The Top Ten Misconceptions About Atheists

[cleanhippie]

Let me correct some of the most egregious misconceptions believers have about us, in reverse order:

10) We don’t eat or molest babies. Nor do we agree with what allegedly atheist dictators did in the past century. Over-all we are good people. All you need to do is personally know one of us to see this. I have no doubt but that you probably already know an atheist. It’s just that you don’t give that person the freedom to tell you in this Christian dominated culture. I wish more atheists would “come out of the closet” because of this.

--snip--

3) We don’t claim to know with certainty that a god of some kind doesn’t exist. Not even Richard Dawkins or Victor Stenger thinks it’s impossible that a god of some kind exists (I heard them both say as much in debates). We do think the God hypothesis is unnecessary and irrelevant to life though.

2) We don’t have faith nor a religion. We base our conclusions on the available evidence. We do not take a leap of faith beyond those probabilities. And since to have a religion one must believe in supernatural beings and forces, we cannot be labeled as religious in any meaningful sense.

1) We are not a minority. We are the second largest denomination in America. Depending on how we define an atheist (if we include agnostics who are skeptics with regard to all “revealed” religions) we may even be upwards to 24% of the population. Worldwide we represent third place among the world religions, even though we’re not religious.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/loftus/2011/12/12/the-top-ten-misconceptions-about-atheists-2

--------------------------------

Now, I think this pretty much sums up the atheists/non-believers here on DU, so you can now stop posting the nonsense that directly contradicts this (you know who you are). To continue to make posts that contain this crap means that you are just trolling, are irrelevant to civil conversation, and should be ignored.

IOW, don't be douche.

[trotsky]

1. Quite honestly, if I didn't see every one of those 10 items in here consistently...

I'd have almost no reason to post.

I'd add #11, as well: Just because we don't believe in gods doesn't mean we can't have strongly-held opinions on religious issues and religion's influence on politics and government. Yes Virginia, atheists can post in a Religion forum.

[PassingFair]

2. #12

We do not think that there is "nothing greater than us" or that there is no "higher power".

I have seen Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls would kick my ass!

And gravity....gravity is kicking my ass.

[Goblinmonger]

3. And mountains.

Mountains are fucking cool and create in me a sense of awe and feeling very small.

[PassingFair]

4. Yeah, mountains....and BIG lakes...

and my Dad!

[iris27]

16. And caves.

Caves are literally awesome.

[Silent3]

27. And ninjas!

Especially ninjas with lasers!!!

[Warpy]

25. And time, one of the meanest things ever

There are a lot of things far greater in power than we are. That doesn't mean that we're going to worship waterfalls or volcanoes or gravity or time as gods that pay attention and respond to flattery. They are all completely impersonal, as is the rest of the universe.

[raccoon]

5. bookmarked to read later. nt

[rug]

6. He's denying the existence of gnostic atheists in #3.

[Fumesucker]

7. Yep..

[PassingFair]

9. I don't actually know any gnostic atheists.

And I come from a family of atheists and know a lot of atheists.

“It is often said, mainly by the 'no-contests', that although there is no positive evidence for the existence of God, nor is there evidence against his existence. So it is best to keep an open mind and be agnostic. At first sight that seems an unassailable position, at least in the weak sense of Pascal's wager. But on second thoughts it seems a cop-out, because the same could be said of Father Christmas and tooth fairies. There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?”
― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

[Goblinmonger]

13. I know you probably never go there, but the Atheist group

has a discussion right now about how we label ourselves. Most would not put them in the gnostic category except as it pertains to gods that have been named to date. Most everyone there self-identifies as an agnostic atheist in that they can't know what is out in the universe.

Again, as you probably don't know since you don't read that group, I realize that many would consider me a gnostic atheist because I have no doubt that the gods of humanity to date are not real. The truth, though, is that I don't close off all possibility of something more out there. Just not probable.

[struggle4progress]

8. Is it appropriate to claim to speak for all atheists in this way?

[PassingFair]

11. I don't have a problem with it. nt

[Goblinmonger]

14. Just some dude posting stuff.

Not like it is a declaration from on high. He can write whatever he wants, and I'm free to disagree. That's the cool part of atheism. I don't have to come up with some apologetics for whatever douchy thing our exalted leader has to say.

[deacon_sephiroth]

18. not like he's making any great statements, so it's w/e.

Nothing we havent' heard before, but it's fine he's not trying to hold rallies or do anything on anyone's behalf, he's just talking.

[cleanhippie]

20. I'm not speaking for all atheists.

But I feel it does adequately represent the mindset of most of the non-believers that post here regularly. Those that disagree are free to object.
I would have thought that with the amount of time you hav spent here, you would agree that these misconceptions keep getting repeated, and we have to keep rebutting them.
Perhaps now we can move beyond the tired caricature that believers here seem to regard us, even though most of us have stated this at one point or another.

[saras]

10. He's speaking for himself and claiming to speak for a group, some of whom would reject these claims

[Goblinmonger]

15. And he has no control of the group for whom he is speaking

so what's the big deal? He's not our pope. He's just tossing something out there for us to consider. Seems like most atheists responding to it here don't have a problem with it.

[cleanhippie]

21. Maybe you can just take away from the OP what is being said.

That the misconceptions that get posted here on a regular basis can stop as they do not represent most of us here.

Or don't.

[struggle4progress]

22. What? That atheists don't eat babies?

I'd actually never heard this particular meme before! And I'd bet most people haven't! But I bet if you focus-group tested it on a random sample of folk, you'd find a majority of them afterwards had a tendency to to free-associate "atheists" with "eating babies"



Oh, it's great work! Maybe tomorrow we can discuss how to shoot oneself accidentally with the pistol in the waistband of one's stretchpants!

[cleanhippie]

23. I guess you missed the last part.

[Silent3]

28. The occasional baby gets eaten now and then...

...but no TRUE atheist puts sugar on it.

[rrneck]

12. Generally speaking i agree.

Atheists are human, and all that entails.

[Jim__]

17. "1) We are not a minority.... we may even be upwards to 24% of the population." - n/t

[Goblinmonger]

26. Did you read the next sentence? n/t

[Jim__]

29. Yes. - n/t

[Goblinmonger]

30. Then I guess I don't understand your point.

3rd largest worldwide percentage. I understand the "minority" turn of phrase you are going for, but it is grossly out of context.

[MisterP]

19. Mary Midgley has shown #2 to be quite nonsensical and itself based on preconceptions (including the

preconcepction of being able to avoid preconceptions)

Popperism is dead

[MarkCharles]

24. Thanks for posting this here. I appreciate having some..

effort made to clear the misconceptions so many faithful believers have about atheists and atheism.

I think one or two posters in this forum compare atheists to devils incarnate, compare us to the worst tyrants and serial murderers of all time, and quite illogically and erroneously conclude that when people don't have religion, tyranny and serial murder and rape has to be the logical result.