EPTTo talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, God, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no God, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise: but I believe I am supported in my creed of materialism by Locke, Tracy, and Stewart. At what age of the Christian church this heresy of immaterialism, this masked atheism, crept in, I do not know. But a heresy it certainly is. Jesus told us indeed that 'God is a spirit,' but he has not defined what a spirit is, nor said that it is not matter. And the ancient fathers generally, if not universally, held it to be matter: light and thin indeed, an etherial gas; but still matter." letter to John Adams, August 15, 1820
~Thomas Jefferson
a. INTRODUCTION: Atheism's distinct influence on western culture
Atheism is a recent and a rather distinctive western phenomenon in accepted unbelief of the divine. The suddenness of the public shift, from devout believers to unbelievers is quite sudden. What is intriguing however is atheism's rarity in the historical record of other cultures. Only in western culture do we now find such a wide spread public rejection of the divine. Throughout these last fifty years, which is as long as the Gallup Poll (The Gallup Report 1935-1985) has shown that privately Americans regularly answer “Yes,” to the question “Do you believe in god?” However even with this resounding affirmative, the references to god in public discourse are few and far between. America has become a nation of public and practical theists. (Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless, x-xii)
Atheism; The Fight for your mind
Atheism has only had a noticeable effect on western culture. No where else in the historical record of other nations, cultures, or countries has atheism had such a large impact on public perceptions of the divine. (Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless) Atheism is a relative newcomer on the theistic stage. Yet in the western world it's pull is undeniable. Atheism does not try and save the soul, instead it attempts to save the mind.
Atheists themselves began the psychological approach to the question of belief. Indeed, many atheists are famous for arguing that believers suffer from illusions, from unconscious and infantile needs, and form other psychological deficits. A significant part of the atheist position has been an aggressive interpretation of religious belief as arising form psychological factors, not the nature of reality, Furthermore, this interpretation has been widely influential. In short, the theory that God is a projection of our own needs is a familiar modern position and is, for example, presented in countless university courses. (Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless, 13)
The proponents of the idea that theistic belief is inevitably a mental illness was propagated by some of atheism's earliest proponents. Some notable atheists include: Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Bertrand Russell, and Jean- Paul Sartre. Today Atheists do not only rely on psychology, but science.
Presentation of Research
The intention of this paper is to identify atheisms validity as a religion, and to compare and contrast the attitudes that atheists share, dealing with believers and non-believers alike. It would be this students goal to try and show that atheism is indeed a belief system, and is in fact more like theistic religions of the past than a rejection of said religions. Before dissecting atheism's place in todays modern society, an abridged history of atheism will be given. This history of atheism is a vital part of understanding the modern day atheism, and it's current place in science, religion, and the American mind. The term “atheist” is coined from the Greek term atheistos, meaning something like “one who denies the traditional religion of the Athenian establishment.” Denying the existence of God's (as most modern day atheists do) was seen as a punishable offense in Greek society.
Socrates (469-399bc.) was enforced to commit suicide because of his ideas. One of his accusers Melitus said that the “atheist” philosopher had corrupted the children of the city, by telling them not to believe in the cities gods. However compared to the atheist of today, Socrates would find no place in the radical beliefs that all modern day atheists share.(Grath, The Twilight of Atheism,8) Even established theistic religions of today were once thought of being “atheistic.” The first Christan's were thought to be atheist, because they challenged the pagan beliefs of the later classical world. The term of atheism has been throughout time branded to many people, ideas, and even theistic belief systems.
II. Atheism in the Modern Age:
The western world has always had a deeply seeded belief in god. Partly because of the large role the church has played in it's history. The church was a stabilizing force for the people. However this was about to change. Around the sixteenth century the protestant reformation took place. However this change was not truly a deformation of the church per se. Both Protestants and Christan's still believed in a God. After years and years of the wealthy, and corrupt church ruling the land the protestant reformation helped to bring about a resurgence of atheistic ideals. (Grath, The Twilight of Atheism,10)
While it can be said that at one time the church played an important role in stabilizing the general populace during the dark ages, after the reformation peoples thoughts about the church began to change. Many felt that the church had grown too powerful, and needed to be restricted. The church was now holding back the intellectual, artistic, and political endeavors. Some men took it upon themselves to try and help the church reform, and turn it from a corrupt and lavish organization to something that resembled the early church. Some notable men include Martin Luther (1483-1546), Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531), and John Calvin (1509-1564) (Grath, The Twilight of Atheism,11)
With the Protestant reformation, the ideas of the church were being brought into question. Atheism was at first seen, not as a truly applicable belief system, but a tool to use against the church. The historical origins of modern atheism lie primarily in an extended criticism of the power and status of the church, rather than in any asserted attractions of a godless world. (Gratz, The Twilight of Atheism,11) Suddenly the atheistic ideals first imagined by classical philosophers was finding a resurgence in the modern era. The known unbelievers (Atheists) of Europe and America before the French revolution in 1789 numbered fewer than a dozen or two. (Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless,10) Atheism however was slowly growing in some minds. Soon in 1870 Atheism became a respectable belief in academic and intellectual circles.(Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless,11)
Prominent Atheists in the Modern Era
During the late 19th and early 20th century atheism had found itself embedded in some of the most brilliant minds of the time. Notable atheists: Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Bertrand Russell, and Jean- Paul Sartre. (Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless,3) This paper will specifically explore Sigmund Freud's influence on Atheism, and why this titan of psychology proposed that god was nothing more than an oedipal desire of man.
As is generally known, Freud's criticism of belief in God is that such a belief is untrustworthy because of ti's psychological origins. That is, God is a projection of our own intense, unconscious desires.(Vitz, The faith of the Fatherless,6) Freud's influence in the field of psychology is uncontested. Referred to as the 'father of psychology' Freud gave rise to the science of psychoanalysis. It is not a far stretch of the imagination to understand why Freud would believe that belief in god is simply a figment of imagination. In his book “Future of an Illusion” Freud attempts to explain his position on god. He writes: “Religious ideas have arisen from the same need as have all the other achievements of civilization: from the necessity of defending oneself against the crushing superior force of nature.” What Freud is trying to say is that any religious belief can be quantified urges that man kind has always possessed. He continues: “As we already know, the terrifying impression of helplessness in childhood aroused the need for protection- for protection through love- which was provided by the father...Thus the benevolent rule of a divine Providence allays our fear of the dangers of life.” (Freud, The Future of an Illusion, ed. And trans. J. Stachey(New York: Norton, 1961)
Freud's reasoning for the illusion of God may well refute the existence of a divine being. However if we take a closer look at what is mentioned in “Future of an Illusion” it is quite easy to notice that this explanation could be applied to most anything. If every thing created by people was simply nothing but a construct created for the unconscious desires that as human beings we all share, then surely Freud has them his self. If that is the case, then even psychoanalysis is subject to the same scrutiny. If this is true, and in Freud's own words it is undoubtedly so- then Freud himself is arguing the disbelief of god through yet another “projection” of his deepest desires.
However Freud is not wrong to consider that a belief might be an illusion because it is first formed in the unconscious. Instead Freud inadvertently provides a powerful new way to understand an illusion as the psychological basis for rejecting God- that is, a projection theory of atheism.(Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless,9) The Oedipus complex is a male personality developmental stage, pioneered by Freud. A short explanation is as follows: Around the age of 3 a young boy will develop strong desires (sexual in nature) towards his mother. At the same time, the young child will begin to develop a strong hatred and fear for the father. The child would like nothing more, than to 'dethrone' the king, and take his place. The hatred arises from the boys innate knowledge that the father is stronger, and much bigger. This figure stands in the way of the boys desires. The child fears the father because of castration by the father. The son of course does not really kill the father, but instead learns to life with him. Freud goes on later to explain that the neurotic potential of the situation: “the Oedipus complex is the actual nucleus of neuroses.” Freud is just saying that many of mankind's neuroses come from this initial Oedipus complex. (Vitz, Faith of the fatherless,11)
Because Freud has stated that is the epicenter of all of our neuroses, he had developed a sound reason as to why people would try and reject god. The Oedipus complex is completely unconscious, and is formed in the early years of life. It is dominated by the hatred of the father (in this case god) and the unconscious desire for god to not exist. This is represented by the child's wish to kill the father.
Therefore, in the Freudian framework, atheism is an illusion caused by the Oedipal desire to kill the father (God) and replace him with oneself. To act as thought god does not exist reveals a wish to kill him, much in the same way as in a dream the image of a parent going away or disappearing can represent such a wish. The belief that “God is dead,” therefore, is simply an Oedipal wish-fulfillment- the sign of seriously unresolved unconscious motivation. (Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless, 13) Freud has had a profound impact on how the interpretation of a 'God' figure can be interpreted. This complete and utter rejection of the father figure can be seen in todays more radicalized form of atheism.
III. Atheism in Present Day America
It would seem that atheism has come a long way from it's beginnings. In the western world, it grew from a handful of individuals in the 18th century, and today more than 16% of the world population considers themselves to be atheistic, or agnostic in their belief systems. (http://www.adherents.com) In 2000 alone only 20% of Americans had 'belief' in god. (Grath The Twilight of Atheism, 156) However the question comes to mind, 'why is there a sudden and veritable explosion of atheistic belief?' The answer to that question comes in the form of science. “Science is a way of knowing about the natural world.” (God the Failed Hypothesis, 28)
With the advent of post modern science atheists have come a long way in the accusations they have made to further discredit the theistic faith. Science is seen in our post modern world as something that can fainally bring understanding to life. Most people would agree that science bring empirically tested fact about the reality and nature of this world. It has usurped the churches control over the minds of it's converts, and consequently has become atheisms current tool to undermine the teaching of the church.
One of the most prominent, learned and outspoken atheists to date is Victor J. Stenger. He currently resides as an emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Hawaii and adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado, He is author of the “Comprehensible Cosmos,” “Timeless Reality,” “The Unconscious Quantum,” “Physics and Psychics,” “Not by Design,” and “Has Science Found God?” In his latest work, Stenger argues that with todays modern scientific techniques and current understanding of the material world, that mankind can finally deny the existence of god, and do so with empirical and scientific fact.
It would seem that with empirical and scientific fact, that atheism could not be seen as a religion. However unbeknown to most atheists they are still placing their faith, and beliefs in an altogether different entity. In “God the Failed Hypothesis,” Stenger's thesis is the following: “The thesis of this book is that the supernatural hypothesis of God is testable, verifiable, and falsifiable by the established methods of science. We can imagine all sorts of phenomena that, if observed by means of methodological naturalism, would suggest the possibility of some reality that is highly unlikely to be consistent with metaphysical naturalism.”
Metaphysical naturalism is referencing the inherent and according to Stenger 'supposed' dogmatism that science is naturally materialistic. He further argues that science's influence can go above and beyond these metaphysical constraints. “Any type of dogmatism is the very antithesis of science. The history of science from Copernicus and Galileo to the present, is replete with examples that belie the charge of dogmatism in science.” In Stenger's attempt to try and give a concrete reasoning for the idea that science can observe the supernatural and is not tied down to metaphysical naturalism is absurd.
Science has one major flaw that is inherent in all things. The simple fact is- that the human experience is created by an imperfect means. That is to say that the human body can only receive stimulus from one of the five senses. (Sight, Sound, Touch, Taste, Smell) No matter how hard one may try, it is physically impossible for a human to somehow measure or record a phenomena that is not in some way material. While it is possible to build machines to help us see farther, we still must interpret the data our machines are giving us. In Strenger's thesis he is making the claim that any supernatural god can be testable, verifiable, and falsifiable. It is with this statement that Strenger is assuming that a supernatural god is either materialistic, and or effect's the material world in a testable way. If Strenger were to not state these proofs in his thesis, then his entire study is simply pointless. How does one study something that is immaterial? It just simply cannot be done. In stead Strenger assumes, or more accurately believes this to be true.
Could it be said that one must be a believer to be atheist? While atheism is indeed seen as being anti-theistic, could one not say that atheistic belief is the belief in science? Or more appropriately, the belief in the five human senses? It is not this writers desire to try and drag this into a philosophical debate; yet at the same time, it should be noted that the imperfection of the human senses interpreting our material world is befuddled at best. A short example would be to imagine our sense of sight. The electro magnetic spectrum can be thought of as a wave. A wavelength in the electromagnetic spectrum range from less than 10(-14)m to 10(4) m. The visible spectrum includes wavelengths ranging only from 400 to 700 nanometers.(Sherwood, Fundamentals of Physiology, 139) Our minds understanding of 'light' is so limited, and multiplying this inherent err to all of our senses, one can easily conclude that the simple act of perceiving anything is a belief in itself. Do you really see what is there? Or is the neural pathways going too and from your brain changing the reality of the object?
This is the problem that all people, and science in particular must try and work around. Constrained to a life of limited extrasensory input and understanding. Could man ever truly create a final thesis on the existence or the non existence of god? It seems that Atheists and atheism has deemed that even in the light of their human imperfection that claiming and justifying this statement is very possible. It can be said than that to believe in a theistic belief system is akin to modern atheism. Atheists simply believe in science, and the truth of how their mind interprets reality. Atheism in that sense can be seen as not only a belief but an entire belief system.
Bibliography
Stenger, Victor. God the Failed Hypothesis: how science shows that God does not exist. New York: Prometheus 2007
McGrath, Alister. The Twilight of Atheism: the rise and fall of disbelief in the modern world. New York:
Doubleday 2004
Vitz, Paul. Faith of the Fatherless: the Psychology of Atheism. Dallas:
Spence Publishing 1999
Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. Boston, New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company 2006
Sherwood, Lauralee. Fundamentals of Physiology: a human perspective. New York:
Theomson Brooks 2006
