Atheism is Foolish and Wrong?
In a column a couple of years ago, they take two swipes at atheism. First, they insist that anyone who contemplates the universe must surely come to theism:
If you spend time asking yourself serious questions like, "Who made all this?" or "What is life all about?" chances are you will come to some kind of personal belief in a higher power.
Of course, lots of people work on just those questions without arriving at theism. But, just in case there was any confusion about what they really thought, the come up with this gem:
The notion that the universe and life and love and courage and joy are all just the result of some accidental cosmic joke is not only foolish, but also just plain wrong.
Not only do they misrepresent atheism by implying that unless you are a theist you must regard the wonders of life as a "cosmic joke," they then proceed to label nonbelievers as "foolish" on the basis of that Straw Man.
Hey, God Squad: what's actually foolish and "just plain wrong" is to denigrate others because they disagree with your beliefs. Such denigration is commonly a mark of insecurity - if you were comfortable with what you believe, you wouldn't feel inclined to insults those who don't believe. So, are you experiencing a crisis of faith that you'd like to share with us?
If so, I recommend not taking your own advice - don't treat faith as something you need to "work on" constantly. If you don't find a valid basis for belief, then don't assume that you have an obligation to continue believing and so need to work on finding new reasons for doing so.
Honest doubting requires accepting the premise that maybe you shouldn't believe after all and that perhaps you have been mistaken. That, in turn, requires letting go of the egotistical assumption that you cannot be mistaken and that others are "foolish" or "just plain wrong" if they disagree.
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Comments
This is ridiculous, and yes i am poor at spelling, that your “credible” advice articles are allowed. This about is sad. I believe that these articles are inaccurate, and do not accurately present information in the areas of athesim and theism, and other God related subjects. Adhere to your ethics
We’ll provide you with accurate, engaging content. Like a friendly neighbor, we’ll give you frank advice that you can trust.Objectivity: Our Guides don’t give preferential treatment to any outside resource (publication, video, affiliate, Web site), based on their relationship with the person or company who authors or owns that resource.
My bad, my mistake your site does not promise objectivity or truth bye.
I’m sorry you feel that way. Would you care to elaborate on what, exactly, you think is “inaccurate” about anything I have written regarding atheism, theism, etc.?
Umm… Sorry to say this, but there are a LOT of atheists who say the same thing about theists.
e.g. “Anyone who believes in God is delusional.” Or even, “How the hell can you believe in this crap? A magical fairy-man living in the sky?”
I understand that not all atheists are like this. (Just as all theists are not like the ones you mentioned.)
I just wanted to point out that atheists can be just as rude, offensive and insulting as theists.
1. What I described was theists describing atheism as “foolish” on the basis of a Straw Man description of atheism. I notice you don’t cite any examples of atheists doing this.
2. There’s nothing wrong with criticizing a particular belief or idea as foolish, wrong, delusional, etc. It’s quite different, though, to attack others as foolish for simply not agreeing with you one some matter.