Is Atheism a Psychological Crutch?

This is a response to http://vaisnavaapologetics.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/is-god-just-a-psychological-crutch/

I’m not going to be defending the position that god is a psychological crutch, though it is an opinion I do hold, but I will be defending the position that atheism is not a psychological crutch.

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Everything is Permitted

If God doesn’t exist, then everything is permitted. There’s no absolute moral standard against which we can measure our acts. Morality is created on the basis of the individual’s likings. The atheist can justify all kinds of abominable actions with claims such as: ”Somebody may think my actions are morally wrong, but that’s just their subjective opinion. I’m can do whatever I like!” In this way atheism gives people the possibility to ignore the dictates of conscience and live a life of full self indulgence. So atheism could be considered a psychological invention aimed at eliminating all moral obligations. God becomes a threat to the atheists’ egocentrism and consequently they wish to deny His existence.

On an unrelated side note, does it amuse anyone else how you can be crack slanging drug dealing, Crippin’ murderer, but as long as you have faith it’s socially acceptable? Whatever, just something to think about.

This is an old, tired argument. You cannot honestly tell me that you would be out raping, murdering, stealing, etc. if you thought god didn’t exist. It’s pretty condescending to think that we are doing so. I don’t know any atheists that do so.

There are subjective morals, like thoughts on abortion and homosexuality, but some generally objective ones, like not murdering wantonly, which are necessary for a functioning society. If everything were permittable as you claim, we would probably be extinct by now.

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Removal of guilt

If everything is permitted then there’s no reason to feel guilty when thinking, feeling or doing something which we normally would consider immoral. Again the atheist can claim that “you might think I should feel guilty about this, but that just your subjective opinion. There’s no need to feel guilty about anything.” The idea that one day we have to settle our ethical account with an all-knowing, all-mighty God can no doubt be such an intense psychological stress factor for the atheist that he preferes to try to psychologically repress the idea of the existence of God.

This is basically your last argument rehashed with an extra teaspoon of condescencion thrown in. It’s not like you can say “Well, I’m just not going to feel guilty.” It’s a pretty ingrained thing. If a child murders someone before it’s indoctrinated by its parents, the kid’s going to feel guilty. Guilt isn’t really something you can toy with on a whim.

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Hankering After Power and Control

If naturalism is true and God therefore doesn’t exist then the universe simply functions according the laws of nature. Consequently there’s nothing which, at least in principle, can’t be subjected to human control. It’s only a matter of us gaining the necessary knowledge, then we can manipulate it and use for our own selfish gratification. It could definitely be tempting to dream of such a materialistic universe where everything that exists in principle, either now or in the future, can or will be under human control. This idea of gaining power and control over the world could easily be another motive for atheism.

 

I find it hard to believe that you are actually arguing this, considering how Christian dogma preaches that humans are the ultimate creation and the bible has the world at our feet, created for our comfort and amusement. Your argument is basically the exact opposite of truth.

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Aversion Towards Authorities

If the human being is simply a combination of chemicals then no human can be said to be more of an authority than anyone else. Everyone is on an equal level. In an atheistic worldview the atheist can therefore easily tell himself that no one is better than him or is in a position to tell him what is good for him, and how he should do, think and behave. The existence of God naturally becomes a big threat to anyone who suffers from aversion towards authority and such a person might very well do everything within his power to fabricate a worldview that eliminates Gods existence.

Atheism is not a fundamentalist belief, so we are generally open to change. You seem to be equating atheism to anarchy, which isn’t a position I know of any non-Satanic atheists holding (most real Satanists are against anarchy, actually, since it’s a moral law of theirs to obey the law). We are not just some rebellious little children trying to lash out at the establishment. You are also bestowing upon us incredibly arrogance, pompousness, and self-righteousness, when these are things I could easily throw at some fundamentalist Christians. Besides, it’s not like Christians are naturally all authorities’ bitches.