Why atheism is wrong

[the_methotaku]

St. Anselm made a very intricate argument for the impossibility of true disbelief in God in his Prosologion. Here's the link to the wikipedia entry on him. Essentially, he argued that the reality of God was inherent in the concept of 'God', because God is greater then everything, and a real God is greater then a made-up God. Only it's longer and

Comments

[dogmatix_san]

Atheism is logic. Why believe in something you have not personally experienced? Something that cannot be proven and may not exist? If the Christian god is as the sources(i.e. Bible and clergy) portray, then why did He not stop the Crusades? Or the Inquisition? Or any of a hundred other things? Why does He not correct those 'misguided' souls who do not believe in Him or follow Him, or follow the 'wrong' factions of Christianity?

If He is not as the sources portray, then what should one use as a basis to determine either His existence or temprament? Why is it more logical to believe in the Christain god than than it is to believe in Buddah, or Shintoism? Why does the concept of god(s) need to be Christian - what gives Christianity the perogative of getting it any more right(or any more wrong) than any other religion? Wouldn't belief in Zeus or Odin or Hathor or kami be equally valid? Or equally invalid? Why is it wrong to ask for proof before belief? Why is belief the be-all and end-all of religion?

Why does there have to be a higher purpose? It's scary to think that there might not be, but that doesn't automatically mean there is. Humankind doesn't know everything, not by a long shot, but to believe blindly and without confirmation is something atheists choose not to do. If the existence of a greater consciousness or greater consciousnesses could be proven, that'd be one thing, but as of right now, that's not the case.

I am not an atheist, but I think that, zealots aside(and you can find those anywhere, in any religion or area or movement), athiests are probably braver on a day-to-day basis than someone who kills others or imolates themselves for a religion without personal proof of the veracity of that religion.

So no, I do not consider atheism wrong. It might not be right for you, but that that doesn't make it wrong.

[apeiron_gaia]

I agree with most of this, sans the bravery part. It takes a lot of guts to form one's life around an eschatological hope and divine ideal. For me, who has been both a believer and an atheist, belief is far more scary and difficult.

Most days I do think atheism is wrong. But I have no proof for it and it isn't illogical to be one.

And I have never been able to get the worth of Anselm's argument. I think it is pretty silly.

[the_methotaku]

So what caused the Big Bang?

An atheist cannot answer this question. A Christian, Jew, Moslem, or deist can all say God caused it.

[the_methotaku]

Oh, and that's Aquinas's argument, not Anslem's.

[dogmatix_san]

Well, saying that it was caused by a god is all good and well, but can their god say the same? Again, it's a matter of known, proven facts with theories postulated from that vs. an unproven statement. In the end, it may or may not be true, but as of yet there is no proof.

[the_methotaku]

Well, I'm not saying that the Big Bang proves Christianity is true, just that it shows that it is illogical to say definitively that there is no God, or at least no pantheon of gods.