Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Love, Joy, Feminism

Home
Nonreligious
Myths About Atheism

Myths About Atheism

Last updated on: March 20, 2012 at 9:29 pm by Libby Anne

Myths About Atheism 2012-03-20T21:29:23-04:00 Libby Anne

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I grew up being told some absolute lies about atheists. Now I am one. So I’m going to take a moment here to discuss some myths about atheism:

1. Atheists are just mad at God.

Um, no, I’m an atheist because I literally don’t think that there is a God. How could I be mad at something I don’t think exists?

Similarly, I have been told that I am an atheist because I am bitter at my parents and because I think their legalistic version of religion is all there is, and have never experienced the real freedom religion can bring. This is not true. First, my parents are wonderful people, and I’m not bitter at them. Second, I became Catholic upon leaving fundamentalism and found true beauty and wonder and freedom in religion. I’m not an atheist because I’m angry or don’t understand religion; I’m an atheist because I honestly don’t think there is a God out there to begin with.

2. Atheists just want to be able to have premarital sex, etc.

Um, no, I’m an atheist because I literally don’t think there is a God. I had no agenda for becoming an atheist. This is true of every atheist I’ve ever met, and I’ve met plenty.

A related argument is that atheists are just atheists because they don’t want to be held accountable to a higher power. Again, this is ridiculous. I became an atheist because I don’t believe that there is a higher power, not because I know there is a higher power and don’t want to be held accountable to it.

3. Atheists know in their hearts that there is a God.

Um, no, that’s simply not true. If I “knew in my heart” that there is actually a God, then I wouldn’t be an atheist. I’m an atheist because I literally don’t think there is any evidence for the existence of a God, and I think the world makes a lot more sense when you take the idea of “God” out of it. Everything fits a lot more nicely and everything suddenly makes sense.

I actually really hate this particular myth. It’s so arrogant – the person stating it infers that he or she can know my innermost thoughts, and that’s simply not true. I’m not pretending to be able to read your mind, so don’t pretend to be able to read mine.

4. Atheists are amoral people.

Again, not so. Atheists are not more likely to go to prison than Christians. They are not more likely to commit crimes or get divorced. In fact, atheists are actually less likely to divorce than Christians, and less likely to commit crime or go to prison. Countries that are more secular and have higher percentages of atheists have lower crime rates than those that are more religious. I am not trying to tie religion to divorce or crime. Given the large number of issues at play in things like crime or divorce, that would be really silly. What I am trying to do is point out the craziness of the claim that atheists are somehow less moral than Christians, or that they’re more likely to commit crimes or be hedonistic. This simply is not true. As far as my personal experience goes, I don’t really do things that differently from when I was a Christian. I don’t rape, murder, and steal. I just no longer go to church or pray.

One more thing to point out here. The people who make the claim that atheists are amoral people are essentially claiming that it is impossible to be good without having the threat of hell hanging over you. Do you realize how ludicrous that is? If there are really people out there who are good just because they’re afraid of facing eternal torture after death, I actually find that kind of scary. Atheists are good because they believe in their fellow man, not because they’re afraid of some sort of punishment. In many ways, being good because of the threat of hell is like never growing up – it’s just a continuation of the child who does what his parents tell him to because he is afraid of being spanked.

5. Atheists hate Christians.

No, again, not true. I don’t hate Christians, and I don’t hate Muslims, or Hindus, etc. I don’t hate religion. Rather, I hate injustice. I hate racism. I hate sexism. I hate ignorance. Sometimes religion contributes to these problems, and other times it works against them. I have yet to meet a single atheist who hates Christians. In fact, I have yet to meet a single atheist who hates anything outside of problems like injustice, racism, sexism, and ignorance.

6. Atheists want to take away Christians’ rights.

I completely support Christians’ right to practice their religion. What I am not okay with is a Christian trying to force his or her beliefs and practices on me. And I’ve never met a single atheist who disagrees with me on this. I am a big supporter of religious freedom – after all, if I lived in Puritan New England, I would be hung, burned, or run out of the colony. Religious freedom is naturally incredibly important to me, as it is to every atheist I have ever had contact with.

I think that the problem comes when Christians think that it is their right to force their beliefs on everyone else. You see, I am against officially sanctioned school prayer and I would also like to see the words “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance and the words “in God we trust” removed from our country’s currency. This is not about removing Christians’ rights. Christians have the right to practice their religion, and I’m not questioning that! This is about having a country that is genuinely neutral toward religion in the name of religious freedom. Because that is what allowing religious freedom means.

Incidentally, did you know that it is still against the law in a half a dozen states for atheists to run for public office? Sure, these laws are not enforced much these days, but they are still on the books and have not been removed. And there was a time when these laws were enforced.

7. Because they don’t have God, atheists are inwardly miserable.

This one is so untrue that it is laughable. I find that having finally found answers to questions that bothered me for years has given me great peace. I understand the world better and I like people better. Because I had been taught this myth, I was scared when I first realized I was edging toward atheism. Wouldn’t believing that there is no life after death make me miserable? Wouldn’t I no longer have any purpose in my life? None of these predictions turned out to be true in any way. I still have purpose, I still have meaning, and I still have joy and happiness and friendship and love. The world is a beautiful and wonderful and rich place. How could I not be happy?

Finally, like number three, this myth aggravates me because the person stating it infers that he or she can know my innermost thoughts. Once again, I’m not pretending to be able to read your mind, so don’t pretend to be able to read mine.

Conclusion

So if they’re wrong, why are myths like these so prevalent? I have a couple of theories. My first theory is that pastors demonize atheists in order to ensure that they keep their flocks on the straight and narrow. In other words, if the pastor can convince his flock that atheists are miserable and evil people, his flock won’t consider leaving the faith, because if they did they would be miserable and evil. If his flock saw that atheists could actually be awesome people, they might question the need for salvation, and thus question the church and the pastor. Hence the pastor demonizes the atheists. The idea of a happy, well adjusted atheist simply does not fit in well with a Christian theology that teaches that people are miserable and evil and need Christ and salvation in order to find joy and peace and goodness. Another theory, and one that is slightly simpler, is that these myths arise out of the fear of the other. Atheists are different from other people, they refuse to conform, and they are therefore threatening.

Regardless of the reasons behind these myths, they are just that – myths.

Atheism

Previous Post

July 19, 2011

Whose Choice?

Next Post

July 22, 2011 Boys and Girls

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atheism Evangelicalism/Fundamentalism Family Feminism Homeschool Meta Parenting Patriarchy Politics Purity Quiverfull Social Justice Uncategorized Worthwhile reads

Select a Month February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In 1 Peter 1, what does Peter say is more valuable than gold?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Faith Wisdom Charity Righteousness