by Draven

Created on: February 28, 2007   Last Updated: June 04, 2010

Hypothesis: Atheism is wrong

Assumptions

(1) Atheism comes in 2 distinct forms which must be treated separately and
(2) "Wrong" is in the eye of the beholder.

Atheism defined

There are two forms of atheism, broad and explicit. Broad atheism is the most common form. It is defined as the absence of belief in any god or gods. The explicit form of atheism, on the other hand, explicitly denies the possibility of the existence of any gods.

As you can see, the broad definition does not deny the existence of a god or gods, it is a statement of non-belief without any assertion that what others believe is actually wrong. The explicit form on the other hand, asserts that a god or gods do not exist, period. This may seem like a small difference, but it's actually huge.

Broad Atheism

Broad atheism is self-supporting and consistent, because it applies only as a belief system of the individual practicing it. The burden of proof between theism and broad atheism falls on the theist to prove their god or gods exist. Proving to the theist that their god or gods do not exist is not even something a true broad atheist would want to do, because their belief system does not oppose other belief systems or even the possibility that gods do exist. The broad atheist just finds it so improbable and unknowable that spending any time or effort attempting theism no longer holds value. Of course there may be other reasons broad atheists have for their beliefs.

Explicit Atheism

Explicit atheism is not self-supporting. An explicit atheist asserts that the absence of gods is not just their belief, but a fact. Asserted facts must be supported by evidence, and now the burden of proof falls on the explicit atheist to show it is impossible for gods to exist. It comes down to their belief being asserted as a fact. To my knowledge there is no self-sustained logic that a explicit atheist could use that would achieve their objective. The broad forms of both atheism and theism are based on beliefs that are not falsifiable at their core.

Wrong?

As stated earlier, right or wrong is in the eye of the beholder. A perfectly acceptable practice in one culture may be completely wrong elsewhere. All belief systems, atheism and theism included, can be observed with the "explicit" or "broad" approaches.

For instance, a Christian, Muslim, or atheist who assert the others do not have the right to practice their beliefs, or that they should and will be punished for what they believe are in the "explicit" category. Sometimes this means that an entire sect of a religion can be explicit in nature. Their beliefs explicitly state that people who do not worship their god or gods in a particular manner will burn in hell for all eternity, for example.

In these same belief systems exist people who are "broad" believers, and do not force their beliefs onto others or dismiss them without any evidence or discussion. These people observe respect and tolerance for others who believe differently than they. They believe what they do because it is what makes the most sense to them personally, and they do not expect the rest of the world to comply with their belief system.

Conclusion

Explicit atheism will be incorrect until a self-supporting argument can be made that disproves the possible existence of any god or gods. Broad atheism is not either wrong or right in an empirical sense, it only takes on one or the other property for the individual judging it.

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