Thesis on "Theism vs. Atheism"

Thesis 6 pages (1924 words) Sources: 1+ Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Theism vs. Atheism

Atheism, simply put, is the disbelief in the existence of God or any greater being. This basically results in various activities that entail or encompass the denial of God or any of the powers or abilities associated with Him. However careful analysis done on the various approaches of atheists reveals that there are many atheists who tend to have a very unresponsive attitude towards the whole idea of the existence of God. There are many atheists in the history of the concept who have been known to be called atheists because of their disbelief in the pagan gods or more then one God. Socrates, the great Greek philosopher was one of the individuals who went through the criticism of being an atheist mainly from Plato who claimed that Socrates was a disbeliever in the pagan gods. Also, the stringent believers have also rejected any definitions that haven't conformed to what they believe themselves about God (www.infidels.org).

Theism, on the other hand, is the belief in the existence of, at least one God and all his relative attributes. Modern analysis has shown that the new inclusion of theistic beliefs also includes the belief in at least one attribute or trait of God. Hence, the need for two categories of the forms of theism arises: monotheism and polytheism. Monotheism is define as the belief in only one God as the all powerful and sole creator of everything that exists e.g. The religion Islam is one that is based around the belief that defines monotheism. Polytheism is the direct opposite of monotheism and is the belief in a multitude of gods. In polytheism each god has its own selective attributes and tasks that it is in charge and responsible for. The religion of Hinduism is the perfect example of what polytheism is and how it works (www.infidels.org).

Atheism vs. Theism:

Concepts, atheism and theism, being stark contrasts of each other have simultaneously evolved with the evolutions of society i.e. As the society industrializes and modernizes the classic and stringent philosophies and teachings develop and become more encompassing and attuned with the overall growth of all the social structures. Most of these changes and adjustments have taken place from the time of Genesis and many atheists and theists argue that the modernization of their philosophies and beliefs is not restricted to the time zone of the genesis but goes beyond that period of time and continue to evolve without necessarily being contradictory to each other or any of the prior beliefs (Thompson, 2007).

Like every other philosophy, the philosophies of atheism and theism also have a three dimensional existence. The first being theoretical atheism or theism which basically means that the individual truly believes in the values and viewpoint that each philosophy portrays i.e. An atheist truly believes in the non-existence of God and defies the entire idea and a theist truly believes in the existence of God with all his attributes. The second being practical atheism and theism which is socially acting on the beliefs of the philosophy and lives a life based on decisions that are purely founded on the belief of the existence or non-existence of God. The third is confrontational atheism or theism whereby the individuals not only base their lives on the values but also preach it and then also fights for it through confronting first or replying to a confrontation made (Baggini, 2003).

One of the most popular arguments that take place between the theists and atheists is on the idea of proof i.e. proving through practical examples on whether God does in fact exist or does not exist. Yet, throughout history, there have been occasions when the argument has been lost by the atheists on account of some of the more popular atheists like Jean-Paul Sartre making contradictory statements. A contradictory statement made by Sartre was "... As a being that could, it seems, come only from a creator; and this idea of a creating hand that created me refers me back to God." Charles Darwin has also been documented to admit that throughout his findings he has been overcome by the idea that the entirety of his observations was in fact the brainchild of a single mind due to the compatibility and networking that is apparent between all of them (Thompson, 2007).

Another reason that the atheists seem to be in the back of the pack when it comes to winning the argument on the proof of non-existence of God is because of the constant referencing of the miracles from the theists who quote various examples including the most popular one of the resurrecting abilities of various messiahs who had preached the existence of God and in order to prove the extent of his power had performed miracles. One of the other popular examples is the breaking of the ocean that was witnessed by Moses and his followers who after crossing the ocean bed turned around to see that the pharaoh and his soldiers, their pursuers, get engulfed as the ocean water merged back together (Baggini, 2003).

One of the popular statements made by many popular atheists like Karl Marx and Vladimir Stalin is the atheism is the true or original concept whereas theism is only a philosophy created on the foundation and circumstances that were brought about by atheism. The theories presented by Karl Marx are highly influenced by the atheist theories first presented by the Greek philosopher, Epicurus. However, Darwin himself is perhaps the most influential of all atheists as he has influenced some of the most stringent philosophers like Vladimir Lenin, Trofim Denisovich Lysenko Mikhail Bakunin, Feuerbach and many more (Thompson, 2007).

Karl Marx stated that religion is the source of all of the risks and negativity that is created in the society and is the reason why societies destroy each other. This of course refers to the confrontation side that has already been mentioned above. However, the fact remains that the confrontations that take place all over the world are not just religious bound but there are many that spring out from strong atheists' cults like the KKK (Martin, 2007).

Sigmund Freud is another one of the most influential atheists. His belief was that the concept of religion and the idea of following a religion was the main reason behind an individual's downward spiral in the social world because it made the individual think negatively and decreased his overall mental ability to perform at a high or productive level. Freud genuinely believes that in order to stay healthy, it was important for an individual to move outside the realms of religion and to avoid all forms of religious beliefs so that the cerebral negativity that comes with a religious belief can be avoided.

Perhaps this is the belief or argument that has been proven most inaccurate with the passage of time i.e. Freud's theory about maintaining good health through the ignorance or avoidance of religion. It is now in fact a proven theory that the spirituality and religious beliefs of an individual are instrumental in making them face and come through harsh realities and tough situations. In the U.S. alone, there are above 80% medical experts who truly believe that the spiritual growth and religious background of an individual is extremely important for a person's healing process to be successful and sustainable (Mohler, 2008).

One of the main focuses of atheists all over the world has been Darwin's evolutionary theory and how everything was meant to evolve from simple into complex structures and how the society is merely a survival of the fittest where only the ones who are willing to trample over anyone can move forward without any justice being in place for those who choose to let go and are not willing to succeed at any cost. Of course there are many scientists whoa are popular theists like Simon Conway who truly believe that yes evolution happened and continues to happen but the extent of existence is not limited to the theory of evolution as it simply does not encompass everything. he further adds that the one of the most common tricks used by atheists in their arguments presenting theory of evolution is the misuse of the word evolution and using the examples of long-term changes synonymously with the evolution theory and deceiving the lay listener to believe in the importance of the non-existence of God (Viney, 2004).

One of the most talked about theists is today's world is the President of the United States of America, George W. Bush. Bush has made statements whereby one understands that he truly believes that the overall philosophy of single creative mind behind all of existence proves itself over and over through simple analysis of any and every network on planet earth, organic, environmental or otherwise. The downside however for the theists groups of societies is the rising unpopularity of Bush on the global showcase. His decisions of pursuit of warfare are very often used by many atheists of the… READ MORE

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