Top anti-religion arguments
From the Arguing Atheist feedback form:
I find your site interesting.
What do you feel is the top five arguments against any religion?
Or the singular argument that no one can refute.
Thanks
Off the top of my head, I’d say that my top five arguments against any religion (assuming a narrow definition of religion that excludes world views that are vaguely defined or have no conscious supernatural elements) would be:
- An all-powerful supernatural being is less likely to exist than a group of very-powerful supernatural beings, and a group of very-powerful supernatural beings is less likely to exist than a natural explanation.
- When faced with something I can’t explain, it is more likely that I do not have enough information or intelligence to come up with an explanation than it is that the explanation is supernatural.
- You cannot demonstrate that your religion is true. If a deity or deities exist, they are likely powerful enough to deceive you if they desire, and we have no way to test their desires.
- The more science humanity learns, the less room there is for the supernatural. Over time, claims of supernatural happenings tend to either diminish or become harder to verify.
- Throughout history, humans have created supernatural explanations for natural phenomena and have allowed stories to grow and become mythical over time. Religion would exist whether or not deities exist.
I don’t think there is an irrefutable argument against religion. Any argument I can come up with could be countered by new evidence or by an argument I had not previously considered. The closest I can come to an irrefutable argument would be this: I see no compelling reason to believe that deities exist.
I didn’t spend a lot of time coming up with these, so my readers may have suggestions for improvements.
on January 2, 2011 at 11:09 am
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I prefer these Q&A format posts over the Q1/Q2 posts, they are easier for me to internalize. Thanks for doing them.
on January 4, 2011 at 8:16 pm
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With that said what is the explanation to the creation of the universe. Big bang or whatever how can something come from nothing.
on January 22, 2011 at 6:27 am
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Precisely, how can something come from nothing? If your reason behind the question, anonymous, is that god created the universe, or something to that effect, then where did god come from? Surely not from nothing, because you just questioned that very idea. And if you wish to argue that god has always existed and is outside the realm of time, etc, please provide proof.
on June 22, 2011 at 8:16 pm
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I was once an atheist. Before that I might have been tepid christian, out of habit. After, I was an agnostic. All position I felt were in some way unsatisfactory. Atheism was difficult. Atheism is the doctrine that there is no God. This takes the position that God ‘exists’ then denies it. To hold this position of Atheism one must show that it is possible for there to be a god then prove that this possibility is not realized.
What I say is that in fact Atheism is a religious doctrine.
Now where does that leave me on the issue?
?????????????????????
on March 19, 2012 at 6:44 pm
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Atheists will inherit ((((HELL))))
on December 23, 2012 at 4:00 pm
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It is more likely that many christians will inherit “hell”. Atheists do not do good deeds because “something” tells them to, they do it because they are kind human beings. Think about it, christians are the most judgemental group the world has seen, yet they preach to accept people for their differences…. Yeah right.