ON GODS AND UNICORNS
COMMENTARY BY LUCY WARNER AND OTHERS
DECEMBER 12, 2016


http://advancedape.com/atheism-is-a-belief/

Why Atheism Is A Belief & Its Unacknowledged Claims
Posted on June 28, 2016 by Joshua Scott HotchkinLeave a comment
atheism is a belief

Atheists in their Almighty Snark like to make absolute statements and poorly constructed arguments that their worldview does not constitute a belief. They are also keen on insisting that their statements and arguments contain no claims, and are rather just a rejection of the unsubstantiated claims of non-atheists. The problem that generally arises from this rhetoric is that these assertions are based on the inability of atheists to unpack their own ideologies and recognize the underlying premises and metaphysical assumptions they entail.

First let me say that if you clicked on this article with some idea that the author is a theist, you would be completely wrong. Even if I tried to use pre-existing labels for my beliefs, they would still need endless explanation, and if I am doing that right I would probably end up having to adjust those beliefs by the end of it. In the same manner, if your atheism applies only to a rejection of the specific doctrines of theism laid out in Judeo-Christianity based on it’s claims, this article will not be about you. This is for the hard atheist, the truly faithful adherents of the belief that only our physical senses can detect reality and who have rejected any type of creative force, divinity or cosmic intelligence besides our own.

The Hidden Claims of Atheism

The first argument out of the atheists mouth is going to be something along the lines of – “Prove God exists.”

First of all, ‘proof’ does not apply to the question at all. Proof is a term used in axiomatic knowledge to acknowledge that the parts of an axiomatic model do not contradict one another. Therefore nothing in nature -or- reality can be ‘proven’.

This is actually a very important function of the empirical system the atheist is attempting to appeal to. Empiricism ‘proves’ nothing. Its goal, in fact, is quite the opposite. It is meant to ‘disprove’ knowledge that does meet methodological criteria or contradicts its dependent models. And actually it does not even disprove, but rather, sets it aside as knowledge that is currently subservient to one or more ‘better’ models.

Even if empiricism did ‘prove’ absolute objective knowledge eternally, which is the most fantastically egoic form of afterlife imaginable, it would still not be reliable because we cannot ‘prove’ that empiricism actually produces meaningful results. While the central tenet of modern scientism, the sect of atheism most adherents belong to, is that only science (the empirical method) can provide meaningful, valid statements about existence – empiricism cannot even validate itself. You cannot use the empirical method to prove the validity of the empirical method, so such thinking is circular logic built upon faith and not reason.

This does not mean that science is useless. It just means that like every other human endeavor, it is limited, and that its value comes from subjective human experience and not some objective source. There is no external source. We are using our subjective consciousness to make supposedly objective statements about reality, which is a lot like using tinted glasses to prove that all colors within the wearers perception contain the hue used in the glasses tint.

However the biggest unacknowledged claim made by atheists, and the one they are most likely to avoid using even more denial and circular logic, is that the fundamental nature is primarily physical and all mental contents are just fantastic illusions magically emerging from the complexity of matter. But the adherents of this belief, materialism (physicalism, naturalism, dualism, etc.), are gonna need more than one free miracle.

Buried in this claim is a metaphysical premise, or rather, a whole set of metaphysical premises. In order to make the claim that physical existence is primary, you must be willing to claim that you have come to this conclusion using your consciousness. And if you believe that your consciousness is an illusory side effect of matter, than you have already marked it as unreliable as a tool for making such claims. This would be like a cake recipe that claimed that only cakes exist, and that cake recipes are just illusory side effects that arise out of cakes. A rational person would put this cookbook down and find another. The hardcore atheist would take a picture of the recipe and snidely share it online with their friends that enjoy baking.

One simply cannot escape metaphysical premises. They underlie every single human question and answer. Rather than acknowledge their metaphysical premises, such as the nature of reality and methodological validity, atheists will just outright deny metaphysics altogether. This is the secular version of claiming that “God planted dinosaur bones to tempt the unfaithful away from His truth.”

Atheism Is A Belief

Again we are caught in the circular logic of denial. While the atheist likes to think that their account of reality is just a retelling of ‘proven’ knowledge, they fail to understand what ‘proof’ means and that objectivity is what is being attempted – not what is being produced.

The attempt at objectivity, while impossible and often misused, is indeed a noble attempt. Trying to understand what is ‘true’ outside of our individual experience has a lot of utility purpose. Yet an ability to produce results does not prove the validity of a method.

For instance – even though people believed that the earth was at the center of the universe, their model of the universe aided human navigation for centuries. The premise of geocentrism was later determined to be false, but the models it created still provided the desired results in an efficient manner.

Or let us consider gravity. The Newtonian model of gravity was the basis for the entire branch of classical physics for a few hundred years. Then some smart ass patent clerk came up with the Theory of Special Relativity which rendered the Newtonian model of gravity obsolete. Just kidding. Newtons model of gravity is still used by physicists and engineers to produce results – even though it has been usurped by a model that relegated it to recycle bin of scientific accuracy.

In order for the atheist version of reality to escape its confines as a belief, it would have to be validated by a completely infallible source. And since atheists firmly deny the existence of such an entity, even if such a source did exists, they would either be forced to deny it or dismiss the rest of their claims.

Whatever you think is true is a belief. Whatever you think is not true is a belief. Whatever you think is probably partially true or almost completely false is a belief. Pretty much the only statement that can be made which does not express a belief is – ‘I don’t know’. And even then you are expressing a belief that your intuition and guesses are false.

Modern religion can certainly be a drag. It is used by opportunists to manipulate people of all faiths. The worst offenses are those in which it claims absolute authority over all knowledge forever, which is exactly what both most modern religions and atheists do exactly alike. The only difference is that while the former makes absolute claims about what is, the latter makes similar statements about what is not. Both ideologies are equally flawed for nearly the same reasons.

Yet the atheist, in modern intellectual circles, enjoys a position of superiority. While it is pretty easy to dismiss an ideology that an all-loving omnipotent being wants you to hate people who use their genitals in ways that do not gain it new subscribers, most people are unable to navigate the claims of hard-lined atheists simply because they do not understand the flaws in their argument. Which is the result of a recursive feedback loop created not from rational skepticism, but from a denial rooted in faith in premises and assumptions that go unacknowledged in the foundation of atheists’ arguments.


Facebook Comments


Pat O'Brien · Jupiter, Florida
This is an interesting article. A fellow atheist and I were discussing some of these things recently. Consciousness and metaphysics, etc. We also discussed how many atheists are religious about their atheism. Finally - a point you did not make - many, if not most, simply replace the god of the bible with the god of the state.

I will say this - I am not as well spoken as you are on much of this but I will compare my atheism to my disbelief in unicorns. I just see no reason to believe a god (or a unicorn) exists.


Aug 25, 2016 4:49pm

Lucy Maness Warner · Freelance Writer/ Blogger at Retired
I agree with your statement about the existence of gods and unicorns, except that I WANT to see a unicorn, so I have spent a good deal of time down through the years on mythology. I'm an agnostic because I not only can't prove the existence of a god, but because I am comfortable in the safe reliability of physical reality. I just don't go much farther into these subjects that that, not because I think those who do are stupid, but because in my view they are societally borderline insane. They are totally formed by "group think" and will follow any story told by the leader, as long as it is illogical enough. That's what they call FAITH. I would much prefer a meditative and philosophical religion like Buddhism. I could get behind the ideal of not killing life forms. I am a member of the Unitarian Universalists. Their "creed" is an ethical code. I wish religion would not be taught as a mandate, but rather as a source of speculation and self-expansion in the direction of GOOD rather than EVIL. I do believe in evil, because there is no other way for me to understand simple-minded viciousness and cruelty. Because of that belief, I do my news blog most days using articles that point up our great need for more attention to the RESULTS of our "beliefs." Jesus said about the different beliefs that we will "know them by their fruits." We are presently being ruled by the worship of money, and are reaping its' harvest -- Greed, hatred, war, lack of thought, injustice, and so on. Though we are in a dangerous time period now of potential loss of our democratic way of governing and even the sanctity of human life, especially in the uprising nowadays of intensifying racial, religious and ethnic hatred; we have down through thousands of years of similar turmoil finally came out of such periods. I believe after that there will be a reestablishment of sanity, after most of the cruel have been killed, and a new group of gentle and decent people will take over. People with the ability to be GOOD are born every day. Individuals die, but society progresses. God Bless!


Allen Crowley · Tarrant County College
Nice essay. I think the fundamental question for people is, "Do you base your beliefs on evidence or faith?" The axiomatic principles like existence exists, identity, consciousness, etc. only function when attempting to base one's beliefs on evidence.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · Jul 1, 2016 1:37pm

Gabrielle von Mises · Admin at Satisfaction Hive
Like you my beliefs about god or a higher power cannot be pigeonholed neatly. I have always found atheists to be annoying, smug and weak-minded. Thanks for sharing your views.
Like · Reply · Jul 1, 2016 6:21am

Paul Ringger · Digital Marketing at LensRentals.com
How does irreligion fit in?