Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism by Paul C. Vitz (2013-10-18) Paperback – January 1, 1780

Psychology is possibly the last topic I would choose to read. However, after hearing the speaker give a talk a few years ago, I was determined to tackle this book. In spite of my fears, the book was not traumatic to read, and I even enjoyed it. The basic premise is an inversion of the theory made popular by Freud, that people believe in God as a wish fulfilment based on their father figure. The author examines the inverse by proposing that historic academic atheist rejected God due to experiencing an absent, dead or weak father in their early years. The evidence is surprisingly strong. Unless you had some other reason to doubt the hypothesis, the evidence seems to carry the argument. Interestingly, we tested the idea on two young atheists. The first acted offended and spewed a series of semi-logical complaints. Then second asked if this was not obvious, suggesting that of course if the one was true, so should the other be. The essence of the book was only dealing with historic atheists whose writings were highly controversial at the time. In the last chapters he explains this more completely, first by discussing his own atheist phase, and second by discussing how the thesis does not apply in the twenty first century where it is far more radical in the academy to be a theist than an atheist.

This was a very eye opening book and confirmed what I had thought was the result of a "father wound"!

Nice book, easy language

I won't write another review - lots of pros and cons and you can judge for yourselves. Perhaps this anecdote will give you additional insight...I heard Dr. Vitz speak at UF several years ago. He presented this topic. At the end of his talk, there was a Q&A period. After several interesting but very safe questions, a young man came to the microphone and asked, "My life fits your theory to a 't.' I am an atheist and my father abandoned our family when I was small. What advice to you have for me?"Dr. Vitz thought for a moment (you could have heard a pin drop in the auditorium) and replied, "Go, find a child who is in the same situation that you were in, and be the father figure for that child." There wasn't a dry eye in the audience; I'm still moved just relating the exchange.

Paul C. Vitz makes the case that Atheism is rooted in fatherlessness. Quite simply, he does a case study of famous Atheists and Theists and their relationships with their fathers. He shows that Atheism is prevalent among those who lost their father's to death or abandonment. The problem is show to be more acute if one becomes fatherless between the ages of 0-6. His study of famous Theists shows that in general they had a good relationship with their fathers. Vitz makes a good case that atheism is linked to psychological factors and not to evolved intellectual reasoning.

Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheismby Paul C. VitzDallas: Spence Publishing Company, 1999 (hardback); 2000 (paperback)Pp. 174 including notes and indexISBN 1-890626-25-2 (pbk.)Review-essay by Reverend Brian Van Hove, S.J.Alma, MichiganPublished in The St. Louis Review, 21 December 2007, p. 18Posted on Ignatius Insight, 25 January 2008This precious book has been out for just a few years, and it deserves to be recalled frequently with renewed attention.The crisis of fatherlessness is partly cultural. We experience it acutely in the United States. Teachers and pastors witness its devastating effects every day. An abnormal ideological feminism at times enters the vacuum created by fatherlessness. Fatherlessness can also generate homoeroticism or a frantic search for some "spirituality of masculinity".Indeed, both boys and girls need a wise father who encourages them and strengthens them, and who provides what a mother cannot. In our society today, the need for true fathers has become desperate, though by the grace of God generous grandfathers have stepped forward to care for the young. Mr. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote movingly about this in My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir (HarperCollins Publishers, 2007).Dr. Paul Vitz takes a broad historical sweep of atheists from the Enlightenment to our own day. In most cases alienation from God was a reaction to an absent or defective father. Similarly, a survey of staunch believers of the last two centuries shows that most of them had a close relationship with their father or instead enjoyed an effective father substitute.An example is the life of Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) whose father died when he was two. Henry Edward Cardinal Manning of Westminster was a real father figure to the young Hilaire, and Hilaire matured in the way men do whose biological fathers helped them along the way. (p. 98-100) As an Anglican clergyman, Manning lost his wife. He knew the sorrow of widowhood personally. Later as a Catholic, when he became cardinal-archbishop, he maintained his role as father and found time to spend with the teenage Hilaire despite the many pressing duties of office.Vitz gives us an autobiographical section in which he explains his own "superficial" atheism as a young American academic. His atheism was more a social conformity and a career need than the result of a damaged relationship with his father. A positive father relationship probably helped him overcome temporary atheism and made possible his serious adult conversion to the Catholic faith. (p. 130-137)Faith of the Fatherless does not mention the strong rumors that the dying Jean-Paul Sartre converted to theism, and it was written before the aging Antony Flew converted from philosophical atheism to philosophical theism. And of course he wrote well before atheist Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass became so well known. We eagerly await information on Pullman's relationship with his father.But Vitz's selection of authors to analyze is interesting and adequate. On the atheist side we study twenty-nine intellectuals or world leaders from the eighteenth century to the present. (p. 20-57; 104-129). These include those who suffered from deaceased fathers, weak fathers, absent fathers or abusive fathers. On the theist side we get thumbnail sketches of twenty-four historical examples of believing Christians and Jews. (p. 58-93) Some of them, such as Don Bosco, who himself became an effective substitute father to hundreds of industrial-age orphans, found effective substitute fathers. (p. 95-98) There are exceptional cases as well as cases with qualifications, but these tend to support the hypothesis. (p. 122-125)This book is short and readable. High school teachers could use it for class. The book would actually introduce students to Western Civilization by way of the "glue" that has traditionally held it together¯religion. Students could draw their own conclusions as to what happens when a failed father fuels atheism, especially the atheism of great thinkers, artists and leaders. And the "decline of the West" makes more sense when we consider the consequence if the role of the father decays.The psychology of unbelief is a fascinating field, and according to Vitz it is mostly about fatherlessness. This field is a corollary to the traditional Christian teaching on marriage and family.

Amazing Thoughtful book to expose the lies of the wounded Atheist that is trying so hard to prove God doesnt exist because of the father wound. Brilliant job

Its good to know how all these intellectuals rated but the problem is also the surrounding culturewhich directed these people in certain directions.The book is a bit simplistic. Good loving fathers make for strong men and a strong culture.Like my brothers and all their wives but their children no longer.