Atheism: Facts or Fiction

By Talat Radwan

This book is a guide to illustrate to anyone who has been distracted or deterred from any religion or has experienced improper teachings from his or her church, temple, synagogue, which is not purely taught by the Creator. Some may have become against all religion because they have been hurt and abused by someone in the clergy who have claimed to be a Man of God. This type of misconduct is an absolute selfish misbehavior of another human being and will not allow them to fully understand the message of the true God the Creator. They eliminate themselves from truly worshiping God and deprive themselves of enjoying the beauty, luxury, lavish life in heaven.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781098057237

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Atheism

Facts or Fiction

Talat Radwan

Copyright © 2020 by Talat Radwan

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Prayers of the Author

How This Book Was Generated

While I was proofreading the book Why We Exist with longtime family friend, Dr. Mayada Marzouk and her children, Joseph and Lama Salama, it was mentioned that many from the new generation are shying away from the belief of God and religion. They asked to include a segment discussing this trend in the book, however, I felt this topic didn’t go with the theme. I did agree that it needed to be talked about. To answer their request, this book was born. Its title shall be Atheism: Fact or Fiction.

Dr. Mayada Marzouk is a licensed psychotherapist practicing in the Inland Empire in Southern California. Her mother, Mrs. Samia Abuzied, was a consultant to the Minister of Finance of Egypt. Her Father, Mr. Maher Marzouk (May Allah bless his soul), was a pioneer of physical education in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the early 1970s. Joseph Salama is a college freshman with interest in human behavior. Lama Salama is a graduate student working on her master’s degree in psychology. The Marzouk family is highly educated, and their opinion is of great value to the completion of this book.

Introduction

This book will explain that a group of people branching out by themselves, forming another faith of their own and calling it atheism. The person who follows this faith is an atheist. They may have suffered somehow in their lives thus harboring negative thoughts about God and religions in general. This caused many confusions, contradictions, and illogical statement by clergy personals in the church or their homes, making them rebel against God in general. Ultimately, the message of this book is to guide these people to come back to worshipping the Almighty God and guide them to see the true fact of the Creator.

Secular

Secular things are not religious. Anything not affiliated with a church or faith can be called secular. Nonreligious people can be called atheists or agnostics. To describe things, activities, or attitudes that have nothing to do with religion, you can use the word secular. Secularization refers to the declining influence of religion and religious values.

Atheist versus Agnostic

An atheist (ā-thē-ist) is a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods. Used in a sentence, "He is a committed atheist." Its synonyms include nonbeliever, disbeliever, unbeliever, skeptic, doubter, doubting Thomas, agnostic; nihilist.

An agnostic (ag’nästik) is a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena, a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God. Its synonyms are skeptic, doubter, doubting Thomas, and cynic. Used as an adjective, it means relating to agnostics or agnosticism.

One of the earliest definitions of agnostic atheism is coined by a theologian and philosopher Robert Flint in his Croall Lecture of 1887–1888 (Agnosticism, 1903):

The atheist may however be, and not infrequently is, an agnostic. There is an agnostic atheism or atheistic agnosticism, and the combination of atheism with agnosticism which may be so named is not an uncommon one.

If a man has failed to find any good reason for believing that there is a God, it is perfectly natural and rational that he should not believe that there is a God; and if so, he is an atheist…if he goes farther, and, after an investigation into the nature and reach of human knowledge, ending in the conclusion that the existence of God is incapable of proof cease to believe in it on the ground that he cannot know it to be true, he is an agnostic and also an atheist—an agnostic-atheist—an atheist because an agnostic…while, then, it is erroneous to identify agnosticism and atheism, it is equally erroneous so to separate them as if the one were exclusive of the other. (Flint 1903, 49–51)

History of Atheisms

Atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which, in its most general form, is the belief that at least one deity exists. Atheism (derived from the Ancient Greek ἄθεος (atheos), meaning without gods; godless; secular; denying or disdaining the gods, especially officially sanctioned gods is the absence or rejection of the belief that deities exist (Wikipedia). The English term was used at least as early as the sixteenth century, and atheistic ideas and their influence have a long history.

Historical records of atheist philosophy span several millennia. Atheistic schools are found in early Indian thought and have existed from the times of the ancient Vedic religion. Western atheism has its roots in pre-Socratic Greek philosophy but did not emerge as a distinct worldview until the late Enlightenment. Discrepancies exist among sources as to how atheist and religious demographics are changing. Over the centuries, atheists have supported their lack of belief in gods through a variety of avenues, including scientific, philosophical, and ideological notions.

Philosophical atheist thought began to appear in Europe and Asia in the sixth or fifth century BCE. Will Durant, in his The Story of Civilization, explained that certain pygmy tribes found in Africa were observed to have no identifiable cults or rites. There were no totems, no deities, and no spirits. Their dead were buried without special ceremonies or accompanying items and received no further attention. They even appeared to lack simple superstitions, according to travelers" reports. The Vedas of Ceylon admitted only the possibility that deities might exist but went no further. Neither prayers nor sacrifices were suggested in any way by the tribes (Wikipedia).

The most mysterious question no one ever witnessed, oversaw, or ever experienced, which is our life after death, how, where, and when. Some thinkers express these questions in simple words: where from, why, and where to, meaning, Where did I come from?, Why am I here? and Where I am going?

Those who only believe in the material world and not in a Creator (atheists) only believe in sensory data. They say that this universe and everything in it came by itself. All its order is simply due to blind coincidence. They say that man simply exists only for a short period and then die, like any other animal or plant. This feeling of doubt and confusion about the presence of a Creator, whether He sent messengers and prophets to guide humankind, must be quite heartbreaking, sorrowful, and painful because of it deprives the atheist and the agnostic of tranquility, serenity, and peace of mind. The unbelievers do not have credible answers to the purpose of their existence, thus they say that man lives for himself and for the pleasures of this life.

So what happens when life turns sour? What happens when one goes through hardships? It is no coincidence that the most significant number of suicides takes place amongst atheists, agnostics, and people who do not know their purpose in life. Japan has the most significant number of suicides. By the year of 2009, there were 33,000 suicides in Japan, which is roughly ninety suicides per day or one every fifteen minutes, despite the fact that Japan has the second largest economy in the world and its people not having to worry about housing, food, or medical care.

Some people, brought up more on science than religion, believe in the big bang and Darwin’s theory of evolution more than God. There is no reason why the theories of science and creationism cannot coexist. The big bang may explain the origin of the universe (see the book Creation of the Universe by Talat Radwan and many other authors with the same topic). Similarly, evolution may explain the fossil record, but it falls far short of explaining the quintessential essence of human life—the soul. We all have one. We feel its presence, we speak of its existence and at times to pray for its salvation. But only God the Creator of the soul can explain where it came from. The theory of natural selection can explain many of the material aspects of living things, but no one can ever explain the secret of human soul only God.

Atheist Reasoning

Most atheists would offer some of the following arguments for God’s nonexistence:

Nonintellectual. Many people are atheists because of the way they were brought up or educated, or because they have simply adopted the beliefs of the culture in which they grew up. So someone raised in Communist China is likely to have no belief in God because the education system and culture make being an atheist the natural thing to do. Other people are atheists because they just feel that atheism is right.

Note for Philosophers The arguments and counter-arguments are presented in this article in an extremely simplified way and are intended only as a starting point for further reading and exploration. Reasons focusing on lack of evidence.

Law of Probabilities. It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence (W. K. Clifford 1879). Many people are atheists because they