The purpose of this article is to address some of the common myths about atheism. I won’t be addressing anything else in it, but I will be correcting a number of common misconceptions.
A friend of mine sent me the following, it used to be his response to many of the things atheists often hear.
“Being an agnostic atheist just means I don’t see enough proof that any deities exist, and choose not to believe in them. Period.
It doesn’t necessarily mean I believe in evolution, Big Bang, or any other theory. It doesn’t mean I read Dawkins, Nietzsche, worship science or even think the world is round. I can believe in ghosts, UFOs, elves, the Loch Ness Monster, and Atlantis. The only single requirement is that I don’t believe in any supernatural beings that I consider holy or sacred. I don’t have to explain the fossil record or the history of the universe. It doesn’t mean I hate religion, or churches, or want to see the end of anyone else’s faith. It has nothing to do with whether I give to charities, try to be moral or ethical, or obey the law. It doesn’t mean I think life is meaningless, or care what anyone else believes or thinks. In fact, I don’t have to have firm answers or explanations about anything at all. I just reject theist explanations as sounding silly to me, just as you reject all faiths beyond your little specific one.”
I liked it enough that I asked permission to use it. Below I have outlined in a fair bit of detail my responses to the ones I could think of. I’m also completely open to addressing anything anyone brings forward in the comments, and if I see the same thing enough times I will probably create another post addressing those things.
Atheists are Angry at God
No. Of course not. We don’t believe in God. Not your god, not any other god. We aren’t angry at something that doesn’t exist. Look, at some point, you stopped believing in Santa Claus (or you never believed in Santa Claus). Are you angry at Santa for not giving you presents? Probably not. We are not angry at God in the same way.
Atheism Requires Faith
Again, no. Atheism is the absence of faith. There are no active beliefs. You can believe literally anything except that there is a god or gods and still be an atheist. Not only does atheism not require faith, but it also precludes faith in certain areas.
Atheists are Rare, the Faithful are the Majority
There are more people of faith in the world than there are atheists… but people who are non-religious outnumber every faith except catholicism (for the sake of this article I’m breaking up the major religions into their subgroups. There are more Muslims than non-religious people by a tiny margin, but given the lack of agreement between Shiite and Sunni Muslims I count them as separate). The Catholics and those without any religion are about equal. There are a hell of a lot of non-religious people out there. Yes, we do get to count them all together, because all atheist means is someone who doesn’t believe in the divine.
Atheists Worship Science
Atheists as a whole don’t worship anything. Many atheists are strongly pro-science, but we don’t worship it. It’s not even a thing you could worship. Science is a process, not a belief.
Atheists Worship Evolution
This is a subset of the atheists worship science myth, but it’s even weirder. Most atheists accept the evidence for evolution, but not all do. There are some atheists who don’t accept evolution at all. For the rest of us, the evidence is compelling. If the evidence changes, well, we will change our point of view.
There are so many misconceptions among the religious about the importance of the theory of evolution that it will end up being a separate story later, but for now… evolution explains the diversity of life on our planet. It does not explain anything else. It doesn’t explain the origins of the universe or the origins of life on earth. It’s a very, very well supported theory that explains how we got from a very small number of types of creatures (single-celled organisms) to a large number of types of creatures (the current state of things).
Atheists Worship Satan
Wait, what? Yes, I’ve actually seen this, and more than once. We don’t believe in God or the Devil. You cannot be an atheist and worship Satan because that would be accepting the existence of a divine being of some sort.
Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t be a member of the Church of Satan, as the Church of Satan doesn’t actually believe in Satan. I know, that’s confusing and I see why it’s an issue for a lot of people and probably contributes heavily to the confusion around what atheism is and isn’t. I’m not terribly happy with The Church of Satan because of that, even though I do find myself laughing at some of their antics.
Atheists Hate the Faithful
Some atheists hate the faithful. Most don’t. We are people. A child who grew up in a very restrictive religious community and found themself ostracized might have a deep-rooted hatred for the church, religion, etc. That’s that person. It isn’t because they are an atheist, it’s because they are themself with their set of experiences.
Personally I don’t hate religion, I don’t hate the faithful, I have friends who are people of faith and I respect them. I don’t respect their beliefs — that’s another post for another day — but I do respect that they are people who hold those beliefs and I believe in live and let live. Provided they don’t try to force their beliefs on me I won’t try to force my lack of belief on them. If they want to engage in discussion, well, I can usually answer all of their questions.
Atheists Don’t Understand My Religion
Well, I might not… what religion are you? If you are Christian there is a good chance I have read more of the bible than you have. Often atheists are more educated about the dominant religion in their area than the faithful are. Not necessarily of course, but often. If you are Hindu, yep, I don’t know your religion very well. I know a few of the gods and some of what is depicted in popular media… that’s about it.
Atheists all Believe the Same Thing
You can be an atheist and a flat earther. You can be an atheist and an anti-vaxxer. You can be an atheist and believe in mind control rays and aliens. I don’t believe in any of those things (well, I do believe that there is probably other life in the universe, I just don’t believe it visits us and sometimes abducts us). Being an atheist means you don’t believe in supernatural entities of a divine nature. Hell, I’ve met atheists who believe in fairies, ghosts, psychics, etc.
Atheists are Obligated to Support <x>
Nope. We are not obligated to support anything. A few years ago there was a movement called atheism+ that was all about tying the atheist community to various progressive causes. It hit large then died with a whimper.
Atheists all Love Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Someone Else
No. Not all atheists will like the particular person you name. I really like Dawkins personally. I like his understated but determined style. Many other atheists I know can’t stand him.
Atheists Don’t Have Morals
This is so common and so stupid. No, our morals don’t come from a belief in a god or gods, instead, they come from our own sense of right and wrong.
The Nazi’s Prove Atheists are Evil
The Nazi’s were religious. Atheism had no part in their evil, their ascendence, etc. They did believe that people should be loyal to Germany first and everything else, including religion, after. Hitler himself was religious.
The Communists and Stalin, in Particular, Prove that Atheists are Evil
Well, that one is more complicated… in that yes, communism was anti-religion and atheist. There are a bunch of things to think about here though. First, if atheism can be blamed for the horrific acts of Stalin then religion certainly has a lot to answer for as well. The Children's Crusade, the burning of witches in the middle ages, etc. However, none of the actions of Stalin were done in the name of atheism, but in the name of communism as interpreted by Stalin. This is further complicated by the fact that Stalin himself attended seminary and was in training to be a catholic priest. Who knows where his personal beliefs came from.
Again, atheism isn’t a religion, it isn’t an ideology, it’s just the lack of belief in divine supernatural beings.
Conclusion
There many, many misconceptions about atheists and atheism. Most of them boil down to the mistaken notion that atheism is a positive statement. As has been said many times, “Atheism is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby”