A Tale of Two Atheists

Broadly speaking there are two basic types of atheists. The philosophical atheist and the scientific atheist. As is the case with many things in life, there is often an overlap between the two. A philosophical atheist, which I myself briefly was, generally has some basic knowledge and interest in science. Likewise, the scientific atheist usually entertains certain philosophical arguments against God’s existence. The philosophical atheist largely bases his disbelief in...philosophical arguments such as "How can God exist when there’s so much suffering?" (This was my main argument against God.) Out of the two, the philosophical atheist is generally the less dogmatic, since he knows that his objections to God’s existence can’t be outright proven. They are based upon speculation rather that fact. However, the scientific atheist is a different creature altogether. Generally, he tends to be the dogmatic, angry type who you’ll often encounter on the internet. He has an unwavering certainty about his positions since he genuinely believes that those positions aren’t merely speculative but based upon actual facts. Scientific 'facts' which can be proven objectively. To him atheism is scientific and religion is superstition. The great irony of such a view is that if God exists He stands outside of the natural realm and, therefore, is beyond the inquiry of science. So science can never actually disprove or prove God’s existence. To claim otherwise is...philosophically wrong.

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