberry.

"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying."

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

"The path of sound credence is through the thick forest of skepticism."

George Jean Nathan, 'Materia Critica'

"If such a God did exist, he could not be a beneficient God, such as the Christians posit. What effrontery is it that talks about the mercy and goodness of a nature in which all animals devour animals, in which every mouth is a slaughter-house and every stomach a tomb!"

E.M. McDonald, "Design Argument Fallacies" An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism

"Faith cannot move mountains (though generations of children are solemnly told the contrary and believe it). But it is capable of driving people to such dangerous folly that faith seems to me to qualify as a kind of mental illness. It leads people to believe in whatever it is so strongly that in extreme cases they are prepared to kill and to die for it without the need for further justification."

Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (New edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 1989).

"A fact never went into partnership with a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of wonders. A fact will fit every other fact in the universe, and that is how you can tell whether it is or is not a fact. A lie will not fit anything except another lie."

Robert G. Ingersoll

Agnostic
This term was invented by Professor Thomas Huxley in the 1880's to describe his world view. He was the father of Aldous Huxley - the author of 'Brave New World' which is famous for publicising the idea of test-tube babies back in the 1930's.
Thomas Huxley found himself surrounded by many who were confident they had solved the problem of existence either by being theists, atheists, pantheists, materialists, etc. He, on the other hand, was certain that no answer could be found for the problem of existence but was without a label to describe his point of view - so he invented one and described himself as an agnostic. Many of those who criticised him said this meant an agnostic was a person who did not know what to think. His answer was that he did know what he thought - and that this was that no answer could be found.
Agnostics, he said, did not have a creed, they had a method which was to be open-minded and to "follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration." "In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable."
Thomas Huxley was also happy to descibe himself as a freethinker.

Another common, but incorrect, definition given for agnosticism is undecidedness as to whether or not god exists. This is most often used by theists trying to argue that agnosticism is a sort of wishy-washy non-committment as to whether or not god actually exists. Since theists tend to think that non-belief in god is irrational (or impossible) they often describe agnostics as theists who are hiding their belief in god.

Apostasy
Abandoning one's religious belief.

Arguments:

Cosmological argument
An argument for the existence of god that claims that all things in nature depend on something else for their existence so the whole cosmos must ultimately depend on a being that exists independently of anything else: a 'first cause' of everything.
This argument began with Plato who reasoned for a first mover (or cause) of the universe. Every day we observe things moving, he said, and whatever moves is either moved by something else or moves itself. If a thing is moves itself it must be eternal, or there would never be movement of any kind in the first place. We call this self-mover God.

Ontological argument
St Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) started it all off saying "a being than which nothing greater can be conceived". Even a fool, he said could accept that idea. So he set the scene for us to be able to think of an absolutely perfect being. What he said next was put better by Rene Descartes (1600's) who described it this way: it is impossible to think of an absolutely perfect Being as lacking anything. If an absolutely perfect Being did not exist, then it would lack existence. Therefore, as it is clear that an absolutely perfect Being cannot lack existence, the Being must exist.
(Tricky idea isn't it?)

Teleological argument
Also know as the 'argument from design' this is the argument for the existence of god based on evidence of order, and hence design, in nature. So there must have been a designer.
William Paley (1743-1805), the Archdeacon of Carlisle, presented possibly the most famous argument. He said that if youfound a watch in a field, you would conclude that it was made by a watchmaker because it had clearly been designed by someone. In the same way, the complex design of the world points to the existence of a grand Designer who we call God.
Psalm 19: "How clearly the sky reveals God's glory! How plainly it shows what He has done!"

Atheism
Derived from the Greek a = not and theos = god: not-god. An atheist does not believe in god or postulate the existence of gods or spiritual beings. Christian religious teachers often give an incorrect derivation of atheism from the Greek anti = against and theos = god: against-god. Presumably this is done to suggest that atheists are evil.

Strong atheism
A strong atheist is someone who does not merely lack belief in god, but believes that god does not exist.

Apathetic atheism, or apatheism
Apatheists don't care whether god exists and, as a result, act as though it doesn't. Very likely, many apatheists have rebelled against past restrictions imposed on them by religion.

Bible
From the Greek 'biblos', meaning book. "Beware of the man of one book." said Thomas Aquinas.

Cult
"A cult is a religion with no political power." Tom Wolfe

Deism
Rather a lot of people are deists without even knowing the word exists. Deists believe in an omnipotent god who created the universe, set up the natural laws that it operates by, and then left the universe to operate under those laws, without miraculous intervention. Deism provides a cosmological explanation for the existence of the universe rather than a personal god one should attempt to communicate with: "I cannot conceive otherwise than that He, the Infinite Father, expects or requires no worship or praise from us, but that He is even infinitely above it." Benjamin Franklin.

Deism began as an attempt to demystify Christianity during the early Enlightenment. It grew into an outright questioning and rejection of Christianity and other mainstream religion. It came into wide favour as a theological stance among the Reason-oriented, skeptical intellectual atmosphere of the Age of Reason. These early deists are heroes of the atheist world because it was they who first began publicly (and successfully) to question the Christian world-view.

Important Deist thinkers of the Age of Reason include Voltaire, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson. The first British deist to write a book was: John Toland, who wrote Christianity Not Mysterious. Thomas Paine wrote The Age of Reason. Both of these books are very readable today.

Divine command theory
The idea that whatever god wills is good - so tomorrow god could will something that is bad today, but tomorrow it would be good. This highlights a major problem that religions have when they rely on a god for their ethics. 'God is good', you might say, and could never make something good tomorrow which is bad today - but then, of course, in that case he wouldn't be omnipotent - so he wouldn't be god. An omnipotent god must have the power to do anything, including bad (today) ones, and nothing theologans could do or say could change that.

Compatibilism
A belief that there is no contradiction between the natural processes of the universe (as identified by science) and the creation of the universe by god.
In particular there is no necessary contradiction between evolutionary theory and belief in a divine creator. Compatibilism is scorned by some scientists: Richard Dawkins, for example, wonders, "Why deliberately set [life] up in the one way that makes it look like you don't exist?"
Pope John Paul II has issued a statement saying, "fresh knowledge leads to recognition of the theory of evolution as more than just an hypothesis." The pope even suggests that humans arose from animal ancestors but added that, "If the human body has its origin in living material which pre-exists it, the spiritual soul is immediately created by God."

Empiricism
An empiricist bases what he knows only on his observation and experience of the world around him regarding the information provided by his senses as valid.

Epistemology
From the Greek episteme = knowledge.
The study of the nature of knowledge: how do we know what we know? are there things we cannot know for sure? So an epistemology is a way of knowing what the world is like.

Existentialism
Philosophical theory emphasising existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining his/her own development.

Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is an attitude of mind. A Fundamentalist is to religion what a Nazi is to politics. Fundamentalism is characterized by unquestioning submission to an absolute authority and intolerance of alternative view points. Fundamentalists are a faction within a larger, more tolerant, grouping. Although ostensibly directed against 'infidels' the real target of their intolerance is most often the other more tolerant members of the same religion (or belief system). Fundamentalism is a form of infighting within a broadly-defined religious group - acts of terrorism and so on are more to establish face-validity within this larger group than to effect any real change amongst the 'infidels'. However, to the degree that fundamentalists encourage intolerance or hatred from outsiders they strengthen their power within the broader group of which they are a part (outside pressure always gives more power to extremists within any group).

Fundamentalists always claim to be the true torch-bearers of their faith but in practice often have a poor grasp of the underlying principles of the religion or belief-system they claim to represent.

Freethinker
A freethinker rejects authority and dogma, especially in his religious thinking, preferring rational inquiry and speculation.

Frisbeetarianism
The belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.

"God in the gaps" approach
The idea that what science doesn't know is the bit that is explained by the existence of god(s).

Heaven
"Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company." [Mark Twain]

Hell
This is the place most people will go to when they are dead (according to the Old Testament). Here god will torture you (or allow you to be tortured by the devil - same difference) for an infinite period of time. Here the behaviour of the 'god of love' towards you will be totally unforgiving and unloving - and without any humanity whatsoever, and with no tea-breaks.

Humanism
Humanists believe that human beings have the right and responsibility to give shape and meaning to their own lives. They aim to build a more humane society upon an ethics based on human and other natural values derived using reason and free inquiry. They do not believe in anything supernatural.

Noncoherentism
Noncoherentists think it is rationally impossible make meaningful statements about gods, including whether they exist, because so far there have been no sufficiently coherent definitions of "god" advanced. Atheists are frequently (if not always) noncoherentists, and point out that the most common definition of a god is that the nature of god is beyond the ability of human beings to define.

Physicalism
A viewpoint proposing that the mind is solely a physical phenomenon i.e., it is the result of physical phenomena and has no nonphysical component (no 'spirit' or 'soul'). Consciousness arises from purely physical phenomena. Physicalists see the minds of animals and humans as fundamentally similar, differing only by degree and in the human use of language. By definition, most (if not all) atheists are physicalists. The majority of neuroscientists are also physicalists, although this is not to say that the majority of them are atheists - this is not known to the author.

Presuppositionalism
The idea that the correct and only way to view reality is through the lens of a Biblical world view. "...by what standard can man know anything truly? By the Bible, and only by the Bible" Gary North.

Rationalism
Theory that reason is the foundation of certainty in knowledge, the attitude of mind which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason. A rationalist is beyond dogma, and believes nothing is beyond questioning, as nothing is absolutely certain to be true. However, some things are more reasonably likely to be true than others, and it is personal, rational observation that serves as the basis for all knowledge.

Reality
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick.

Reconstructionism
A Religious Right movement in the United States that seeks to replace democracy with a theocratic elite that would govern by imposing their interpretation of "Biblical Law." Reconstructionism would eliminate not only democracy but many of its manifestations, such as labor unions, civil rights laws, and state schools. Just to give some of the flavour of life under a Reconstructionist theocracy: death would be the punishment for apostasy (abandonment of the faith), heresy, blasphemy, witchcraft, astrology, adultery, "sodomy or homosexuality," incest, striking a parent, incorrigible juvenile delinquency, and, in the case of women, "unchastity before marriage."

Secularism
Secularists believe in the separation of church and state. Nor should religious groups have privileged access to political power to influence the framing of laws or the executive governance of the state. The historical results of any such influence should be erased. No religious groups should be in receipt of state funds or subsidies (e.g., tax relief), nor benefit from methods of information dissemination directed or funded by the state - e.g., education in state schools, programming on state funded television channels.

Although most secularists are atheist or agnostic it is perfectly possible to be a secularist and a priest without contradiction. Typically, secularists see stae reinforcement of religious distinctions between different groups as being divisive and unhealthy for social harmony and progress - a priest might well agree with this point of view.

Skepticism
Skeptics believe that there is a lot of hocus-pocus about and set out to disprove it if they can - they seem to be very successful! They are not only concerned with debunking religious hokum but also occult, paranormal, supernatural and pseudoscientific ideas and practices in general. They love showing that magicians and faith-healers are cheats by exposing them.

Greg Keogh of Australian Skeptics says "I think the vast majority of Skeptics are total atheists, but there certainly are some startling exceptions. I've met a few subscribers over the years who follow conventional religions, but are repelled by fundamentalism and biblical literalism, hence they find the Skeptics a helpful group. One of our supporters is Archbishop Hollingsworth in Brisbane! He wrote the introduction to Ian Plimer's 'Telling Lies for God' book."

Theodicy
Theodicy is derived from the Greek words for 'god' and 'justice'. This term was first coined by Leibniz in 1710 when he examined the problem of evil : if god is good then why do so many cruel and 'unjust' things happen in the world? Also see here. Leibniz tried to show not only that the evil in the world does not conflict with the goodness of god, but that, notwithstanding its many evils, the world is the best of all possible worlds.
The argument that a benevolent god would not have created such an evil world is such a potent one that the discussion of the nature of god and the evidence (or otherwise) for its existence became very closely linked. Nowadays the word 'theodicy' is used in the wider context of trying to prove that god exists by the the use of reason alone with reference exclusively to the natural world. A theodical argument would be: 'Look at the astonishing variety of plants and animals there are! No natural process could have caused such a thing!' Theodicy is thought of as a science by those who practice it!
Theodicy could also be called 'natural theology',

Theology
Theology involves the study of god as drawn from the sources of supernatural revelation. It is very concerned with proving the existence of god and discovering the nature of god. In some ways there are parallels with the attempts to prove the existence of UFO's and describe aliens.
Those who write about UFO's are entirely unscrupulous. How many photos of Adamski's flying saucers have you seen in books and magazines, when it is well-known (or should be) that before he died Adamski took delight in explaining how he had faked the evidence? How many theologians are thoroughly aware of the dishonest claims of the Christian religions but somehow manage to overlook them? They are perfectly aware, for example, that the Christmas story never took place. Why do they still teach it to children? Why do they still teach it to adults?
The difference, I suppose, from my point of view, is that I would love to go for a ride on a UFO (a real one), but can't summon up the same enthusiasm about god!