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anti-theism
"...I am not so much an atheist as an anti-theist. I am, in other words, not one of those unbelievers who wishes that they had faith, or that they could believe. I am, rather, someone who is delighted that there is absolutely no persuasive evidence for the existence of any of mankind's many thousands of past and present deities." --Christopher Hitchens
Anti-theism is active and vocal opposition to belief in gods of any sort and to institutions built around belief in a deity. Anti-theists are not passive atheists; they delight in atheism and delight in exposing the errors, absurdities, and pretensions of theists. Anti-theists consider all gods to be false gods and any benefits from belief in gods to be far outweighed by the harm done by such beliefs to the individual and to society. Anti-theists don't deny that there may be some benefits to some people some of the time due to their delusional belief in a deity or two, but they adamantly deny that faith in religious books or ideas is a good thing.
Anti-theists are usually referred to these days as the new atheists. These anti-theists seem to consider it a moral duty to oppose religion and theism, and to advocate science and reason. Such opposition is for the good of the individual and for the good of society.
Two of the most
widely recognized anti-theists are Richard Dawkins and
Christopher Hitchens. In
The God
Delusion, Dawkins excoriates believers in the Bible and
the Abrahamic god, whom he describes as a genocidal egomaniac.
The Bible, which many politicians in America claim should be the
main guide for our laws, is exposed as a testament to cruelty
and immorality. Religions of any kind represent the forces of
irrationality. They are enemies of reason. Science represents
the forces of rationality. Science is the defender of reason.
Hitchens also advocates active opposition to religion and sees
religion as a threat to a rational, humane, moral society. He's
seen intelligent men's minds turned to mush (figuratively), he
says, as they try to ally themselves with an omniscient
busybody.*
Dawkins promotes the
idea that cosmology and evolutionary biology provide enough
evidence to convince a rational person that it is highly
probable that the universe and life on Earth came about
naturally, i.e., without the involvement of any supernatural
beings.
Victor Stenger, another widely recognized anti-theist, also
argues that science, particularly physics, provides sufficient
evidence to
discard the god hypothesis. Dawkins admits that we can't
disprove the existence of any god, but considers this fact
trivial:
"There's an infinite number of things that we can't disprove. You might say that because science can explain just about everything but not quite, it's wrong to say therefore we don't need [gods]. It is also, I suppose, wrong to say we don't need the Flying Spaghetti Monster, unicorns, Thor, Wotan, Jupiter, or fairies at the bottom of the garden. There's an infinite number of things that some people at one time or another have believed in, and an infinite number of things that nobody has believed in. If there's not the slightest reason to believe in any of those things, why bother? The onus is on somebody who says, I want to believe in [Abraham's god], Flying Spaghetti Monster, fairies, or whatever it is. It is not up to us to disprove it."*
The anti-theists known as the new atheists advocate the end of religion and faith. In their view, science can provide us with all the moral direction we need and will make society more rational and humane than reliance on religions for guidance in human affairs.
There is evidence that indifference toward religion is growing in America and other industrialized nations. Whether that indifference will translate into anti-religious activism remains to be seen. History, however, seems to be on the side of superstition.
See also agnosticism, atheist bus campaign, bright, gods, the Ten Commandments, my review of Dawkins's The God Delusion, Is Atheism a Religion?, and Why I am not an Atheist.
further reading
books and articles
Cline, Austin. Atheism & Anti-Theism: What's the Difference? What is Anti-Theism? Are All Atheists Anti-Theists? Is Atheism Inherently Anti-Theistic?
Dawkins, Richard. (2006). The God Delusion Houghton Mifflin.
Dennett, Daniel. (2006). Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. Viking Press.
Harris, Sam. (2005). The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. W. W. Norton.
Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion (1927).
Hitchens, Christopher. 2009. God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Twelve.
Jacoby, Susan. (2005). Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. Owl Books.
Lalli, Nica. 2007. Nothing - something to believe in. Prometheus.
Mandell, David M. 2008. Atheist Acrimonious. Vervante.
Martin, Michael and Ricki Monnier. Editors. (2006). The Improbability of God. Prometheus.
Park, Robert L. (2008). Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science. Princeton University Press.
Stenger, Victor. (2009). The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason. Prometheus.
Wolf, Gary. The Church of the Non-Believers
websites and blogs
The Reason Project Devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society.
The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science The enlightenment is under threat. So is reason. So is truth. So is science, especially in the schools of America.
the brights Defending a naturalistic view of reality.
Freedom from Religion foundation
Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers Yes, there are atheists in foxholes!
anthroposophical medicine