10 Myths Many Religious People Hold About Atheists, Debunked

Generalizations are often unfair to someone, even when they accurately state the case for the majority of those they address.

What unfair generalization do you mean?

Lily, since you have not specified which generalization(s) you consider unfair, I don't know which you mean. I am not going to guess. And you do not know what I see or don't see and you don't know which generalizations I agree or disagree with.

I asked what I believe is a reasonable question. Answer it or not, as you please.

With qualifications, I disagree with all ten of the statements that the author, Amanda Marcotte, has presented. I suppose you could find some atheists for whom any of these statements are true, but they are generally false.

1) There are no atheists in foxholes.
Disagree - Some atheists may find themselves calling for divine help in times of stress or danger, but certainly not all, and without evidence I’m not willing to concede that it’s a large percentage.

2) Atheists are just angry with God.
Disagree - What god?

3) Atheists are aggressive and rude.
Some are, some are not, just like the members of any large group of people. I disapprove of such behavior from anyone at any time, not that I haven’t been rude myself occasionally.

4) Atheism is a white dude thing.
Nonsense.

5) Atheism is just a faith like any other.
Disagree - It is the rejection of faith-based belief in a being for which there is no evidence.

6) Atheists don’t have a moral code.
Disagree - There is plenty of literature about religion not being needed for morality. Of course, amoral and immoral people do exist, and some of them probably call themselves atheists.

7) Atheist lives are bleak and lack meaning.
Nonsense.

8) Atheists are hedonists who don’t understand the true meaning of love
Nonsense.

9) Atheists have no way to cope after losing loved ones without the belief in an afterlife.
Nonsense.

10) Atheists are out to destroy Christmas.
Nonsense - We have fabulous Christmas celebrations. Tree trimming party about ten days ahead, Christmas Day with the close family, Boxing Day with the extended family and lots of friends. We also host a family gathering on Easter. We haven’t given up cultural traditions just because they originated in religion.

I think that Americans (in general) accept most of these myths as true. And, of course, I know that they are only true for some atheists. Sigh. 8->

Atheists have just as wide a range of beliefs as religious people do. What can we say that the Amish and the Taliban have in common? They both believe that there is a god and that they are living the lives that their god tells them to. Not much else at all.

There's just as wide a range of atheist beliefs.

Keep in mind that for those of us who live in the land of the American Taliban (Texas), we sometimes have to be less than polite to get the fundamentalist Christians to leave us alone. Many of them really do believe, exactly like the Taliban, that they are following God's will and that anyone who disagrees with them is working for Satan. They have no qualms about taking over government agencies to promote their beliefs and punishing those who refuse to bow down to their god. Governor Rick Perry may or may not believe all the things that he says, but most of his followers are true believers. And they are the majority in the state. Being an atheist in public down here can be dangerous. 8-<

Well, Texas I guess is simply hell on earth. How did you get there, anyway? And why do you stay? What do they do? Come to your house and put up burning crosses? And I'm not being funny either.