Ashley Carter: Comparing Atheists to Thieves is Not Bigoted, Insulting

One of the most interesting facets of bigotry is how well some people are able to deny their own bigotry. There are of course plenty of bigots who do not deny it and who are in fact proud of their bigotry, but today bigotry had acquired enough negative connotations that it's more common for people to try to rationalize or explain away their prejudice as not "really" being bigoted at all. They insist that they are making neutral observations that should never be interpreted as promoting hate.

Ashley Carter: Maybe the atheist cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman.

This is a somewhat popular analogy which exists to attack the character of atheists in a number of ways. First, atheists are being compared explicitly to criminals -- even if every other aspect of the analogy were completely neutral, this comparison cannot avoid creating a negative image of atheists and atheism in people's minds. In the absence of any good reason to think that atheists really are like thieves, this is an obvious and base form of hate mongering.

Second, the reason why thieves cannot find police is that they avoid the police. Thieves are criminals whom police arrest and put in prison and few people want that, so it's only human nature for those with a guilty conscience to make every effort to avoid contact with those empowered to enforce the law. If lucky, a thief will never find the police.

This analogy thus communicates the idea that an atheist must also be avoiding God because they have a guilty conscience. This connects directly with a couple of popular myths about atheists: they know God exists but are in denial because they want to continue with their sinful ways and they know God exists but are afraid that God won't forgive them for all their heinous sins. The latter is perhaps slightly less hateful than the first since it doesn't imply that atheists want to commit crimes, but both stake out the position that atheists know God exists and are lying when they claim they don't believe.

Now, let's look at how a person might rationalize spreading so much mindless prejudice and hate about atheists:

Ashley Carter: lol I didn't say "afraid". I interpret that statement to mean they aren't looking for God.

Ashley Carter: I told you what I intended to communicate. THEY DON'T LOOK FOR THEM. @austincline You speak words I haven't typed when you go beyond that.

Just how credible is it that a person can look at the statement "the reason why a thief cannot find police" and conclude that the "reason" is the completely neutral idea that thieves simply don't invest any effort in trying to find police? So when a murderer doesn't find the police, it's for completely neutral reasons -- it's not because of a fear of being caught and put in prison? If an escaped convict doesn't find the police, it's for the totally neutral reason that they don't happen to be searching for police at the moment -- it has nothing to do with a fear of being sent back to prison?

I'm sorry, but none of that is credible and the idea that thieves merely aren't searching for police isn't any more credible. I don't find it credible that anyone would be ignorant of the fact that thieves actively avoid the police when possible because they have a legitimate concern about being caught and imprisoned. So, I have to conclude that Ashley Carter was not ignorant of the implications of the analogy she offered -- and if she offered the analogy in fully awareness of the false, prejudiced, and hateful things it communicates about atheists, then she has to be held personally responsible for that.

Ashley Carter: Atheists are touchy. They're so sensitive about their beliefs, or lackthereof.

Right, objecting to falsehoods and bigoted hate being spread about atheists is really just being "touchy" and "sensitive." There's just no good reason why anyone would ever object to hate mongering, false stereotypes, and bigotry, right? People who attack others without justification frequently respond to objections by blaming the victim: they were just asking for it, it's their fault for making this possible, they are just being too sensitive, etc. Bullies everywhere excuse their attacks by claiming that their targets lacks a sense of humor, are too touchy, and so forth.

This should never cause us to think twice about standing up and objecting. One thing I keep experiencing on Twitter is that when a person is corrected (like about misdefining atheism) or challenged (like when spreading falsehoods or bigotry about atheists), it's common for them to complain that I'm "intruding" in a "conversation with others." Apparently, it's OK for people to attack atheists and atheism in a public forum (which is what Twitter is), but it's not OK for atheists to challenge what's being said about them. Atheists are supposed to let the falsehoods, attacks, hate, and bigotry just go by without saying a word.

That's wrong. The falsehoods, bigotry, and hate are only encouraged by our silence. Speaking out won't necessarily change the minds of those spreading hate -- in most cases, like with Ashley Carter here, people just get defensive in trying to justify their hate -- but it will send a message to everyone else reading that we atheists aren't going be passive observers of attacks against us. Public attacks in a public forum require an equally public response. We need to call out this sort of hate and bigotry every time we see it.