Is Atheism Fundamentally Evil?

[Brian Peacock]

Some people think that not believing the unsupported claims and assertions of any and all religions means one is fundamentally evil.

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• evil ˈiːv(ə)l,-vɪl/
  adjective
  
  • profoundly immoral and wicked.
    "his evil deeds"
    synonyms:
    • wicked, bad, wrong, morally wrong, wrongful, immoral, sinful, ungodly, unholy, foul, vile, base, ignoble, dishonourable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, degenerate, villainous, nefarious, sinister, vicious, malicious, malevolent, demonic, devilish, diabolic, diabolical, fiendish, dark, black-hearted

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Christians hold that all possible goodness flows from God and that the essence of evil is the refusal to submit to celestial authority; to love Him, honour Him, serve and obey Him.

For Muslims the concept of evil is personified in Iblis, the Islamic version of the Christian Devil or Lucifer, who rebeled against Allah and, cast out of paradise, promised to tempt humanity towards the evil of turning away from the path of the almighty one.

Jews have a similar view to Muslims, but also maintain that good follows from actively seeking moral choices and evil follows succumbing to one's base urges, usually at the behest of Satan.

For Hindus evil is created as a force when an individual acts against dharma, which is held to be a universal natural force and the source of all virtue and something in which each individual shares a portion - thus when one acts against one's dharma one is acting against the universe and evil influences are created in the world.

According to the Zoroastrian tradition, Angra Mainyu, the embodiment of all human frailties and flaws, is a character who subjugates the weak willed and tortures them emotionally and physically once they fall under his malign spell. Angra Mainyu is a total anti-god who has the power to created situations as well as evil minions to assist him in his despicable work.

Adherents to Jainism take a different view while sharing some common ground with other Eastern traditions. Good acts and bad acts are weighed in the balance and where one has more entries in the good column happiness and enlightenment follow, and where one has more entries in the bad column misery and pain ensues. Jainism loosely ties the notion of evil to the absence of personal virtue.

So, according to the Abrahamic faiths atheist are fundamentally evil by dint of rejecting the authority of God when they reject unsupported claims and assertions for God's existence. So yes, from this religious perspective atheists are evil by definition, because they are non-believers, non-followers, and non-obeyers. Hindus say that evil is created when one doesn't fulfil the obligations of dharma as explained in their texts and as interpreted by their holy officiates. Zoroastrians share common ground with Judaism and Islam in as much as bad behaviour and things are a function of an evil intermediary or Devil figure, and Jainists seek to eliminate the karmic bookkeeping of good and bad entirely in order to transcend the cycle of birth-death-rebirth. With the exception of Jainism goodness and virtue are a function of religious adherence.

So, if some are to maintain that atheists are fundamentally evil--which is to say that everyone and anyone who does not believe the claims and assertions of the religions above, or of any religion, is 'inherently evil' or 'evil by default'--and if to be evil is to be, at the very least, 'profoundly immoral and wicked', what is the proper authority to determine the basis and bounds of good and evil, and from where is that authority drawn?

[pErvinalia]

Some people think that not believing the unsupported claims and assertions of any and all religions means one is fundamentally evil.

Imbeciles think that atheism is evil.

[Seth]

Some people think that not believing the unsupported claims and assertions of any and all religions means one is fundamentally evil.

Imbeciles think that atheism is evil.

No, not atheism, just zealously religious atheists.

[Seth]

Christians hold that all possible goodness flows from God and that the essence of evil is the refusal to submit to celestial authority; to love Him, honour Him, serve and obey Him.

Lie.

For Muslims the concept of evil is personified in Iblis, the Islamic version of the Christian Devil or Lucifer, who rebeled against Allah and, cast out of paradise, promised to tempt humanity towards the evil of turning away from the path of the almighty one.

Don't care.

Jews have a similar view to Muslims, but also maintain that good follows from actively seeking moral choices and evil follows succumbing to one's base urges, usually at the behest of Satan.

Wouldn't know.

For Hindus evil is created as a force when an individual acts against dharma, which is held to be a universal natural force and the source of all virtue and something in which each individual shares a portion - thus when one acts against one's dharma one is acting against the universe and evil influences are created in the world.

Sure, why not?

According to the Zoroastrian tradition, Angra Mainyu, the embodiment of all human frailties and flaws, is a character who subjugates the weak willed and tortures them emotionally and physically once they fall under his malign spell. Angra Mainyu is a total anti-god who has the power to created situations as well as evil minions to assist him in his despicable work.

Gotta blame someone I suppose.

Adherents to Jainism take a different view while sharing some common ground with other Eastern traditions. Good acts and bad acts are weighed in the balance and where one has more entries in the good column happiness and enlightenment follow, and where one has more entries in the bad column misery and pain ensues. Jainism loosely ties the notion of evil to the absence of personal virtue.

Sounds reasonable to me.

So, according to the Abrahamic faiths atheist are fundamentally evil by dint of rejecting the authority of God along when they reject unsupported claims and assertions for God's existence.

Lie.

So yes, from this religious perspective atheists are evil by definition, because they are non-believers, non-followers, and non-obeyers.

Atheists are evil to the extent that they do evil, which happens to include lying about people of faith.

Hindus say that evil is created when one doesn't fulfil the obligations of dharma as explained in their texts and as interpreted by their holy officiates. Zoroastrians share common ground with Judaism and Islam in as much as bad behaviour is a function of an evil intermediary or Devil figure, and Jainists seek to eliminate the karmic bookkeeping of good and bad entirely in order to transcend the cycle of birth-death-rebirth. With the exception of Jainism goodness and virtue are a function of religious adherence.

Seems to work pretty well in encouraging people not to do evil, so what's your problem?

So, if some are to maintain that atheists are fundamentally evil--which is to say that everyone and anyone who does not believe the claims and assertions of the religions above, or of any religion, is 'inherently evil' or 'evil by default'--and if to be evil is to be, at the very least, 'profoundly immoral and wicked', what is the proper authority to determine the basis and bounds of good and evil, and from where is that authority drawn?

Nobody says that. Well, the Muslims say that, but then again they are evil fuckwits so we can ignore them.

[Brian Peacock]

Lie.

Please qualify those assertions.

[Seth]

Lie.

Please qualify those assertions.

Otay. You lie about Christianity.

Qualified enough for you?

[Brian Peacock]

That's still an unqualified assertion.

[Animavore]

Now you're just deliberately creating subjects to goad certain people.

[pErvinalia]

He's giving Seth yet another avenue to spew his hate and idiocy..

[JimC]

But I've given up easting babies, what the fuck more am I supposed to do!

[Svartalf]

I've never eaten a baby either... and I'm too poor to practice charity other than from the receiving side... I live in involuntary poverty and chastity, is being a monk evil?

[Brian Peacock]

Now you're just deliberately creating subjects to goad certain people.

Not at all. Morals and Ethics are a hobby. One can test the bounds of a moral or ethical declaration by challenging it - and indeed one should when incredibly broad or general moral descriptors are applied to an entire section of society, such as 'atheists are fundamentally evil' etc. How the declaimer meets that challenge informs us as to limits and limitations of their utterances.

He's giving Seth yet another avenue to spew his hate and idiocy..

Indeed, that may be an unavoidable consequence I'm afraid

[Brian Peacock]

Lie.

Please qualify those assertions.

Otay. You lie about Christianity.

In what way, to what extent, in what regard?

In Anglicanism there is no official doctrine on theodicy, but Anglicans affirm the Western theodical position founded in Catholicism, that: God is the source of all goodness and creates all creatures good. Though God does not create evil He has given some creatures the ability to choose their relationship with Him; a freedom to either exalt, adore, and obey Him or to reject Him. So traditional theodicy goes, as God is the source of all goodness then to reject God is to reject goodness, wherein lies evil. Evil is not a thing in itself, but a corruption of the goodness within creatures with the freedom to choose God, but who do not. Catholicism generally takes this one step further to imply that if evil exists then morality necessarily exist (for how can we tell good from bad without a morality?), and therefore the existence of evil is an argument for God because morality, being the embodiment of goodness, must come from the fount of all goodness, God.

As I said, from this religious perspective atheists are held to be 'fundamentally evil' as a consequence of their rejection of Christian claims and assertions made on behalf of their nominated deity, but does that mean that atheists are fundamentally (inherently, primarily, etc) 'profoundly immoral or wicked' people in their everyday lives and individual actions - as the descriptor 'evil' clearly implies? Some people seem to think so, don't they?

...

So, if some are to maintain that atheists are fundamentally evil--which is to say that everyone and anyone who does not believe the claims and assertions of the religions above, or of any religion, is 'inherently evil' or 'evil by default'--and if to be evil is to be, at the very least, 'profoundly immoral and wicked', what is the proper authority to determine the basis and bounds of good and evil, and from where is that authority drawn?

Nobody says that. Well, the Muslims say that, but then again they are evil fuckwits so we can ignore them.

You said it.

[Feck]

If you get into the minds of muslims ,at least the ones prepared to argue about it rather than just "cultural" muslims, you will find they live in a kind of brainwashed terror They don't love their god they are in abject fear they think the mind of their god is as primitive and vicious as the barbaric rapists and paedophiles who invented the religion . Atheists don't respond to threats of celestial torture and that undermines the whole credo of the Muslim cult. It also ,I dare to hope, reminds each of them of their own cowardice .

[pErvinalia]

Not significantly different from Catholics and evangelicals.