Atheist Bible: Conclusion

Summary

Main Messages

With 700 pages and 300 illustrations, the Atheist Bible is one of the largest works on atheism, and quite possibly the largest monograph on the topic. The main messages of the Atheist Bible are as follows:

Part 1: Atheism and Atheists: Atheism is the rejection of belief in the supernatural. Atheists are persecuted in many countries in the world, but are a substantial and flourishing minority. Humanism extends atheism by the principles of Human Rights, democracy, science, freedom of religion, and liberal ethical values.
Part 2: An Atheist View on the World: As humans, we observe the world and we try to find patterns in what we observe. This way, we approximate truth — even if we may possibly never get to know it. Nevertheless, much of the workings of the universe can nowadays be explained by science. People developed ethics out of empathy, and out of the desire for mutual protection. A Humanist ethics aims at repairing past wrongdoing and preventing future wrongdoing. The meaning of life is the intention that you pursue with your life, and it’s up to you to choose it.
Part 3: An Atheist View on Gods: The claim that gods exist is unfalsifiable, and hence does not carry meaning in the sense of this book. Proofs for gods are either wrong or ill-formed, or they can equally well prove the existence of the fictional goddess Gaia. Proofs that use gods to explain the phenomena of nature, in particular, do not actually provide any explanation, because they do not allow for predicting something that was not already observed anyway.
Part 4: An Atheist View on Religion: For this book, a religion is a set of beliefs. People came up with religions out of the desire to explain nature, out of the personification of natural entities, or out of the desire to control people. People follow a religion because religion makes them happy, because they tend to do what other people do, because they are coerced into the religion, because they want to influence nature, or for a variety of other reasons. There is nowadays a plethora of religions, which differ in their gods, their concepts of the afterlife, their creation myths, and their values. The religions that have survived until today use a number of strategies (called memes) to dominate over the others.
Part 5: Discussion of the Abrahamic Religions in particular: The Abrahamic God is the god of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Bahai Faith, and Spiritualism. The concept of the Abrahamic God is inconsistent in atheist eyes, because he was described as extremely brutal and is now worshiped as benevolent. Furthermore, he is benevolent and omnipotent, but does nothing to stop the evil in this world. Christianity is the largest religion on Earth, and it has, despite its claim to eternal truth, changed its tenets a lot during the past 2000 years. Islam is the second largest religion on Earth, and there are a plethora of interpretations of the faith that go from the liberal to the brutal.
Part 6: The Effects of Religion: The major world religions can be criticized for their intellectual dishonesty, their moral values, and their harmful effects on society. At the same time, religion can have a very positive effect on the well-being of the individual, by encouraging healthy life choices, good social connections, and serenity. Humanists warn people of the negative effects of religion on society, but are happy to let everybody enjoy the positive effects on the individual.

Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond.
Hypatia of Alexandria

Atheism

There are different definitions for atheism, but the most comprehensive one says that atheism is the rejection of belief in the supernatural . This means that atheists do not believe in gods, in a spiritual life force, in life after death, in reincarnation, or in the power of prayer or faith healing.

Why do atheists not believe in gods? The short answer is: because there is no evidence for their existence. Atheists see no more reason to believe in the god of the Abrahamic religions than to believe in the ancient Roman god Jupiter, the rain god Tlaloc of the Aztecs, or the unicorns that the Ancient Greeks believed in. Most people don’t believe in these entities because they understand fully well that they are fictional. Atheists apply the same logic to all gods: for the atheist, gods in general are just fictional beings. They appear in holy books, mythical stories, and prayers, but not in the real world. The same goes for all other types of supernatural entities and concepts, be it reincarnation, life after death, a life spirit, a divine first cause for the universe, or, for that matter, unicorns.

The long answer is that supernatural claims (such as the claim that a god exists, that there is life after death, or that there is a spiritual life force) are unfalsifiable. There is nothing that a believer would accept as evidence that the claim is false. This entails that the believer cannot make any prediction about the real world by help of that claim (for if she could make any prediction, the potential falsehood of that prediction would render the claim falsifiable). The claim that a god exists is thus of no use to understand the natural world, and, by the definition of this book, literally meaningless. Since the believer adheres to a claim that cannot be disproven by logical argument (even hypothetically), the believer has left the sphere of rational argument. She has chosen a belief that prevents her from changing her mind. Interestingly, this entails that anyone can come up with any other (equally unfalsifiable) supernatural claim — and this is indeed what happens. Since no-one can prove the other wrong, people can descend into endless disagreements, and, as if by coincidence, these disagreements constitute the fault lines of more than half the world’s violent conflicts.

Atheism rejects such supernatural claims. Positive atheism even holds that these claims are outright false. Interestingly, this stance makes positive atheism falsifiable: Any verified appearance of a god, any prayer that makes the impossible possible, or any proof of life after death would prove positive atheism wrong. With this, positive atheism is (different from theism) meaningful. Its meaning is: no god will ever appear, no prayer will ever make the impossible possible, and no proof for life after death will ever be found. Positive atheism thus makes concrete (and even correct) predictions about the real world. This is more than any religion can say of itself.

Atheists reject not just the belief in the supernatural, but also adherence to religion as a whole. Atheists hold that it is not up to religion, but up to us humans, to give our lives a purpose, to give our society moral rules, and to strive for human well-being — and not in some life after death, but in the here and now.

One way to do that is through Humanism.

Humanism

Humanism, the particular brand of atheism advertised in this book, is a life stance that affirms the equal dignity of every human being (in the sense of the right to be valued and respected for one’s own sake, and to be treated ethically), aims at the fullest possible development of every individual, and aspires to the greater good of humanity. Humanism holds that these goals can be achieved by

the search for truth through a continuing process of observation, evaluation, revision, and open discussion.
the scientific method as the most reliable way of understanding the world.
liberal ethic values, i.e., the right to do whatever pleases as long as the equal rights of others are not infringed.
governments that subscribe to democracy and the Human Rights.
freedom of religion, i.e., the right to adhere to any religious belief (or none) as long as it does not curtail the freedom of others.
secularism, i.e., the principle that religion is kept out of politics, national identity, law making, and public education.

Thus, Humanism is a comprehensive worldview, which has an ethical, a political, a philosophical, and a scientific dimension.

The concept of goodness is too important to delegate it to imaginary beings.
WhyWontGodHealAmputees.com

Humanism and Religion

Technically speaking, a religion is a set of beliefs. From an atheist perspective, these beliefs are not divine. They were made up by people a long time ago. The supernatural claims of a religion are unfalsifiable, and thus do not carry meaning in the sense of this book. The values of most major religions are at odds with Humanist values, in particular when it comes to women’s rights, interfaith marriage, and LGBT+ rights. In addition, religions often make false claims of power or knowledge, propagate a medieval notion of truth, justify the evil in this world, propose hell or its equivalents as a solution for wrong-doing in this world, and segregate humanity into closed communities.

At the same time, religions can give people hope, strength, and a reason for life. They can make people happy, strengthen their social connections, give them coping strategies for difficult life events, encourage them to live a healthy life, and even help their longevity. These positive aspects cannot be weighted easily against the negative effects. We cannot conclude that religion would be bad in general — or, for that matter, good in general. This is because different positive effects and different negative effects apply to different religions, to different times, to different cultures, and to different people. One has to be aware of both the boons and the banes of religion, and judge each case accordingly.

One of the observations one can make, though, is that many of the positive effects of religion can be found on the level of the individual, while many of its negative effects relate to the society. Hence, the solution that Humanism proposes is to let everyone practice their religion as long as this does not harm anyone else. At the same time, Humanism holds that religion has to be kept out of politics, lawmaking, education, and national identity.

Religious freedom means that you can believe whatever you want.
It does not mean that you can do whatever you want.
The Candid Atheist

Humanism and harmful beliefs

Humanism advocates freedom of religion, i.e., the right of everyone to practice a religion or not. However, Humanism gives free reign to religion only if no harm is done to non-consenting others1 2 3. In particular, Humanism opposes any belief (religious or otherwise) that

advocates giving less rights to women than to men.
does not grant its own adherents freedom of religion, e.g., by punishing or ostracizing apostasy.
stigmatizes atheists, or calls for their persecution.
prohibits people from marrying adherents of other faiths.
demands exceptions to the law.
violates the separation of state and religion.
opposes criticism of its tenets, potentially as “blasphemy”.
teaches stories that run counter to scientific evidence as facts in schools.
requires the mutilation of genitals for children.
builds up isolated communities.
considers all non-adherents worthy of hell.
discriminates against gay people.
marries off under-age girls.
otherwise supports values that run counter to the Human Rights, such as cruel punishments.

Such values are incompatible with Humanist values, and thus Humanists identify, expose, and oppose such beliefs. This opposition is not directed against “religion” in general. Nor is it directed against all adherents of that religion. Rather, it is directed against the harmful beliefs themselves, against those who promote these beliefs, and against those who want to shield their religion from such criticism.

Those who hammer their guns into plows
will plow for those who don’t.
anonymous

Outlook

The Future of Humanism

Humanism is an evolving philosophy: it recognizes that any human construct (including itself) is imperfect, and needs constant questioning and improvement4. And indeed, there are numerous points where Humanism evolves. We have mentioned several in this book: the most glaring one was maybe its focus on humans, at the expense of a focus on nature. This focus has changed in recent decades, and the protection of the environment, animal rights, the fight against climate change, and the protection of nature for her own sake are nowadays considered part of Humanism 5 6 7 8 4. Future developments may strengthen the rights of animals further, and push for more humane conditions for livestock — or even for vegetarianism altogether.

Another topic of continuous development are LGBT+ rights. Humanism supports equal rights for LGBT+ people (including the right to marry), and Humanists International actively advocates these rights9. It is thus possible that LGBT+ rights will be made more explicit in future Humanist manifestos, for example, by mentioning that rights apply independently of sexual orientation (as the author of this book has indeed suggested to Humanists International when they revised their manifesto in 2022).

Another desideratum that we have mentioned in this book has to do with the UN Charter, which guarantees people the right to self-governance10. The issue is that, if the people in one region wish to secede from the host country to govern themselves, the UN Charter gives them no means to achieve this when the host country objects. Humanism could take a more explicit position here, and speak out, e.g., in favor of UN-administered referendums for independence (with some large threshold for independence, say 60%), which would then have to be obeyed by the host country. Such referendums could address conflicts in Palestine, Scotland, Quebec, Kosovo, Kurdistan, Catalonia, Corsica, Northern Ireland, Yemen, Western Sahara, Ukraine, and China.

A more fundamental issue is that Humanism aims at human flourishing, but is merely concerned with putting in place the conditions for such flourishing, not actually achieving it. For example, Humanism will fight for the right of everyone to get a healthy dose of physical exercise if they wish to. However, it will not ask people to go jogging. On the contrary, it has to defend the right of people to spend their life on the sofa as a personal liberty. Humanism refuses to force people to take care of themselves. Humanism thus has to be combined with the self-determination of each individual to take care of oneself.

Those who adhere to the past won’t be able to cope with the future.
Willy Brandt

Education

Humanism aims for the flourishing of all through the use of open debate, science, individual freedom, and Human Rights. These devices can work only if people know how to use and advance them. This is why education plays a central role in the Humanist view of society. Education is also a necessary part of the Humanist quest for truth. In a Humanist spirit, education could put emphasis on the following subjects:

Religions: Yes, religions (in plural). Religions play a major role in many of today’s societies, and it is thus important to know about them. The more children know about the different religions, the more likely they will be to accept adherents of these religions. They will also be less prone to overvalue their own religion.
Logic: Children should learn about logical reasoning, debating techniques, the identification of fallacious arguments, and the principle of falsifiability. This will help them avoid falling prey to malicious ideologies (religious or otherwise).
Science: Science is the key to understanding the physical world, and hence all children should know its basics. As The Economist has argued, the question is not whether someone who is studying physics understands it; it is whether someone who is not does11. Children should not just learn the sciences, they should also learn to master the scientific principles: validation by experiment, abandonment of wrong theories, and distinguishing hypotheses from validated theories.
Human Rights, Freedom of Speech, Democracy, Rule of Law: In a Humanist view, these principles are essential to guarantee a free and egalitarian society. Children should thus learn about their history and their functioning. However, these principles should not be taught as absolutes. Children have to learn to question, criticise, and improve them .
Tools for a healthy and social life: Children shall also learn how to take care of themselves: They should know about healthy eating habits, the components of a long life, basic security precautions (in traffic, when traveling, or in emergency situations), and the most important medical concepts. They should also know how to cultivate their relationship with others: They should learn about respect for other people, the ability to conciliate disputes peacefully, first aid gestures, some notions of self-defense, and basic knowledge of the principles of law.
Tools for a life in modernity: Today’s education in Western countries sometimes focuses on subjects that have little value in everyday life, such as Ancient Greek, Latin, or abstract mathematics. While no subject should be outright discarded if it does not have an immediate application in everyday life, some of these subjects could be reduced in order to make room for the tools that children need in a modern world, such as the ability to use a keyboard and a computer, media competency, and the basic principles of security on the Internet.
The “Four C”: In addition to (or even instead of) learning concepts by heart, children should be given the tools to find, develop, and debate such concepts. In this spirit, education should put emphasis on what has been called the “Four C”: Creativity (i.e, the ability to develop new ideas), Critical Thinking (the ability to analyze and evaluate such ideas), Communication (the ability to share and debate these ideas with others), and Collaboration (the ability to develop ideas jointly with others)12.

Most importantly, these tools should not be taught to some elite, but to everyone. As the evolutionary biologist (and militant atheist) Richard Dawkins has argued, the enlightenment of today will depend not on a few bright heads, but on the rise of the general population13.

If your plan is for one year plant rice. If your plan is for ten years plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children.
Guan Yiwu

Outlook

The science writer Marshall Brain imagines how a society without religion could look14. His central message is that, once the belief in the supernatural is removed from a society, we can concentrate on the here and now. There is no need to spend time worshiping some mythological beings, and no need to organise our lives around some rules these beings purportedly gave us. We can focus our attention on humanity, on the needy, on science, on education, on the environment, and on cherishing the good things we already have.

Of course, we do not have to wait until all people are atheists in order to begin with this endeavor. Already now, Humanism calls us to work towards the implementation of the Human Rights for everybody, towards developing our laws and governments by democratic means, towards giving more people more freedom, towards learning more about nature through the use of science, towards searching truth and teaching it, and, ultimately, towards making life better for more people.

Interestingly, religiousness is negatively correlated with these goals: Prosperity, social stability, education, scientific progress, and happiness generally correlate with less religiousness — at least at the global level15 . Thus, if we work towards these goals, religion may yet disappear by itself.

The Atheist Bible

End Titles

Legal Terms

The Atheist Bible is available freely online at https://suchanek.name/texts/atheism.

The author Fabian M. Suchanek publishes all versions of the Atheist Bible under a Creative Commons Attribution License. This means that you can freely use this text, under the following conditions:

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Portraits

The Atheist Bible also contains a number of portraits of people. These portraits are governed not just by their respective licenses (which protect the photographer), but also by personality rights (which protect the portrayed person). All portrayed individuals have given their permission to appear in the Atheist Bible. However, this permission does not extend to other uses. The portraits may thus not be shared outside the Atheist Bible.

The author is particularly grateful to the lady holding the book on the front page of the online version of the Atheist Bible, to Sarah Haider, and to Ariane Sherine for their permissions.

Layout

The Atheist Bible is written in HTML, and styled with CSS. The PDF version of the book was produced with a commercially licensed copy of the Prince Software (https://www.princexml.com). The EPUB version was produced by scripts from the HTML version.

The graphical charter of the book was developed free of cost by Camille Paris, and the author is very thankful for her help.

The cover picture of the Atheist Bible shows a statue of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, in the Jardin de Luxembourg in Paris, France. The blue of the sky on this picture (with the code #5478b7) serves as the accent color throughout this book. The other colors are a hand-crafted green (#00bb33) and red (#e00050).

The font of the quotes in this book is the author’s own Fabiana Font.

Price of the book

Writing this book took around 20 years. The book is planned to be published in the year 2025. The book will probably be available in different formats:

eBook, PDF, Web version: freely available on the Web
Kindle ebook: available on Amazon.com for €2.69, which is the minimum list price for an ebook.
Printed book in bookstores: available in bookstores on demand, including Amazon.com, for €89, of which €38 are for printing, €45 for the bookstore, and €6 for the author. Restrictions of major book retailers prohibit back-of-the-book descriptions that say that the book is available also for free.

If you like this book and intend to buy it on Amazon.com, please leave a review! Tell the readers that the book is available also for free on the Web, so that they can check it out before buying it!

It is unlikely that the income from this book will make the author cover the costs of writing this book. The cost amounts to several thousand euros for professional editing services, plus a few hundred euros for the license of the professional PDF software Prince. In return, the copyright of this book is not sold to a publisher, but kept by the author, who can thus provide the book online for free under a permissive license.

Acknowledgments

The author is very grateful to the numerous people who have given their feedback on the Atheist Bible. He owes immense thanks to Dr. D. Olson Pook, the editor for the first half of this book: He did not just edit the writing, but he also criticized it by help of his own vast knowledge on the topic. The work with Olson helped the author shape his ideas, sometimes inspired by Olson’s remarks, sometimes in opposition to them. Dr. Jessica Kaplan, the editor for the second half of the book, pushed the author to substantiate his claims more by arguments and references. This made him see that things were not as simple as he thought they would be. In several places, the author had to revise not just his writing, but also his theses. The author also thanks Roy Sablosky, who has permitted citations from his yet-unpublished book “No One Really Believes in God”.

Summary

Main Messages

Atheism

Humanism

Humanism and Religion

Humanism and harmful beliefs

Outlook

The Future of Humanism

Education

Outlook

End Titles

Legal Terms

Artwork

Portraits

Layout

Price of the book

Acknowledgments

References