This will be a pretty simple diary, that I hope everyone takes a sincere look at. It will be an attempt to confront many of the myths the religious and non-religious alike think about when they hear the term atheist. I will try to make it obvious that we are not Satan's minions, so to speak, and that we are actually quite nice people in general.
So please, I encourage all of you to take a look, and even if you decided you are too lazy or stubborn to read it, at least answer the poll question, so I can get a better knowledge of just how untrustworthy Atheists are.
Common Myths about Atheism Debunked
Atheists are only jealous of the strong belief of the religious.
This is completely and utterly false, most, if not all of the atheists I know are very proud of their beliefs, and most importantly, typically look at the strong belief of the religious in a negative tone, far from being jealous to any extent.
Atheists are extremely immoral, and are damaging society.
As stated in one of my previous diaries, I am a firm believer in the Golden Rule, as are most Atheists and Rationalists. Atheists understand that you only have one life to live, and that you had better live it properly to extend and enhance your experience. Running around killing and raping people is not something Atheists will typically do, despite what the religious right might want you to believe. In fact, which would you find to be more moral, someone who would kill for their God in order to get to heaven, or someone who realizes that there is no heaven, and would never dare kill a person because they realize that are taking that person out of existence, permanently. I'd take the latter any day.
Atheists aren't happy.
Once again, quite the opposite, Atheists don't have to live in fear of going to the eternal hellfire like many of the religious people do. They live life knowing and enjoying it as they go along, knowing full well that they had better live up while they can, because it won't last forever. Religious people on the other hand, are simply trying to trudge through their life in order to get to heaven, wasting away their lives as they go along. Who's happier, I think it's quite obvious.
Atheists are ignorant, arrogant people.
I have heard this one MANY times. Even my own mother calls me ignorant because I reject the views of the religious and accept my views in regards to Atheism. However, who is truly being ignorant here. Most atheists spend much time looking through world religions and thinking about whether or not there is a god. Devout religious people on the other hand go through live KNOWING that they are right, and that us Atheists, and those of every other religion, are dead wrong. Now to me, that fits the definition of ignorant perfectly, while the Atheist view is almost the exact opposite, or as I like to call it, 'educated'.
Many people commit crimes because they are an Atheist and don't have to fear god.
I just had to throw this in here, because of course, in reality, less than one-percent of all inmates are non-religious. (Some studies even have it as low as one-third of one percent. How naught of us Atheists. [1]
Atheism and non-religious ideas are a fringe minority.
If you consider just over 1 billion people to be a 'fringe' minority, then I guess this one must be true. When one-sixth of the world population according to this estimate follows something, it should hardly be considered a minority. Even if you simply try to factor Atheism alone, you still have 200-240 million people according to this estimate, which is actually a generally low one. So to put it simply, there are many Atheists and non-believers, and like it or not, our numbers are growing.
Atheism is based on beliefs just like other religions, and is turning into a religion itself.
This is simply outrageous. This is usually used as a reference when evolution comes up in the conversation. Many devout religious believers think that our 'belief' in the theory of evolution is based on the fact that we believe it is true alone. However, this is not true, for things such as evolution, we do not use beliefs, but instead, use cold, hard scientific evidence to bolster our claims. When an Atheist says that they 'believe' in the theory of evolution, they do not mean this in the same way as when a religious person says they 'believe' in god. Whereas the Atheist has based his 'belief' on evidence, the religious person has based their's on the idea that they can't solve a problem, so god must have done it.
Atheists, with their love of science, cannot prove that God doesn't exist, and therefore should doubt themselves.
I always wonder on this question just exactly where the burden of proof switched sides in the eyes of the religious. Since when does someone who doesn't believe something have to prove that something isn't real. If I say I don't believe in purple flying monsters from Mars, do I have to prove this with scientific data? No, the one who would have to prove it is the one who says this magical creature exists. Likewise, the burden of proof in this case lies with those who say they 'know' god exists, not with those who think he does not. (Just in in court, the prosecution must prove the crime existed and that the defendant committed it, it is not technically the job of the defendant to prove that he/she didn't do it.)
There are no atheists in foxholes
I suggest that if you believe this you should visit here, or here, or here and then come back and see whether or not you doubt this. For those too lazy to click on the links, they all are made up of servicemen past and present who are proud Atheists.
Atheists don't belong in America, as this country is a Christian nation.
Wrong, The often sited Treaty of Barbary of 1797 states, "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." This I think, covers it pretty well. It also helps that this treaty was pushed strongly to be passed by President Adams. It is also important to note that this treaty was passed UNANIMOUSLY, only the 3rd time up to this point (out of 339) that a recorded vote was passed in this manner. [2]
Some of the worst mass murderers in the world (Including Stalin and Hitler were Atheists
First of all, Hitler was not an Atheist, as a matter of fact, in Hitler's work Mein Kampf, he expressly stated that the killing of the Jews was his duty from his creator. That to me does not seem quite Atheistic at all. It is also important to note that the general hatred of Hebrews goes back through much of their existence, and is completely based off of religious precedence and beliefs. The number one cause for the holocaust according to many historians was thousands of years of antisemitism.
Stalin was also, contrary to much popular belief, not an Atheist per-se. While he indeed did get rid of the church in the Soviet Union, he did so because he was power hungry and believed these leaders might steal this power from him. Also, it is somewhat important to note that Stalin went to a seminary for a good chunk of his schooling. Although it is somewhat impossible to prove that he is either an Atheist or Religious, this question pales in importance when you realize that he did not commit his atrocities for Atheism, he did it because he is very power-hungry. Whereas religious atrocities such as the crusades were committed for religion, Stalin's act were for entirely different reasons indeed, and not for his alleged Atheism.
Atheists think life is meaningless and happened by chance.
Entirely true, we view our lives as our complete meaning, and believe that we must live them to the fullest extent, because once they're over, it's all over. Religious people on the other hand, think life is just a pathway to an all-important afterlife, and whereas life is indeed meaningful, it is no where as meaningful as the 'glorious' afterlife.
As for life occurring by chance, this is usually in reference in the creation of life, and the complete misunderstanding of the theory of evolution as interpreted by the religious. They believe that it says that life started and grew by chance. However, the theory of Natural Selection says almost the opposite, that instead of chance, the development of life was extremely methodical, enhancing itself generation by generation until we have what he have today.
Finally, I'll end a myth that is actually, and quite unfortunately true.
Atheists are the least trusted minority in America
This is an utter disgrace, and shows that American ideologies when it comes to religious beliefs, are far behind the rest of the western world. [3]
I hope that if you are a religious believer and had this belief in your head that Atheists are extremely untrustworthy, that I at least made you reconsider this believe. Thanks for reading, and check back for the next edition of Religion in the News.