The 5 Best Arguments for Atheism

• John Vandivier

This article discusses 8 commonly used arguments for atheism - 5 apparently good ones and 3 more obviously bad ones which are actually sometimes used. At least one has some merit to it..

 

5 Apparently Good Arguments for Atheism

Selected based on frequency of use by atheists

  1. From The Definition of Atheism
    1. Atheism is defined as lack of belief in God. Atheists don't believe in God. Therefore, atheism is true.
    2. The problem with this proof is that it has no bearing on the truth value of the claim that God exists, nor on the moral claim that one should believe in God.
  2. From Moving Goalposts
    1. Let P(G) be the probability that God exists and let A(G) be the goalpost requirement, or the likelihood of God's existence as perceived by some particular atheist which is required for that atheist to convert. For any P(G) there is some A(G) > P(G).
  3. From Straw Men
    1. Many religions have demonstrably false beliefs. All religions are pretty much the same. Therefore, all religions have pretty much false beliefs. Therefore, atheism.
  4. From Preference
    1. Even if God is real, people shouldn't support him because he is bad and mean.
  5. From Christians
    1. Many Christians do bad things, so it is implausible that Christianity is a force for morality.
    2. Actually this proof is not weak, unlike the others. This proof actually uses what can be considered a Christian brand of reasoning, a la Matthew 7:16 and more.
    3. I think a decent rebuttal is three-fold:
      1. First, not everyone called a Christian is actually a Christian. This is not a logical cop out, but a teaching in Christian scripture. Matthew 7 killin it today.
      2. Second, even if Christians do bad things it may be plausible that Christianity is a force for good, provided Christians do bad things less often than others.
      3. Finally, I think most of us have met jerks who ended up being right or super nice dudes who ended up being incorrect. While I hope Christians are both correct and nice, there seems not to be a necessary link between the two. In addition, Christians are sometimes disliked for committing subjective wrongs rather than objective wrongs, but admittedly we do much of both.

3 Really Bad Arguments for Atheism

At least you would think so based on logic and data

  1. From The Big Bounce
    1. The big bounce is true, therefore God doesn't exist.
  2. From The Definition of Science
    1. Asking whether God exists or not is not a scientific question. Therefore you shouldn't ask it. Therefore, atheism.
  3. From Dibs
    1. Some portion of Christian theology, or perhaps all of it, seems to be very similar to some ancient religious beliefs. Therefore Christianity is probably not true. Therefore atheism.