Philosophy has two meanings. The word describes either
- a way of behaving and living, or
- it is the study of the unanswerable questions around us.
The second is the one that interests me the most. But atheism is neither the one nor the other. It has no “ism”. It does not classify as a philosophy. Somebody who tells you he is an atheist is not telling you who he is or what he stands for. He is only telling you who he hates.
Gods, deities, religions (gdr) and the Great Mysteries
I know that gods were invented by man but I find atheism lacking in substance and very unsatisfactory. It is a-theism but effectively has no ism of its own. Atheism, at its core, is no more than a reaction to theism. It defines itself in opposition to the belief in gods or a higher power. Without the concept of a god or gods, atheism could not exist. Gods and deities and religions (gdr) were invented by man when they found mysteries which could not be explained. Gods and deities were labels for the unknown answers to unanswerable questions. Religions came about because it was realised that the labels could be hijacked to coerce people to follow a desired way of life. The second part – the religion part – was nearly always created by the unscrupulous and always as a way of coercing the behaviour of the gullible. Religions always have a political goal and a political objective – the coercion of a particular kind of behaviour. Nevertheless, it seems entirely logical that the gods of the winds and the seas and the mountains and the sun and the moon would be invented when the natural world defied explanation and generated awe and wonder among humans. Gods of creation and destruction and even their anti-gods were inevitable given that humans kept asking but found that there were no answers. (Deities and pantheons of gods probably came about to make for more interesting story-telling and also probably to avoid divine labour disputes and to acknowledge the different skills they possessed)! Man invented gods and then fantasized about men being in the image of the invented gods. Gods and deities were arbitrarily invested with human or supernatural characteristics. Elaborate stories were concocted and theologies built around the concoctions but the Great Questions remained unanswered.
In any event, the Great Mysteries which have been Great Mysteries since the dawn of man and which remain Great Mysteries today are (such as but not restricted to) existence, time, causality, space, matter, energy, life and consciousness. Neither science nor philosophy nor religion or metaphysics or theology are any closer now to providing explanations for these today than homo erectus had available a million years ago. No atheist is closer to answers to the Great Mysteries today than any beatified saint of the Middle Ages. Modern physics and cosmology have no possibility of addressing their own fundamental assumptions. Modern science can not contemplate its own navel. Existence and time and causality and matter and space are merely assumed. They can neither be addressed or penetrated. The spark of life and what makes for consciousness are as mysterious today as in Buddha’s time. The Big Bang is just another creation myth which requires something to come from nothing. Sounds Divine! Quantum mechanics depends upon the God of Random (since random means without cause) and the claim that any form of existence is probabilistic is merely proof of ignorance. (Statistics and probability only come into play in the field of ignorance. If you know something, probability of outcome is meaningless). Physics does not know what the stuff of the fundamental particles is/are. Quantum mechanics does not know what makes waves particles or particles to be waves. (and waves of what, one may ask).
What atheism is
The “new atheism” is really just a virulently aggressive form of old atheism and just as unsatisfactory.
New Atheism is a movement characterized by a group of prominent atheists who argue that religion is not only false but harmful to society. This movement emerged in the early 21st century, primarily popularized by authors like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett.
Key characteristics of New Atheism include:
- Assertion of atheism: New Atheists openly and assertively declare their atheism, often contrasting it with the more passive or private atheism of the past.
- Criticism of religion: They argue that religion is not only false but also harmful, leading to irrationality, violence, and oppression.
- Emphasis on reason and science: New Atheists advocate for a reliance on reason and scientific evidence as the primary means of understanding the world, rejecting religious claims based on faith or revelation.
- Promotion of secularism: They support the separation of church and state and advocate for a secular society where religious beliefs do not influence public policy or institutions.
- Public engagement: New Atheists have been highly vocal in their public criticisms of religion, often engaging in debates, writing books, and giving lectures.
While New Atheism has been influential and sparked significant debate, it has also faced criticism for its aggressive tone, ….
Atheism has no “oomph”
A denial of gods, deities and religion (gdr) is existential for atheism. If others did not believe in gdr, no atheism could exist. But neither the old nor the new atheism has any “philosophy”, any “ism”, of any significance that it can call its own. It has no philosophical “oomph”.
Attacking gods and their imagined human attributes is not difficult. When an atheist does so it requires no great intellectual exertion. Taking god-labels literally and attacking them is no great feat. But explaining the reasons why gods were invented in the first place is beyond any atheist. What I find particularly irritating with atheists being smug is that when they attack gdr they are effectively saying “I don’t know what existence is either but I know it isn’t gdr”. It is the worst kind of logical self-contradiction there can be. “I don’t know, but I know it isn’t what you say”. They claim to use reason but fall at the first hurdle. Atheists claim a higher level of ignorance. It reminds me of children arguing. “I don’t know but you don’t either. Yah, boo sucks to you”.
I have observed that the high priests of the atheists sometimes claim – almost as a desperate justification that atheism is more than just a criticism of gdr – that it also has its own distinct philosophical base. They invoke the principles of Empiricism, Naturalism, Skepticism, Humanism, and Secularism as being somehow a part of atheism. But atheists did not invent any of these and none of them need atheism for their existence. Furthermore they forget that the regime of logic and reason they espouse is itself a belief like any other, and is a belief which cannot be proved. Naturalism – and obviously also atheism – are silent on the great mysteries of existence, time, causality, life, space, matter, energy and consciousness. Atheists say they are skeptical of claims that are not supported by evidence or logical reasoning, and are particularly critical of religious claims that are based on faith or revelation. And yet all of science and knowledge are based on impenetrable fundamental assumptions. The Big Bang is just another Creation story and we still have no clue as to how gravity is mediated. The curvature of space-time is a mathematical construct and now String Theory has been discredited and Dark Matter probably does not exist. Atheists often claim to be humanists setting great store on the value of human life and on the importance of reason, compassion, and cooperation. These are just assertions, with no connection as to how things actually are. An atheist’s humanism is simply wishful thinking and lacks any logic as to how the lofty principles of humanism can be compelled to prevail. It is little more than sentimental claptrap. Instead of being the champions of a secular society, they have merely created a new intolerant religion.
The “philosophical elements” supposedly underpinning atheism only succeed in showing up atheism as being a religion on its own. Orthodoxy is defended by the new self-appointed high priests. Heretics are subject to inquisition and torture by YouTube or social media. The worst of the blasphemers are sacrificed by cancellation. Unthinking acolytes serve as the foot soldiers, torturers and executioners representing the high priests of the new religion. Admit it or not there is a virtual High Church of the New Atheism. Their ideas and beliefs are effectively “orthodoxies” assumed or asserted to be true or correct. Certain individuals, such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, are treated as “high priests” in the sense that their ideas and arguments are blindly accepted without criticism. There is a high level of intolerance and criticism directed towards those who disagree with the views of new atheists. There are undoubtedly modern “inquisitions” with the public shaming or cancellation or condemnation of those considered heretics. The foot soldiers who deify the high priests then become overly zealous and dogmatic as they blindly imitate and reproduce the ridicule of heretics without any exercise of mind. Just as all unthinking acolytes.
I don’t have much time for gdr. They do not offer me the answers I am looking for. But atheism – new or old – has no substance of any kind to offer either. It only offers petty arguments for attacking gdr. It makes no attempt to address the Great Mysteries of existence, time, causality, matter and energy, life and consciousness. Atheism, in fact, is cowardly in that it attacks labels instead of trying to address the mysteries which led to the invention of the labels.
Somebody who tells you he is an atheist is not telling you who he is or what he stands for. He is only telling you who he hates.
Atheism – old or new – has no good purpose at all. It has no “ism” and it certainly has no “oomph”!
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