Here's a theoretical question: could atheism exist without theism? We
know that theism can exist without atheism, because every ancient
civilization believed in some form of deity. In fact, theism was the
default belief system since time immemorial. It wasn't until around 300
BC, give or take, that we see the beginnings of atheism from the Greek
philosophers. Their debates about God sounded remarkably similar to the
same debates we have today. Atheism would take a hiatus for over 1,500
years as Christianity became the dominate belief system of Western
Civilization. However, during the so-called Age of Enlightenment,
atheism was given new life by men like Rene Descartes, Voltaire,
Nietzsche, and so on.
Back to the question. Atheism is defined as disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods. But to have a disbelief in God, there first has to be a belief in God. The belief in God came first, then the disbelief in God came second, that's an historical fact. If there was no belief in God to begin with, there could be no disbelief in God. Put another way, atheism was born out of theism. It came about as a response to theism, whose sole purpose was to counter the belief in God. Beyond that it doesn't have much to offer. Which is why it has never had mass appeal, and the vast majority of the world's population (some 84 percent) continues to believe in a God.
But suppose hypothetically that there were no more theists left in the world. An atheist's dream come true. The result would be atheism would then lose its foil and its reason for being. What would there be to contend against if everyone believed the same thing? That makes it very dependent on theism to survive. In short, I don't believe atheism could survive without theism, but theism can survive without atheism.
Back to the question. Atheism is defined as disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods. But to have a disbelief in God, there first has to be a belief in God. The belief in God came first, then the disbelief in God came second, that's an historical fact. If there was no belief in God to begin with, there could be no disbelief in God. Put another way, atheism was born out of theism. It came about as a response to theism, whose sole purpose was to counter the belief in God. Beyond that it doesn't have much to offer. Which is why it has never had mass appeal, and the vast majority of the world's population (some 84 percent) continues to believe in a God.
But suppose hypothetically that there were no more theists left in the world. An atheist's dream come true. The result would be atheism would then lose its foil and its reason for being. What would there be to contend against if everyone believed the same thing? That makes it very dependent on theism to survive. In short, I don't believe atheism could survive without theism, but theism can survive without atheism.
