The BELIEF in atheist DOGMA is a MENTAL DISORDER (AKA INSANITY):

During the course of this debate, I intend to show beyond any reasonable doubt that atheism is not a mental disorder. To begin, I will define all terms to be used in the debate. I will then examine characteristics of atheism and atheists and characteristics of mental disorders. From there, I will show through the use of reason and logic that atheism is not, in fact, a mental disorder. Finally, I will analyze and refute the argument presented by my opponent. To begin, it is necessary to define any relevant terms. I will be using Merriam-Webster as a source for these definitions. I would be happy to use any other credible dictionary in future rounds at the request of my opponent, though. In the case of multiple definitions, I will be using the primary definitions because these are the most commonly-used definitions, and thus the most useful to us. Mental illness or mental disorder: any of a broad range of medical conditions (such as major depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or panic disorder) that are marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions to impair normal psychological functioning and cause marked distress or disability and that are typically associated with a disruption in normal thinking, feeling, mood, behavior, interpersonal interactions, or daily functioning (Source 1) Atheism: a lack of belief or a strong disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods (Source 2) Atheist: a person who does not believe in the existence of a god or any gods (Source 3) Medical: of, relating to, or concerned with physicians or the practice of medicine (Source 4) Now that we have definitions out of the way, it's time to begin laying out the meat of the argument. The claim being made by my opponent is that believing in "atheist dogma," or being an atheist, is a mental disorder. As defined above, an atheist is effectively someone who does not believe in any god or gods. So, the argument being made is that a lack of belief in any god or gods is a mental disorder. Let's analyze how atheism, as defined here, relates to mental disorders. The first basic property of mental disorders that one can extract from the above definition is that they are medical conditions. As defined above, medical means "of, relating to, or concerned with physicians or the practice of medicine." As per its definition, atheism doesn't inherently have anything to do with medicine, physicians, or the practice of medicine. Additionally, nothing about belief in a god or gods relates to medicine. Therefore, atheism fails to have the first basic characteristic of a mental disorder. The next characteristic of mental disorders to be extracted from the above definition is that it they are "marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions." Atheism, as defined above, has nothing to do with this property. The definition for atheist also lacks any reference to this property. Additionally, nothing about a lack of belief in any deities relates to this property. So, atheism fails to have the second characteristic of a mental disorder. Continuing to extract characteristics of mental disorders from the definition above, we find that mental disorders impair "normal psychological functioning." Once more, it is found that neither the definition of atheism or the definition of atheist have any reference to anything along the lines of this. Also, there is not reason to believe that a lack of belief in any deities impairs normal psychological functioning. Thus, atheism again fails to have a characteristic of a mental disorder. The next characteristic of mental disorders as per the definition above is that they cause "marked distress or disability." Again, nothing in the definitions of atheism or atheist imply this. Additionally, no scientific study has ever claimed that there is a relationship between atheism and "marked distress or disability." So, atheism fails once more to have a characteristic of a mental disorder. The final characteristic of mental disorders to be found in the above definition is that they are "typically associated with a disruption in normal thinking, feeling, mood, behavior, interpersonal interactions, or daily functioning." As is becoming a pattern, nothing inherent in atheism or being an atheist is related to this in any way. Additionally, no studies have ever found a relation between atheism and this characteristic. So, atheism fails to have yet another characteristic of mental disorders. As has been shown above, atheism does not have any characteristics of mental disorders. Nothing about atheism inherently relates to any characteristics of mental disorders. Therefore, atheism is not a mental disorder. Atheism is not at all related to mental disorders in any way. Now that I have laid out my basic argument, I am going to spend the remainder of this round countering my opponent's arguments. My opponent began by calling atheists "demonic." This is an unfounded claim. As per the definition of atheist, nothing is inherently demonic about all atheists. My opponent then related the opinion of atheists that no god or gods exist to claiming that the Statue of Liberty doesn't exist. This is an inaccurate analogy. There is no objective way to prove whether or not a god or gods exist. The existence of a deity isn't falsifiable; it can't be proved or disproved. The existence of the Statue of Liberty, on the other hand, can be proved or disproved by simply going to New York and observing if it is there or not. In fact, millions of people have done this very thing before. Therefore, this analogy doesn't hold up. My opponent then states that because atheists don't have any objective basis for morality, they end up committing "horrible activities." This is a logical fallacy known as a slippery slope. There is no evidence that being an atheist leads to such behaviors. So, this statement is illogical and unfounded. After this, my opponent goes on to define insanity. However, my opponent provided no source for this definition. In my research, I was unable to find such a definition for insanity. So, unless my opponent provides a credible source for this definition in future rounds, I am going to posit that the provided definition is invalid. Sources: 1. https://www.merriam-webster.com... 2. https://www.merriam-webster.com... 3. https://www.merriam-webster.com... 4. https://www.merriam-webster.com...