Recently at a lecture in Philadelphia The Rational Response Squad recorded Richard Dawkins reading his book. Enjoy “The God Delusion” on video

Click here to order the book from Amazon!

The book “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins is a 1# bestseller in the UK. “The God Delusion” also went to the first 3 top bestsellers by The New York Times. It’s a great gift idea for Xmas- Richard Dawkins: The God Delusion.

Popularity: 63%

Western atheism has its roots in pre-Socratic Greek philosophy, but did not emerge as a distinct world-view until the late Enlightenment. The 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher Diagoras is known as the “first atheist,” and strongly criticized religion and mysticism. Critias viewed religion as a human invention used to frighten people into following moral order. Atomists such as Democritus attempted to explain the world in a purely materialistic way, without reference to the spiritual or mystical. Other pre-Socratic philosophers who probably had atheistic views included Prodicus, Protagoras, and Theodorus.

Axiological, or constructive, atheism rejects the existence of gods in favor of a “higher absolute,” such as humanity. This form of atheism favors humanity as the absolute source of ethics and values, and permits individuals to resolve moral problems without resorting to God. Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, and Sartre all used this argument to convey messages of liberation, full-development, and unfettered happiness.

One of the most common criticisms of atheism has been to the contrary—that denying the existence of a just God leads to moral relativism, leaving one with no moral or ethical foundation or renders life meaningless and miserable. Blaise Pascal argued this view in 1669.

In practical, or pragmatic, atheism, also known as apatheism, individuals live as if there are no gods and explain natural phenomena without resorting to the divine. The existence of gods is not denied, but may be designated unnecessary or useless; gods neither provide purpose to life, nor influence everyday life, according to this view. A form of practical atheism with implications for the scientific community is methodological naturalism—the “tacit adoption or assumption of philosophical naturalism within scientific method with or without fully accepting or believing it.”

Philosophers such as Antony Flew and Michael Martin have contrasted strong (positive) atheism with weak (negative) atheism. Strong atheism is the explicit affirmation that gods do not exist. Weak atheism includes all other forms of non-theism. According to this categorization, anyone who is not a theist is either a weak or a strong atheist. The terms weak and strong are relatively recent; however, the equivalent terms negative and positive atheism have been used in the philosophical literature and (in a slightly different sense) in Catholic apologetics. Under this demarcation of atheism, most agnostics qualify as weak atheists.

The Renaissance and Reformation eras witnessed a resurgence in religious fervor, as evidenced by the proliferation of new religious orders, confraternities, and popular devotions in the Catholic world, and the appearance of increasingly austere Protestant sects such as the Calvinists. This era of interconfessional rivalry permitted an even wider scope of theological and philosophical speculation, much of which would later be used to advance a religiously skeptical world-view.

Theoretical, or contemplative, atheism explicitly posits arguments against the existence of gods, responding to common theistic arguments such as the argument from design or Pascal’s wager. The theoretical reasons for rejecting gods assume various psychological, sociological, metaphysical, and epistemological forms.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Popularity: 17%

Metaphysical atheism is based on metaphysical monism—the view that reality is homogeneous and indivisible. Absolute metaphysical atheists subscribe to some form of physicalism, hence they explicitly deny the existence of non-physical beings. Relative metaphysical atheists maintain an implicit denial of a particular concept of God based on the incongruity between their individual philosophies and attributes commonly applied to God, such as transcendence, a personal aspect, or unity. Examples of relative metaphysical atheism include pantheism, panentheism, and deism.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Popularity: 19%

It is difficult to quantify the number of atheists in the world. Different people interpret “atheist” and related terms differently, and it can be hard to draw boundaries between atheism, non-religious beliefs, and non-theistic religious and spiritual beliefs. Furthermore, atheists may not report themselves as such, to prevent suffering from social stigma, discrimination, and persecution in certain regions.

A 2005 survey published in Encyclopædia Britannica found that the non-religious make up about 11.9% of the world’s population, and atheists about 2.3%. This figure does not include those who follow atheistic religions, such as some Buddhists.

Religion for me has been a bewildering and reluctant adversary. For the longest time religion meant belief in some strangers prescription for salvation. As one matures and questions their life and the role of religion in it, certain sticking points become clear. Why so many different perceptions of religion? Why so many different versions of religion? Why so much mutual exclusivity of the various religion doctrines? Belief in one religion shouldn’t automatically exclude an individual from believing or practicing in another. That’s ridiculous. The different and varying threads in the spirituality of religion have far more in common then their proponents would care to admit to. It’s almost as if their saying that you must believe in everything that I say. No picking and choosing, just believe in all, or else your out. And it’s not just the zealots, it seems to be a persuasive thread among most religions.