Strengths and weaknesses of religious belief

Question 1

What was the enlightenment?

Answer 1

An intellectual and philosophical movement of the 1600s which emphasized reason and science over tradition and religion, key figures included Kant, Smith and Rousseau. It came as a reaction to the power of the Catholic Church and the religious wars in Europe.

Question 2

According to Westphal, how did the enlightenment change views on god?

Answer 2

Prior to the period, thinkers such as aquinas argued that faith and reason could work together to achieve an understanding of god. The enlightenment gave rise to deism, which rejects divine revelation and says we can only know god through reason and logic.

Question 3

What does deism reject?

Answer 3

Revelation and all that comes with it, it sees this as the husk of religious belief which can be discarded, knowledge and understanding of god is the kernel of religious belief and it its true purpose.

Question 4

What are Hume’s views?

Answer 4

The argument from intelligent design is false as flaws in design point to a flawed creator and the only way to know the universe was created would be to go back and watch it.

Question 5

What are Kant’s views?

Answer 5

God can’t be known a priori, the idea of a necessary being is flawed and existence is not a predicate. You cannot define a being into existence.

Question 6

What are schleiermacher’s views?

Answer 6

Religious experience is the kernel of religious belief, god can’t be known through reason or a moral argument as religion is a personal and subjective practice. Believe in god is all about having a sense encounter with the divine.

Question 7

What is Marx’s sociological critique of religion?

Answer 7

Religion is used by the bourgeoisie to legitimize inequality and to keep the proletariat controlled, it is the opioid of the people and in order for society to progress, it must be abolished, it is a social phenomenon which society will overcome in time.

Question 8

What is Freud’s psychological critique of religion?

Answer 8

It stems from our unconscious desire for a father figure and can be explained in terms of the oedepus complex. Religion is an illusion based on wish fulfillment, religion helps humans overcome feelings of helplessness, but cannot provide real fulfillment.

Question 9

Give three criticisms of Freud

Answer 9

1. The Oedipus complex does not work with modern family structures. 2. He discounts religions which have female deities or no deity at all. 3. God could exist objectively

Question 10

What are the three forms of atheism?

Answer 10

1. Weak atheism- it entails an absence of a belief in god, a weak atheist is simply someone who is not a theist. 2. Strong atheism- a complete conviction that good does not exist. 3. Agnostic atheism- someone who says there is not enough evidence to know either way.

Question 11

What is Dawkins’ main argument in the god delusion?

Answer 11

Religion is dangerous and stops humanity from progressing, science has shown that belief in god is mistaken.

Question 12

What are four arguments put forward against religious belief by Dawkins?

Answer 12

1. Religion can lead to violence- ie. Islamic terrorists. 2. Agnosticism is untenable as there is clear evidence that god doesn’t exist. 3. Religion is the enemy of science and the two are completely incompatible. 4. Proving god through reason is just a word game and the universe was not created by a grand designer.

Question 13

Give four other arguments against religious belief from Dawkins.

Answer 13

1. Scriptures are pure fiction. 2. Religion is opposed to morality and condones immoral actions and violence. 3. Religious views are passed down generations like a virus through memes. 4. The idea that the universe is finely tuned for human life is illogical, cosmological contestants do not rule out chance, we are simply very lucky to be here.

Question 14

Give three criticisms of Dawkins

Answer 14

1. His argument leads to determinism, the idea that all events are determined by previous ones, leading to a denial of moral responsibility. 2. He makes an ontological reduction, a complex system is seen as nothing but a sum of its parts. Reducing all things in human life to a scientific explanation fails to account for much of what it means to be human. 3. Religious beliefs are not like genes, they can be changed and altered.

Question 15

What is the key idea of postmodernism?

Answer 15

The idea that there can never be an objective understanding of reality. Reality is just a reflection of human understanding.

Question 16

What do postmodernists think about theism and atheism?

Answer 16

As reality is just a reflection of human understanding, both are as untenable as each other. Lyotard called any attempt to try to give a unifying account of reality on the basis of one unifying truth a “meta narrative.”

Question 17

What is the postmodernist view on religion?

Answer 17

They privilege personal beliefs over organized religion and argue for religious pluralism and tolerance. There is no right/wrong religion as they are all social constructs.

Question 18

What does Keith Ward argue?

Answer 18

Religion is very positive, it played a role in the abolition of slavery, giving the poor rights, the development of art and culture and in setting moral standards. Belief in god and seeing the universe as a consequence of his free choice is natural.

Question 19

What else is good about religious belief?

Answer 19

It provides humans with answers, even if they may not be based on the empirical. But religious statements are different from scientific statements even though at time thy overlap.

Question 20

Give a final positive of religious belief

Answer 20

It is a natural part of the human psyche to look for explanations, especially about the universe and why we are here. Religion is natural.