Does Atheism Attract Evil ?

[wannabe]

Atheism
Attracts Evil ,
Because it has nothing to back it up.

Therefore Evil has an easy target and manifest.

Would it be true to say that the 'pool of christianity' that exists within our society
feels a stronger resistance ( as opposed to those without a god ) to Evil,
given that the Christian God is supposedly Anti-Evil.

Sort of like a force that pushed evil from one place to another until Evil finds a
better place to live. ( Jesus's love exposes evil,) (for he sees all truths and has
high moral standards.).

Cant verify the facts, but i think that the higher percentage of Evil doers
would fall by the way of Atheists.

Simply because of of the way Evil unfolds (or tries to become ).

If someone wants to run with a bad idea, they are not going to
run it through the church first.

So does Atheism Attract Evil ?

[wannabe]

[Replying to post 9 by Zzyzx]

Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary statistics
On July 24, 2013, CNS News reported:

“ Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world’s population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) in South Hamilton, Mass."[6]

https://www.conservapedia.com/Global_at ... and_trends

this might help explain the numbers game but not the direction of Evil.

[Charles]

Christians though, it's worth pondering at length the source of evil …

Evil in this verse is actually S7451. ra' - רַע: adversity but since adversity and calamity and disaster are bad for us רַע gets also gets interpreted as evil.

Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. is the translation that is most correct to the meaning of the word רַע. Your argument fails due to a false premise.

[brunumb]

[Replying to post 9 by Zzyzx]

Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary statistics
On July 24, 2013, CNS News reported:

“ Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world’s population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) in South Hamilton, Mass."[6]

https://www.conservapedia.com/Global_at ... and_trends

this might help explain the numbers game but not the direction of Evil.

It seems to depend on where one gets their statistics. Here is a set that demonstrates the opposite:

In recent reports, Barna (and other researchers) have noted that Christianity is on a steady decline while Americans’ identification with atheism continues to increase. Barna tracking data show that in 2003, just a little over one in 10 Americans claimed to be atheist, agnostic or of no religion (“none�) (11%), while over eight in 10 identified as Christian (across Barna’s faith segments, this included 7% evangelicals, 33% non-evangelical born again and 41% nominal Christians) and less than one in 10 affiliated with other faiths (8%).

Percentage points for all religious segments saw little to no shift over a decade, from 2003 to 2012—but by 2018, Christianity in the United States had witnessed a significant loss of followers, from 81 percent in 2003 to 72 percent in 2018. Meanwhile, the atheist / agnostic / none segment has seen the greatest increase of all groups analyzed, nearly doubling in size from 11 percent in 2003 to 21 percent in 2018.

https://www.barna.com/rise-of-atheism/

[Zzyzx]

.

Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary statistics
On July 24, 2013, CNS News reported:

“ Atheism is in decline worldwide, with the number of atheists falling from 4.5% of the world’s population in 1970 to 2.0% in 2010 and projected to drop to 1.8% by 2020, according to a new report by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) in South Hamilton, Mass."[6]

https://www.conservapedia.com/Global_at ... and_trends

this might help explain the numbers game but not the direction of Evil.

Christians like to cite world religion affiliation data since it includes increases of religiosity (and decrease in non-belief) in Africa.

Lets consider Atheism in the US rather than including figures from Africa – and from Pew Research rather than Conservapedia.

In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,� now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.

Self-described atheists now account for 4% of U.S. adults, up modestly but significantly from 2% in 2009; agnostics make up 5% of U.S. adults, up from 3% a decade ago; and 17% of Americans now describe their religion as “nothing in particular,� up from 12% in 2009.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylighta ... r-atheism/

The vast majority of all growth of Christianity is (and is expected to continue) in Africa, with some in areas of Asia -- largely underdeveloped areas where education and technology are well behind advanced / western nations. Among the US states those with greatest church attendance also tend to be those with lowest education achievement (excluding Utah).

[brunumb]

Then there's this:

The transcript below is from “Through the Wormhole� S05E01 and concerns analysis of religious census data from around the world. The whole episode focuses on God, but the part referred to below starts at around the 19 minute mark.

"Danny Abrams* is an applied mathematician at Northwestern University. Religious affiliation has been tracked via census reports in many countries for up to 250 years in some cases and we can see how the sizes of religious groups have grown and shrunk. We looked at 85 regions around the world and in every case, every place where it’s ever been measured, the fastest growing religious minority is the non-affiliated, the group of people who don’t affiliate with any religion at all. To find out if this trend will continue, Danny plugged census data from nine different countries (Australia, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, Netherlands, New Zealand) into his mathematical models and made a surprising prediction. Religion is heading towards a tipping point. According to Danny, by the year 2050, in 6 out of the 9 countries he studied, religiously affiliated people will be a minority. The wheels of society are making people align. A non-religious majority looks set to emerge."

* https://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/ ... iel-CV.pdf

[Bust Nak]

Would it be true to say that the 'pool of christianity' that exists within our society feels a stronger resistance ( as opposed to those without a god ) to Evil, given that the Christian God is supposedly Anti-Evil.

Don't see how, Christianity offers evil doer a get out of jail free card. Surely it's Christianity that attracts evil. Jesus is note worthy for dinning with tax collected and sinners, he did not came to call the righteous, but sinners.

If someone wants to run with a bad idea, they are not going to run it through the church first.

That's a rather controversial suggestion given the relatively frequent scandals.

Lastly, note the negative correlation between crime and education, and between religiosity and education.

[bluegreenearth]

[Replying to post 10 by wannabe]

Do beliefs not precede and inform actions? If evil manifests through actions and actions are preceded and informed by beliefs, then how does atheism precede and inform any evil actions?

[Purple Knight]

Atheism
Attracts Evil ,
Because it has nothing to back it up.

Therefore Evil has an easy target and manifest.

So let's assume this is true, and the more religious one is, the less likely one is to be evil. This is exactly what you're arguing, isn't it?

I still choose to be an atheist because I don't want to be protected from evil.

What would it mean to God, or to anyone, if I was so protected that I had a 0% chance to ever be evil? What about 1%? 2%?

It would sure mean a big fat goose egg to me.

Easy target? Good! Put it right on my back. Set my difficulty to Nightmare.



But let's take philosophy aside and focus on the actual argument. The only way I believe I have won is by reducing my opponent's argument to a contradiction. Logic has but one lance capable of always striking true.

The only way this argument could be sound is if people are likely to alter their actions in the direction of their religious beliefs. For example, if I want to eat a delicious baconiform of the Earthican variety and my religion says no, then I am likelier not to do so, if I have that religion. Fair enough, but we must express this hidden premise.

The argument also therefore assumes that every religion is good. In other words, every single religion alters human action in the direction of good, rather than evil. How, with so many religions in direct conflict with each other?

If the argument did not make this assumption, it would be forced to specify that only correct religions succeed in protecting people from evil over atheism. Remember, according to the argument, religion can guide human action. This inherently admits that a religion which is wrong can guide humans toward, rather than away from, evil. And since some religions contradict, some must be wrong.

But that is not enough to arrive at a flat contradiction. We simply need the added premise that: More people belong to good religions than bad ones.

This is fine in and of itself.

But ask yourself what a person who truly wants to do evil is going to be drawn towards: Atheism, which offers no defence of the evil acts he wants to do (because it offers nothing at all), or an incorrect religion, which offers, in many cases, indemnity and permission?

In many cases, your religion may allow you to kill Amalekites or Muslims justifiably. There would be no justification of acts like the Crusades without religion.

This is aside from the fact that evil people are free to create religions and other people will adopt those religions and follow them! These are people who may not have done evil before, but remember, religion can guide human action. The argument cannot work without this premise.

It is because humans are inherently impermissive of other peoples' evil that evil, not good, needs justification. Good often affects those others positively whereas evil finds them hurt or killed. Religion, and not atheism, offers that justification. Atheism is incapable of justifying anything.

Therefore, religion, not atheism, attracts evil.

(Religion may also attract good, such that it cancels or even more than cancels the evil, but that wasn't the argument. The argument was about which one attracts evil.)

[wannabe]

[Replying to post 17 by bluegreenearth]

[Replying to post 10 by wannabe]

Do beliefs not precede and inform actions? If evil manifests through actions and actions are preceded and informed by beliefs, then how does atheism precede and inform any evil actions?


The point of the debate isn't about accusing Atheists of being the cause of the 'attraction of evil'. But to point out that they for the sake of recognizing for their own sake, the consequences of "the nature of the beast'.( or just 'Evil')

If you don't think about it,
You wont be aware of it.

The question was 'does Atheism attract Evil ? Not 'How Evil is Atheism'.

I see it as a possible link in evolution. (hope not)

I think I view the world from a different perspective than you.

[bluegreenearth]

[Replying to post 17 by bluegreenearth]

[Replying to post 10 by wannabe]

Do beliefs not precede and inform actions? If evil manifests through actions and actions are preceded and informed by beliefs, then how does atheism precede and inform any evil actions?


The point of the debate isn't about accusing Atheists of being the cause of the 'attraction of evil'. But to point out that they for the sake of recognizing for their own sake, the consequences of "the nature of the beast'.( or just 'Evil')

If you don't think about it,
You wont be aware of it.

The question was 'does Atheism attract Evil ? Not 'How Evil is Atheism'.

I see it as a possible link in evolution. (hope not)

I think I view the world from a different perspective than you.

In that case...

From your perspective, what is the criteria that something must meet in order to be labeled as evil?