Expert: Austin Cline - 10/14/2009

Question
Hi, I'm Davis, I'm 14, and I have flipped and flopped between Atheism and Agnosticism since I was about 10 years old, and have ALWAYS had a huge interest in Religious Studies and Philosophy. I just had a few questions.  I have read some of your previous answers and have found them very good, and in some cases VERY entertaining (in a good way) :)

1. What is Humanism exactly? From what I have read and heard is that it is sort of like believing in morals and whatnot but that we don't need a god telling us to do so. I am not sure at all just wanted some clarification.

2. How do different levels of "strong" and "weak" atheism differ.  At what level would Agnosticism come into play?  What about different levels of Humanism?

3. How do people go through an Awakening? There was a kid I knew who was always loud and obnoxious, then he goes away to a Young Christian Athletes (?) camp and is suddenly a "goody two-shoes" (haha you can tell I've been longing to say that).  How can someone possible become so convinced of a connection to their god and jesus?

4. What is Christian Atheism? I saw it in the movie Religulous (loved it) and wasn't quite sure what it meant.

I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you :)

-Davis

Answer
1. Atheism and agnosticism aren't mutually exclusive - a person can be an agnostic atheist or an agnostic theist. There is a lot of material here which may help you:

http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutatheism/a/BeginnersBasics.htm

2. Humanism comes in a variety of forms and has more than one meaning. It may refer to the general cultural inheritance we have from the ancient world and the Enlightenment or it might refer to a specific philosophy. I have more here:

http://atheism.about.com/od/humanismtypes/
http://atheism.about.com/od/abouthumanism/a/what.htm
http://atheism.about.com/od/abouthumanism/a/beinghumanist.htm

3. People can be convinced of anything if they want badly enough for it to be true. Just because someone says they have had an "Awakening," though, doesn't mean that any truly substantive changes have taken place. Just how long does their new behavior last, for example?

4. I disagree that there is such a thing as "Christian Atheism," but if the term has any reality then it may be used to refer to people who are "culturally" Christian (partake of some Christian traditions, perhaps even up to attending church on holidays like Christmas) but who don't believe in any gods. There is a parallel here with people who identify as Jewish but who are irreligious and even atheists. The analogy breaks down, however, because "Jew" has always referred to a culture and ethnicity, not jut religion, whereas "Christian" has only ever referred to a religion. That's why I disagree with the term "Christian Atheism." If the concept proves important, then "culturally Christian" is probably better - less contradictory, less chance of accidentally misleading anyone.