Protest atheism

Protest atheism is a branch of atheism arguing that there cannot be a God, because of the evil that is present in the world. Or, more accurately, 'If there is a God, then why doesn't he do anything? If there is and he doesn't, then he certainly is not worthy of worship.' The Protest Atheist does not necessesarily reject the idea of God in general; they reject the idea of a benevolent, omnipotent God that deserves worship. It is suggested that protest theism May Be a better name for it, as many people with these views still believe in (a) God(s), they just do not worship them.

Dostoyevsky's 'Brothers Karamazov'

A good example of Protest Atheism is given in Dostoyevsky's 'The Brothers Karamazov'. The older brother Ivan goes away for a while, in which time the younger brother Alyosha becomes very religious and contemplates becoming a monk. Ivan comes back from his travels and talks with his brother, debating on the existence of God. When Ivan uses the problem of evil, Alyosha combats using the Free Will Defense (described below). Ivan then tells Alyosha a story he saw in a newspaper.

A farmer was calling in his dogs when he saw that one of his oldest and most faithful dogs had a limp. He called on his staff to find out what had happened, and learned that a young boy who lived not far away had been throwing stones at the dog. In reponse to this, the farmer went over to the boy's house and took him and his parents to one of his fields. He then had the boy stripped [...], in front of his parents, and told him to run. Thirty seconds later, the farmer released the dogs, which tore after the boy and caught up in no time, before ripping him to shreds.

Alyosha asked Ivan what the point of telling this story was and Ivan replied 'What God would allow that suffering to befall an innocent child? No such God is worthy of my worship. You say this evil is caused by our own free will. I would rather not be free than have this child suffer. Adults have eaten their apple - let them be [...], but the children are innocent. I would not trade all the knowledge in the world for that child's tear.' [This is not an actual quote, although some original words are used]
Other stories often linked with Protest Atheism are that of a young girl who wet herself, and was punished brutally by her parents in the form of beating, forcing her to sleep outside and covering her in excrement. Another story is how soldiers in some parts of the world tease children with their guns, and just when the child manages to grab the end, they get shot. Note these are all stories where the victim is a child.

The Book Of Job

The Book of Job tells the story of Job, who is subjected to pain and suffering to test his loyalty to God. At first, he does not curse God at all, but when he looks at other innocent people who suffer, he was furious with God and demanded to know why all these people were subjected to the suiffering they were. God spoke to him and said that he was right to be angry, but he then asked 'Were you there when i created the universe? Who are you to know the mind of God?'
This is an example of a person who carries the IDeaS of a protest atheist, but Job followed his faith in God and still continued to worship him, but still remaining angry. When God refuses to explain, it very similar to the 'mystery card', described below.

Arguments in favour of Protest Atheism

Benevolence/Omnipotence Contradiction

Most Christians believe that God is Benevolent and Omnipotent, amongst other things. That is to say, wholly good and all-powerful. In today's world, this MUST be a contradiction. If God is all powerful, then me must be a nasty person in order to leave us in this state. If God is wholly good, then he must be unable to help us, and therefore not omnipotent. He cannot be both.

Counter argument:

Some People claim to be Christian, and yet they believe that god is not (or at least no longer) omnipotent, and therefore he cannot alter the world he created. Very few if any people believe that god is omnipotent but not benevolent, as this would imply a sadistic God who enjoys our suffering.

Omniscience argument

Most Christians also believe that God is all-knowing, or omniscient. If this were the case, then he would have known that the world would turn out in the way that it did, and that would in turn contradict his benevolence.

Counter argument:

At this point, Religious folk aften play what is known as the 'mystery card' in philosophy circles. This basically means "God is all-knowing and he has some greater master plan that we know nothing of, nor can we ever hope to understand, as it is incapable for humans to do so." This argument is rejected by almost the entire philosophical community as a weak 'get-out clause'.

Arguments Against Protest Atheism

Free Will Defense

This is the biggest and best attack against the protest atheist, and is described full below. In simple terms, it means that God gave us free will, and we chose to abuse it, creating in the long run our own misery and suffering

Master Plan

Some believe that God has a master plan that involves suffering in this world, but will result in peace and harmony in the next. Alternatively, The suffering we must endure in this life is a kind of test, to see what kind of peron we are and how we react to evil in the world. This would theoretically explain the problem, butit does have its problems.

Counter Argument:

Besides the point that this argument is often seen as a 'mystery card', rejected by philosophers, but also it is potentially weak because if God were onniscient, would he not already know what kind of person you would be, and he could then send you straight to Heaven Or Hell, without first being tested on Earth. To the Protest Atheist, this is a weak argument that can be attacked easily.

The Test

A few people believe that life on this Earth is simply a test to see if we deserve to be in heaven or hell when we die. Evil is just the best way to see how we react to various things.

Counter Argument:

This argument can be countered simply by asking why everybody is not subjected to the same evil? In the western world, people hardly ever go hungry or are orphaned. Do we need less testing than those in Africa? Also, as stated above, this contradicts God's omniscience, as he would already know wheather he should put them in heaven or hell.

The Free Will Defence

Possibly the best argument against protest atheism is known as the free will defence. IT Works on the basis that there are two types of evil in the world, moral and NATURAL. It states that God created us with free will, and therefore cannot interfere with us, as that would create a logical contradiction (it is widely regarded that while God is seen as omnipotent, a logical contradiction would still not work). As he cannot interfere with us, this counters the argument that he must help us. It then goes on to suggest that the evil that is present in the world is caused by free will itself. Moral evil ([...], [...], etc) is caused by the free will of humans. Of course our own free will cannot be the cause of natural evil (disasters eg earthquakes, tsunamis etc). The Free Will defence suggests that the natural evil in the world is caused by the wrongdoings of angelic beings, that also have free will. These beings use their free will for their wrongdoings, and these create bad 'vibrations' that cause unrest in this world. It is by no means foolproof, but it at least provides an arguable idea.

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