Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
newyorker.com
Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
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Re: Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
#2As someone from the UK, where atheism is so uncontroversial that people barely talk about it, it is kindof baffling how much everyone in the USA seems to go on about god, and atheists in the USA seem to have some sort of uphill battle to be recognised as people who could be vaguely competent at anything.
Re: Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
#3Atheism also seems to wrongly be a catch-all for things like Agnosticism which is nothing like Atheism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism
"Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. An agnostic can also be one who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic."
Re: Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
#4I once had a long conversation with a religious relative, and I think it boils down to her not believing that someone can be "moral" without believing that god is watching.
Somewhat relevant:
Why Did God Create Atheists?
There is a famous story told in Chassidic literature that addresses this very question. The Master teaches the student that God created everything in the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson. One clever student asks “What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?”
The Master responds “God created atheists to teach us the most important lesson of them all — the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right.” “This means,” the Master continued “that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say ‘I pray that God will help you.’ Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say ‘I will help you.’” —Martin Buber, Tales of Hasidim Vol. 2 (1991)
Re: Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
#5Atheism also seems to wrongly be a catch-all for things like Agnosticism which is nothing like Atheism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism "Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. An agnostic can also be one who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic."
Atheism is the "lack of a belief in God". It's not the belief that there is no God, it's the lack of a belief that there is one. All agnostics are also atheists.
Re: Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
#6As someone from the UK, where atheism is so uncontroversial that people barely talk about it, it is kindof baffling how much everyone in the USA seems to go on about god, and atheists in the USA seem to have some sort of uphill battle to be recognised as people who could be vaguely competent at anything.
Even here on the left coast, I find it surprising how many people are unwilling to admit their atheism, out of some sense of social threat. I was talking to someone from the UK last week who I thought put it really well - what's happening in the US right now is the final throes of a generation who desperately wants to return to their mental image of the past, unwilling to see their own racist, xenophobic, self-absorbsion. I throw religion in that same bucket, as they've (by which I mean the baby boomers) have convinced themselves that association with Christianity == good / holy / right / just / White / American, making it challenging to move forward socially / politically. Bet in 2020 we'll continue to hear the same trope as every other election that sure, we let that black guy get elected, maybe a woman could get reelected, but there's no way we'll let some atheist get elected.
Re: Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
#7Atheism also seems to wrongly be a catch-all for things like Agnosticism which is nothing like Atheism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism "Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. An agnostic can also be one who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic."
I basically assume that when someone makes a statement about atheism, they're actually talking about agnosticism. Those who claim to be atheists are hostile to being told their beliefs actually represent agnosticism, and when providing them a link to this article[1], they have claimed the author is wrong. That is an indicator that most participants in discussions of atheism have not spent a lot of time studying the subject formally (which is probably the rational choice).
Re: Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
#8Atheism also seems to wrongly be a catch-all for things like Agnosticism which is nothing like Atheism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism "Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. An agnostic can also be one who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic."
Atheism is the "lack of a belief in God". It's not the belief that there is no God, it's the lack of a belief that there is one. All agnostics are also atheists.
It seems to depend on the definition you use.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
"Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which, in its most general form, is the belief that at least one deity exists."
Re: Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
#9Maybe it's because Americans like to be alive and atheists have an alarming tendency to kill themselves. I don't know why, but humans are hard wired for religion.
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.16...
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/155/5/413.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26661826
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26110867
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25862549
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25863908
Re: Why Are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism?
#10I once had a long conversation with a religious relative, and I think it boils down to her not believing that someone can be "moral" without believing that god is watching. Somewhat relevant: Why Did God Create Atheists? There is a famous story told in Chassidic literature that addresses this very question. The Master teaches the student that God created everything in the world to be appreciated, since everything is…
i'd like to upvote you about twenty more times, because you correctly nailed down:
1) The disconnect between American Christians and Atheists
2) How (many) atheists approach moral relativism
3) How (in my atheist mind) Christians should approach the world, akin to the way Jesus did.