Monday School: Atheist Misconceptions

On this day, that being the first Monday of 2019… I am bringing Monday School back to Open Diary!

For those who are new, Monday School is a series that was started by a blogger on Open Diary named AUUB, which was short for Atheist Under Ur Bed, one of the more articulate and coolest bloggers on the site. When AUUB departed OD about a year and change before it shut down, I took the mantle and kept Monday School going for a while. Now I’m going to start it up again here on OD. So without further adue….

Welcome back to Monday School! Open Diary’s weekly dose of the ‘Rational Corrective To All That Nonsense You Learned Yesterday!’

Today’s lesson is going to be about the misconceptions about atheism. Whenever I speak to people, whether they’re religious or not, many are confused and often get a lot of things wrong about atheists and what we’re about. While we could write a book about the many misconceptions people have about atheists, today we’re just going to stick to the ones that are far more common that atheists have to deal with on a regular basis.

Misconception #1: Atheists haven’t read the bible.

The irony is we have read it, most of us cover to cover… which is more than what the average Christian has.

If Christians read their bible from cover to cover, there would probably be more atheists in this world rather than less. Some might doubt this, but whenever I inform people of my atheism, the question I get most is “have you read the bible?”

I kid you not.

It is the most common question I get from believers and it was listed first for that reason. It happens more often than you think. As for education, it actually creates more atheists, as reading all the religious texts rather than one can quickly prove how fake they really are. Most of them actually plagiarize one another, and are not even original.

I’ve always said education is the #1 cause of atheism, and I stand by that statement no matter how much it hurts your feelings. How it makes you feel doesn’t make the statement less true.

There is a saying I’ve heard before that I find quite amusing:

• Buy a bible and never read, you’re a good Christian
• Buy a bible and only read selected passages, you’re a pious jerk.
• Buy a bible and read it thoroughly, you’re an atheist.

That pretty much sums up what many atheists feel about the bible.

Misconception #2: Atheists hate god.

Atheists do not hate god anymore than we do Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. Why would an atheist waste time hating something that doesn’t exist?

Could you imagine if someone accused you of hating bigfoot or Nessi? Why would you hate something (or someone) if you’re not even sure that hate is deserved in the first place? Seems like a waste of energy if you can’t even find the person you’re supposed to hate.

That doesn’t make sense, and is just ridiculous.

Misconception #3: Atheists Worship Satan

Here’s the lowdown about Satan: Atheists don’t think he exists either.

We don’t believe any claims made by religious texts and that’s not limited to god. No god means no angels. No angels means no Lucifer. No Lucifer means no Satan. So why would we worship something or someone we have no reason or proof to suggest even exists?

While you might question if this even happens, I’ve visited some regions that are so devoutly religious that they make this claim about Satan with a straight face to atheists. Mind you, this is the place where predictions of the rapture are placed on billboards by their highways, so accusing people of working with Satan can’t be that much of a stretch for them.

Misconception #4: Atheists are Sinners

This is pretty absurd as well, especially when you look at prison statistics. Despite making up almost 15% of the population in the US, atheists make up less than 0.001% of the prison population. This would suggest that hell (if it even exists) would be full of Christians, just like US prisons.

Now when I say sinning, I mean the religious are accusing some atheists of committing a specific sin, like blasphemy. There are many specific “Sins” to label others with, like the guidelines of Leviticus, which is often the go to quote that the religious use to discriminate homosexuals.

Yet the faithful break them far more often than the faithless, which is quite the contradiction since you claim the bible to be the word of God, and then choose to ignore the rules. As for hell, which one are you referring to, the one depicted in the bible or the modern day idea of hell that actually comes from Dante’s Inferno, which is a work of fiction?

Misconception #5: Atheism is a religion

Atheism is the rejection of religion, not an actual dogma itself.

Bald is not a hairstyle.

Turning the TV off is not a channel.

Refusing to collect stamps is not a hobby.

So why would rejecting religion be considered a religion? That logic is just absurd.

I’m not hardwired to follow religion, because I wasn’t systematically brainwashed as a child. I was raised to be critical and actually think for myself. Use logic and reasoning to decide what is right rather than turn to a book to tell me how to think. The assumptions about religion are just that: assumptions. There is no evidence to prove god even exists, let alone if any fairy tales in your book ever happened. None. Until them, I have no reason to accept them or believe a single claim made by any religion on this planet.

Misconception #6: They’re not real Christians

I top this off with the response I will likely get from Christians regarding this list:

“Well, the person that says or does this is not a real Christian.”

While I appreciate the response, but your lack in belief of my claims is rather disturbing. These are incidents I have personally witnessed and experienced myself. Every one of them, and they all claimed to be good, god fearing, Christians. So to claim they are not an authentic Christian is a bad approach, as the “Real Scotsman” retort can dismiss it very easily.

And then you go back to the “True Christian” fallacy, which everyone claims to know but cannot prove. No thanks, I prefer to live in the real world rather than following fantasies and fairy tales. For a religion that claims to be all about love, you guys have a lot of hateful people past and present in your ranks. A lot of bad people, who do bad things to people, and kids. And you think I want to join your spiritual club?

Not a chance, bub. I’ll pass.

Conclusion:

While misconceptions exist regarding many groups that co-exist on this planet, the best way to get around them is to talk. Rather than make judgements or assumptions about anyone, even atheists, it would be more productive and fun to sit down, have a cup of coffee and talk about our differences rather than berate one another from a distance or online. You might find we’re rather nice people, and vice versa.

So that concludes the first Monday School of 2019. Cookies for all who read this entire entry!

If you have any comments or questions, or would like to suggest a topic for next week, leave them in a note below. I look forward to your comments and thank you for reading. See you next week!

Peter