I was browsing through the excellent posts on “The Atheist Jew<\/a>” website recently and I came across one entitled “Atheism as a theory<\/a>,” which is very interesting but posts some points I really do not agree with. The crux of them come from the Top 10 Atheist Myths<\/a> website, so it is there I turn the rest of my attention.<\/p>\n Atheism<\/a>, in my mind, is nothing more (or less) than the absence of any belief in any supernatural entity. You can call the entity Thor, Odin, Bahommet, Azura Madhra, Pluto, Set, Bast, Hermes, God, Allah, Vishnu or whatever. I still dont believe in it.<\/p>\n That pretty much sums up everything Atheists<\/a> have in common. Other than that, they are “normal” people just like a theist. There are Atheists who do bad things, there are Atheists who do good things. There are Atheists who are irrational, just as there are ones who are rational. Atheism is an opinion about one aspect of your interaction with reality and, as such, cant really be used to determine any other aspects.<\/p>\n Ok, so there is “my” take on atheism. On the “Top 10 Myths” site, there are a list of the top ten (oddly enough…) so I will repeat them here:<\/p>\n Now, it doesn’t take the most imagination in the world to see how these myths are, in fact, all flawed and Dave Silverman’s website does a good job of dismissing them (myth 10 is obviously very specific for the US so I will ignore it for now).<\/p>\n There is a common thread which runs through all the myths, and it is the theistic assumption that all Atheists think the same. This is the same lack of logical thought which leads people to assume Richard Dawkins<\/a> is the “pope” of Atheism. As logical thought goes, it is more than wrong.<\/p>\n Sadly, despite Dave Silverman’s otherwise excellent commentary, he makes the same mistake himself a few times. For example, in response to Myth 2 he writes: (emphasis in original, underlining mine)<\/p>\n Humans have the idea of right and wrong imbedded in them by their own brains, as well as their upbringing and society.<\/strong> Atheists do good, not out of fear of reprisal, but because it’s the right thing to do. We value family, society, culture, and, of course, freedom.<\/span> <\/strong>Many of us will – and have – defend these values with our lives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While personally, I do think I value family, society, culture and freedom, I also think it is a stretch of reality to imply all Atheists do. There are atheists who are simply nasty people. Being an atheist does not mean you hold yourself to a higher standard and there is no Holy Book Of Atheism to tell people how to live their lives. Just like theists, atheists are a mixture of people. The main difference (in my opinion) is that Atheists are a LOT less hypocritical.<\/p>\n I may be out of order, but I get the suspicion that Dave Silverman is an ex-Christian\/Jewish Atheist, which seems to come through in his comments. For example, in response to myth 8, he writes:<\/p>\n I like getting this question. I sense another list coming :<\/p>\n 1) Drug addicts go through life happy, so would theists suggest we all use drugs and stay home? We would be happy, and not hurting anybody, so where’s the harm? 2) Religious people should not be lumped into one category for this question. Remember, religions are also biased against each other (Jews vs. Catholics Vs. Protestants, etc), so no matter what religion the speaker follows, most of the world thinks they’re going to hell (or other punishment), just like atheists. <\/strong>Ask them which religion has the worst punishment, and whether they would convert to that religion on that one factor, just in case they’re right. When they tell you how absurd that question is, remind them that they asked it first.<\/p>\n 3) To convert and practice a specific religion just to ingratiate yourself with God and avoid going to hell is pure, self-serving greed, which is one of the seven deadly All very much along the Abrahamic religions lines. In reality, this myth is a variation on Pascals Wager and can generally be dismissed in much simpler terms (and was mentioned here previously<\/a>).<\/p>\n All in all, both sites are interesting and worth visiting, they just have a different view on Atheism to myself – which goes to show, all atheists are different!<\/p>\n\n
\nThe harm is the same for believers. They go through life happy, but it’s a false, wasteful happiness. Atheists get happiness from family, contribution to society, charity, and truth.<\/p>\n
\nsins. Therefore, by their own thinking, even if they are right and I do convert, I’d go to hell anyway, along with everyone else in the flock whose actions are so motivated (possibly including the speaker).<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nShare this:<\/h3>