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Are Atheists evil?

Road Warrior

Seeking the middle path..
If evil is defined as being away from or without God just like darkness is without light or cold is without heat, then does this mean atheists or anyone else who chooses to be without God are evil?

Thoughts?

atheist.jpg

Coincidentally, is anyone curious why atheists love to bring up the subject of evil?
 

Gjallarhorn

N'yog-Sothep
If that is the chosen definition of evil, absolutely. As for the problem of evil, it is used for two reasons: it is a decent argument against, at the very least, an all-loving god, and many atheists became atheists by observing the problem of evil and taking it beyond its grounds (because clearly no ambiguous or evil god would be disproven by this method).
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
If evil is defined as being away from or without God just like darkness is without light or cold is without heat, then does this mean atheists or anyone else who chooses to be without God are evil?

Thoughts?
How many legs does a dog have if you call its tail a leg?

(Bear with me - it's relevant)
 

ImmortalFlame

Woke gremlin
If evil is defined as constantly drinking Starbucks coffee and listening to heavy metal, does this mean that I am evil?

Yes. Yes, it does.
 

Road Warrior

Seeking the middle path..
Yes, I've heard many atheists use evil as justification for believing there is no God as the picture shows. OTOH, if God wanted to create an environment, an over-sized terrarium in the form of the Natural Universe, and wanted to give the sentient creatures living inside of it free will, then wouldn't God have to create a situation giving them a choice? Hence the dichotomy of the Universe? Free will couldn't exist without evil. The fact atheists choose to be evil aka "without God" is simply them exercising free will. It's choice.
 

ImmortalFlame

Woke gremlin
Yes, I've heard many atheists use evil as justification for believing there is no God as the picture shows. OTOH, if God wanted to create an environment, an over-sized terrarium in the form of the Natural Universe, and wanted to give the sentient creatures living inside of it free will, then wouldn't God have to create a situation giving them a choice? Hence the dichotomy of the Universe? Free will couldn't exist without evil. The fact atheists choose to be evil aka "without God" is simply them exercising free will. It's choice.
Are you saying that God couldn't possibly create a world without evil where we still had free will?
 

tumbleweed41

Resident Liberal Hippie
IF evil is described as "being away from or without God', then,yes, atheists are evil.

However, it is doubtful that anyone with any understanding of the nature of man would reasonably make such a definition.:facepalm:
 

McBell

Resident Sourpuss
If evil is defined as being away from or without God just like darkness is without light or cold is without heat, then does this mean atheists or anyone else who chooses to be without God are evil?

Thoughts?
My first thought is why bother with a definition that is nothing more than a self serving justification for preconceived notions, bigotry, and prejudice?

though i suppose it makes sense to those who need said definition to justify their preconceived notions, bigotry, and prejudice.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
Yes, I've heard many atheists use evil as justification for believing there is no God as the picture shows.
The problem of evil doesn't speak to the existence of God; it speaks to the character of God if God were to exist. I suppose it also speaks to inconsistencies in certain religious belief systems.

BTW: by the same token, I've heard many theists claim that God is "with" atheists even if the atheists don't realize this ("writing morality on their hearts" and so forth). I think you may need to confer with your fellow theists and decide whether the implicit premises in your OP are actually sound (once they're all done figuring out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, of course).

OTOH, if God wanted to create an environment, an over-sized terrarium in the form of the Natural Universe, and wanted to give the sentient creatures living inside of it free will, then wouldn't God have to create a situation giving them a choice? Hence the dichotomy of the Universe? Free will couldn't exist without evil. The fact atheists choose to be evil aka "without God" is simply them exercising free will. It's choice.
While I'm happy that you've resolved a question that humanity has struggled with since philosophy was invented, I think you may need to show your work, because last time I checked, many theists believed in an evil-free Heaven without believing that people turn into will-less robots when they get there. Apparently, they don't think that evil is a necessary consequence of free will.
 

InformedIgnorance

Do you 'know' or believe?
The problem of evil doesn't speak to the existence of God; it speaks to the character of God if God were to exist. I suppose it also speaks to inconsistencies in certain religious belief systems
QFT

If one determines that evil is "being away from or without God" on must of course determine which God is being discussed, and what constitutes being without God or being away from God... I mean if we are to use a Pantheist/Panentheist view of God, in such a case, it is not possible for evil to exist at all! Why is one definition or description of God more or less relevant to the concept of evil? Likewise with determining what being without God or being away from God mean...



How many legs does a dog have if you call its tail a leg?

(Bear with me - it's relevant)
How many legs did it have before we began calling its tail a leg? Add one more (I assume that the 'dog' only has one tail?) to that and add quotation marks around the term to denote that the term does not refer to the standard concept the term usually refers to.
 
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