Atheism and nihilism

Is atheism inherently nihilistic?

  • Yes

  • No


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MehGuy

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Since it seems like almost all atheists are hostile towards religion, particularly Christianity, which is an inherently peaceful faith

While not a universal belief among Christians, many atheists find the idea of eternal punishment for finite crimes abhorrent. This sentiment is even shared within the Christian population. You can at least understand on some level how some core tenets (for some Christians) is questionable for others.

that improves morals and provides eternal salvation for all believers, wouldn’t it make sense to think that atheism is inherently nihilistic? It’s not like you ever see atheists praising religion and talking about how good it is. If that is what they believed, they probably wouldn’t be atheists in the first place.

That is not true, many atheists including myself have praised aspects of religion including Christianity. Unfortunately this does not provide adequate justification for belief in it.

Atheists come in all shapes and sizes. There are many who are "holier than thou" types and just as annoying as their religious counterparts lol, and those like me who are more mostly indifferent about things. In the end we're all people who share similar biological hardwiring with similar spreads of variance.
 
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Caliban

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Some religious people claim that atheism, which is defined as a lack of belief in deity or deities, is inherently nihilistic. Since atheists come from all nationalities, races, socio-economic backgrounds, and indeed all walks of life, it is reasonable to say that making such a sweeping generalization of all atheists isn’t fair.

However, many atheists spend an inordinate amount of time criticizing religion. Visit any atheist blog on the internet, and there you won’t find one positive article on faith. It seems like everything they post is hostile towards religion. You’ll never see them post a link to a news story about Christians feeding the poor or being good people in general. The same can be said about atheist books: read any book from renowned atheists such as Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris, and all they have to say about religion is bad. In fact, the world's most famous blasphemy advocate Christopher Hitchens even wrote a book called How Religion Poisons Everything.

Since it seems like almost all atheists are hostile towards religion, particularly Christianity, which is an inherently peaceful faith that improves morals and provides eternal salvation for all believers, wouldn’t it make sense to think that atheism is inherently nihilistic? It’s not like you ever see atheists praising religion and talking about how good it is. If that is what they believed, they probably wouldn’t be atheists in the first place.
I think the reason many don't understand why an atheist would spend valuable time arguing against religious claims indicates an inability to study faith as an outsider. You write that Christianity "is an inherently peaceful faith." Don't you see how highly debatable that is? Many of us were raised Christians and believed into adulthood. Some of us were Deacons, Elders, and Pastors. To think atheism is inherently nihilistic or leads to it, is to misunderstand almost every perspective of openly atheistic writers and speakers and others who simply identify as non-believers.

Yes, many people think religion is inherently bad--including myself. It has caused more harm than good in my opinion--it's okay if you disagree. As long as individuals are making public policy that affects me and others based on unscientific ideas or supernaturally influenced thinking, atheists will discuss, argue, and push back. If religious observance was a private activity that did not affect me--I wouldn't care. But it does affect me because people vote according to their belief about what a religious text says. Since I don't let a religious text inform my voting habits and thinking, I will probably vote differently than someone who does when it comes to gay rights or a host of social issues. Ideas have real world consequences and I think everyone on this forum knows that, even if we come to different conclusions about where we should stand.

So no, atheism is not inherently nihilistic. It is merely the withholding of theistic claims (in most cases). A great many theists struggle to understand that people who devalue faith actually consider their lives important and valuable. We are always asked absurd questions like, "why do you value life if there is no God?" or "where do you get meaning and morals from?" Even though these questions have been answered 10 million times--theists keep on asking without listening. Our lives are full of meaning and we care about other people without believing in a god. It' easy.
 
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jayem

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3. I don't believe that life is meaningless. I simply believe that we can set our own meaning for life. Many atheists I've met feel the same way.

Absolutely. I truly don't mean to be condescending. (Which is what the OP thinks many of us non-theists are.) But I have to be honest. It's odd to me, and actually somewhat sad, that one would feel his life has no meaning if there is no supernatural deity.
 
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Tinker Grey

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Occams Barber

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Would you entertain me playing devil's advocate (pun intended) for an interesting conversation as to how nihilism is the only logical position to have for an atheist? I am sure you would enjoy the mental gymnastics.


Thanks for the offer @Oompa Loompa but that's a rabbit hole I'd prefer not to go down. Besides, depending on how you define nihilism, there's a good chance I'd agree with you. I've never understood the meaning of life thingy since I've never been able to work out why 'meaning' is a quality which life must necessarily possess. It's a bit like asking "Why do cabbages wear socks?".

I suppose this means I'm a nihilist but, contrary to the popular image of nihilists, I think I'm a Happy Nihilist which may well be a contradiction in terms. :)
OB
 
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the iconoclast

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I suppose this means I'm a nihilist but, contrary to the popular image of nihilists, I think I'm a Happy Nihilist which may well be a contradiction in terms. :)
OB

Hey there oceans:)

If you dont mind me asking, what are you then?
 
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2PhiloVoid

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Absolutely. I truly don't mean to be condescending. (Which is what the OP thinks many of us non-theists are.) But I have to be honest. It's odd to me, and actually somewhat sad, that one would feel his life has no meaning if there is no supernatural deity.

.........maybe it's not "the meaning of life" they're most concerned with.
 
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Caliban

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We give our life meaning. There is no good reason to think there is some all-encompassing purpose or reason to what exists. It just does, and we live and react to the world we are presented with. My life is valuable to me and yours is probable valuable to you. That is enough.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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We give our life meaning. There is no good reason to think there is some all-encompassing purpose or reason to what exists. It just does, and we live and react to the world we are presented with. My life is valuable to me and yours is probable valuable to you. That is enough.

No, it's not enough, actually, especially when other people's lives are important ... to me, too! And I consistently think this, unless of course those other persons somehow decide that the rest of our lives aren't important ... which seems to happen all too often.
 
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the iconoclast

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It's Occam's, not Ocean's, but I forgive you. :)

"What are you?" covers a lot of territory. Can you be more specific?
OB

Hey hey friend :)

Cheers hey, spell check on my mobile phone can be quite frustrating at times. :)

Well you suppose this means you are a nihilist but, contrary to the popular image of nihilists, you think you are a Happy Nihilist which you believe may well be a contradiction in terms.

So considering the contradiction, what are you?

Check this out
I'm a Pentecostal protestant Christian.

How would you label yourself

Cheers
 
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Occams Barber

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Hey hey friend :)

Cheers hey, spell check on my mobile phone can be quite frustrating at times. :)

Well you suppose this means you are a nihilist but, contrary to the popular image of nihilists, you think you are a Happy Nihilist which you believe may well be a contradiction in terms.

So considering the contradiction, what are you?

Check this out
I'm a Pentecostal protestant Christian.

How would you label yourself

Cheers
Happy Nihilist was a bit tongue in cheek. Your stereotypical nihilist is a depressed, consumptive young man with a straggly moustache and a sallow complexion, hiding out in a freezing garret in 19th century Paris. A sort of Victorian era version of an incel - totally despondent and chronically unhappy.

I'll accept atheist as a basic description. Beyond that I'm reluctant to adopt labels since they often carry baggage which doesn't necessarily apply. I might be a nihilistic nihilist since I suspect that nihilism is normality and would not exist as a concept if people realised that life doesn't need a reason anymore than cauliflowers need a reason. It's a bit like the idea that there would be no atheists if everyone stopped believing in a God. You can't not-believe in something which doesn't exist.

Apart from that, I'm probably a materialist since I only accept that there's 'real' stuff. I think free will is illusory and I have a conviction that most people are OK if you give them half a chance. I'm also pretty sure that there are no little green men flitting around in flying saucers and the world isn't flat.

Putting all of this together - I'm a sort of atheistic, nihilistic nihilist, deterministic materialist with a generous dash of optimistic scepticism. :)

OB
 
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Caliban

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Happy Nihilist was a bit tongue in cheek. Your stereotypical nihilist is a depressed, consumptive young man with a straggly moustache and a sallow complexion, hiding out in a freezing garret in 19th century Paris. A sort of Victorian era version of an incel - totally despondent and chronically unhappy.

I'll accept atheist as a basic description. Beyond that I'm reluctant to adopt labels since they often carry baggage which doesn't necessarily apply. I might be a nihilistic nihilist since I suspect that nihilism is normality and would not exist as a concept if people realised that life doesn't need a reason anymore than cauliflowers need a reason. It's a bit like the idea that there would be no atheists if everyone stopped believing in a God. You can't not-believe in something which doesn't exist.

Apart from that, I'm probably a materialist since I only accept that there's 'real' stuff. I think free will is illusory and I have a conviction that most people are OK if you give them half a chance. I'm also pretty sure that there are no little green men flitting around in flying saucers and the world isn't flat.

Putting all of this together - I'm a sort of atheistic, nihilistic nihilist, deterministic materialist with a generous dash of optimistic scepticism. :)

OB
I love this--brilliant and funny!
 
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Occams Barber

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Hey hey sir :)

Wow. Thank you for reply :)

You cannot disbelieve in something which doesn't exist.

What does that mean?

If X doesn't exist then there's no reason to not believe in X.

I tried to explain this in the atheist example in the post. If, for the sake of argument, there was no such thing as God, then there would nothing for atheists to not believe in. Atheists can only exist if there is a belief in God for them to disagree with.

As I've explained to many Christians, the easiest way to get rid of those annoying atheists is for Christians to stop believing in God. No God = no atheists. Simple.

For some reason they always appear reluctant to take my advice. :(

OB
 
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If X doesn't exist then there's no reason to not believe in X.

I tried to explain this in the atheist example in the post. If, for the sake of argument, there was no such thing as God, then there would nothing for atheists to not believe in. Atheists can only exist if there is a belief in God for them to disagree with.

As I've explained to many Christians, the easiest way to get rid of those annoying atheists is for Christians to stop believing in God. No God = no atheists. Simple.

For some reason they always appear reluctant to take my advice. :(

OB

Hey hey :)

Sorry now I understand.

You are explaining the concept of hard atheism.

X=God

X does not exist. You do not believe or disbelieve in x, because x does not exist.

Is this correct?
(Please correct me if I'm wrong)

Cheers
 
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Ophiolite

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The truth hurts sometimes, doesn't it?
Your remarks lacked truth, but were invested with arrogance and self-righteousness. But you are correct - I am hurt by your remarks. I am pained that an individual whom I heretofore respected has revealed themselves as petty and misguided. I am pained that they stand by divisive, ignorant, risible claims. Fortunately, I can avoid further exposure to such distasteful dross.
 
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Strathos

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Your remarks lacked truth, but were invested with arrogance and self-righteousness. But you are correct - I am hurt by your remarks. I am pained that an individual whom I heretofore respected has revealed themselves as petty and misguided. I am pained that they stand by divisive, ignorant, risible claims. Fortunately, I can avoid further exposure to such distasteful dross.

I'm just telling it like it is. The good news, though, is that it's never too late for you to be saved.
 
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Allandavid

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As Solomon said, if there is no God, life has no meaning.

Then Solomon was not wise....he was a privileged fool.

It means nothing if a person is a swindler or murderer or devotes their lives to the poor and needy.

If you believe that, I truly feel sorry for you.

Try telling that to an atheist and they just blather about the legacy they leave behind, that their memory lives on in their descendants or something along those lines.

This atheist believes very strongly that there is a difference in meaning of the life of a murderer vs that of one who helps the poor. It has nothing to do with belief in deities...

So yes, atheism is a belief in nothing.

Wrong. It is an absence of belief in something....specifically, deities...

It's a sad waste of a life, but Satan has blinded their eyes and only God can open them.

Nor do I believe in Satan...an equal waste of time. Waste? My life has been spent, amongst other things, in educating you, your children and maybe grandchildren, depending upon your age. It has been fruitful and enjoyable....sorry to disappoint you...
 
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Allandavid

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I am very grateful for how religion introduced the idea that a country should not enslave the losing slide in a war. I think religious people are better in general but they can be absolutely horrible and since it is common for religious people to compare atheists to Stalin or Hitler they should expect hostility

Ummmm....ever read any of the Old Testament...??
 
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