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Thu 30 Jun, 2016 11:21 am
Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism 2nd Edition
by Paul C. Vitz PhD
Author, Vitz (psychology, New York U.), an atheist himself until his 30s, exposes atheism to the same psychological analysis atheistic apologists have used to debunk religious belief. Beginning with Freud's notion that belief in God is a product of humanity's desire for security, he argues that psychoanalysis is actually a better explanation for denial of God, concluding that the absence of a good father is at the core of militant atheism. Surveys of the leading intellectual defenders of atheism and Christianity, show that the atheists had "defective fathers" while the believers did not. Vitz does not intend to suggest that atheism is psychologically determined, but rather hopes to counteract the idea that irrational psychological factors lead one to believe in God.
@AugustineBrother,
Quote:Surveys of the leading intellectual defenders of atheism and Christianity, show that the atheists had "defective fathers" while the believers did not.
If that is true, then it seems to prove the point that, without a close authority figure to influence you to believe in unprovable ideas, a child will not grow up to be believe in those unprovable ideas, and will rightly view those unprovable ideas as being rather silly.
They are coming out of the woodwork this week.
@Glennn,
We can be sure it doesn't prove that...That isn't even a logical deduction. The converse needs its own data.
@AugustineBrother,
Quote:That isn't even a logical deduction.
Yes it is. It makes perfect sense . . . unless you don't want to see it.
@Glennn,
So you accuse me of an intellectual mistake but you yourself say it is a matter of Will. you look silly you know.
@AugustineBrother,
no sense.. I´ve met several defective fathers of believers and several loving ones of atheist... Besides you are mixing concepts completely unrelated to each other as they were strongly connected to each other: being an atheist does not mean you believe in psychoanalysis and a defective father could easily lead a child to find solace in God´s existence....
And last, but no least, the need to believe in a God resulting from humans traumatic confrontation with their mortality could hardly be considered as "irrational" at all...
@Glennn,
You take it in the way that supports your views of fatherhood, that is clear.
you have a conclusion ready but you didn't even check to see whether the premise was true !! My conclusion: You just wanted to knock people whose beliefs you don't like.
@CVeigh,
Quote:You just wanted to knocking/insulting people whose beliefs you don't like.
That sounds funny coming from someone who is doing nothing in this forum but knocking/ insulting people whose beliefs you don't like. Was your father a victim of this same condition? I'm guessing that he was. How else would you have come away from childhood with the conclusion that ridicule is an acceptable form of communication?
@AugustineBrother,
Quote:So you accuse me of an intellectual mistake but you yourself say it is a matter of Will. you look silly you know.
Where did you see me accusing you of an intellectual mistake? And where did I say that it is a matter of will?
@Glennn,
The voices tell him that Glenn
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