Atheism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Atheism - Research Paper Example Scant credibility need be attributed to any denial of such interpretation, due to these wishes being chiefly unconscious (Vitz, 1999). However, some scholars had contended that religion must be comprehended on the basis of the conditions responsible for its origin. These were the outcome of economic, political and social forces, as these factors effected human alienation at any specific location and period. Religion had been deeply challenged by Karl Marx. It was his contention that religion was a symptom that became an integral component of the corrupt social and political order, and that it served to preserve the very issue that it attempted to resolve (Wildman, 2010). As such, Feuerbach and Marx would have been in complete agreement with regard to the notion that religious self – alienation entailed a duplication of the world into a transcendental religious world and the reality of this secular world. It could also be presumed that they would have concurred that the humanly projected features of God were correlated to the needs of humans (Brien, 2009, p. 108). According to, Feuerbach and Marx God was created to substantiate the selfish needs of humans. Furthermore, this correlation would have provided counterbalancing completion due to belief in a fictional divine entity. However, with regard to alienation arising from religious self – alienation, Marx and Feuerbach would not have been in agreement. Marx proposed that religious self – alienation was the symptom of tangible and traditionally conditioned situations, wherein humans were embroiled in highly materialistic class conflicts that brought about their estrangement (Brien, 2009, p. 108). According to Marx, religion was the indicator of traditionally conditioned situations. In fact, Feuerbach had contended that God was sanctified human nature that had transcended the restrictions of the individual man, meditated upon and celebrated as a discrete presence. It was his considered opinio n that early humans had been compelled to envisage the terrors of existence. Accordingly these individuals had projected a divine being with boundless reason, will and love. This entity could be relied upon, while encountering or undergoing the difficulties of life (Brien, 2009, p. 109). Moreover, these early humans had resorted to such a higher power, in order to find security and succor. As such, Feuerbach had contended that God was sanctified human nature that was without any restrictions. The moralists contend that the fundamental authority of moral norms; namely that some things are wrong, whilst others are right, requires the presence of God. The source of these moral standards, according to such moral contentions, is God. There have been several proponents of this argument, such as the philosophers like HP Owen. He is credited with having successfully employed this argument to convert CS Lewis, an erstwhile atheist (Ward, 2006, p. 83). According to the contention of moralists , God is the source of morals. On the other hand, Bertrand Russell had proposed a standard refutation to this conjecture. His objection was whether something could be considered to be right, merely because it had been willed so by God. This would render arbitrary, what was to be regarded as good. However, if a thing was to be accepted as right, on account of its intrinsicalness, then God would be subject to a standard of goodness that enjoyed a higher position than Himself (Ward, 2006, p. 8