Atheists: What is the biggest misconception people have about atheists?

Question

I'll go first. For me it is that I became an atheist out of an emotional reason. I.e. "God didn't heal my cat"

What do you think (about misconceptions. Not what do you think about my cat)

Answer 1

1 That we just need to hear "the good new" of Jesus and that we are ignorant of the "message" of the bible. I've heard it ad nauseum my entire life. I reject it as delusional and superstitious.

2 That we have never read the bible. In fact, most atheists from a XIan background know the bible better than most Xians

3 That because we don't believe in god we are immoral, and that we worship famous atheists like Stalin.

4 That we are Satanists

5 That atheism is just another religion, and that we "believe" there is no god on "faith"

6 That we are angry at god for some perceived injustice. (It's hard to be angry at NED...Non Existent Deity)

7 That threats of hell will convince us to to change our beliefs

8 That choosing to believe is possible, a la Pascals Wager

Answer 2

That atheists are one of three things...

1. Satanists

2. Immoral

3. Communists

There's more, but those are the three biggest "atheists = X" misconceptions I've seen. I've also heard that atheists are atheists because they "didn't like the rules" or that they're rebelling or had "something bad" happen to them. Admittedly, there probably are atheists like that, I just have yet to meet one. :P

Far as the three I listed above...

1. Atheists don't believe in God OR Satan. How can we worship something we don't believe in?

2. Morality and religion are not mutually exclusive, nor did most of us become atheists to sleep around, do drugs, or other things considered deviant behavior. Most of us are still the same as we were before, just holding different beliefs.

3. This one's the biggest "wtf?" sort of misconception I've ever seen, no doubt held over from the Cold War and the oh-so-lovely "Kill a Commie for Christ" days. Somehow, the idea that all Communist nations are atheist, so all Atheists must be Communists stuck around. An outdated train of thought, but an unfortunately persistant one at that.

Communism, last I checked, was the political system of everything being owned by everybody. Atheism was the belief that God doesn't exist. How the two are related is beyond me as they have nothing in common that I know of.

Answer 3

Many theists have major misconceptions about atheists. Here are some that I notice a lot (mostly from Christians):

If you're an atheist...
- you must be miserable and have nothing to live for.
- you are blind and lost.
- you have no morals.
- you just don't want to follow rules or accept responsibility for your sins.
- you really believe in god but are just in denial or have turned your back on god.
- you have just been hurt/abused in life and blame god and turn your back on him.
- you are evil and working for Satan, but don't know about it yourself.
- you must be a bad person.
- you don't care about anything or anybody but yourself.
- you consider yourself a god.
- you are arrogant and self-centered for considering yourself the highest power in your life.
- you must be an evolutionst.
- you must believe in the Big Bang theory.
- you must hate religion.
- you will probably "see the light" if they just quote a couple of Bible verses.

The list goes on and on, but those are the most common misconceptions I bump into. Sometimes I don't know whether to laugh, get annoyed or feel sorry for people when they say this stuff.

Answer 4

As all the other people here answered, the biggest misconception is that Atheists are devilworshippers, immoral, going to hell, blah, blah blah....

My opinion is that it's your choice. Don't judge! Let the one without sin, cast the first stone... An atheist is simply a person who was formerly part of a religion, and CHOSE not to believe in God (for whatever reason).
An agnostic is a person who simply doesn't believe in God, the devil or any other deity/godlike being.

It's their choice! So, deal with it.

Answer 5

i'd say the biggest misconception is that most people assume that being an atheist automatically means the absence of morals and conscience. they figure that without god or religion or the quotes of some ancient book, its impossible for me to determine what is right and wrong

funny thing is, the bible is so ambiguous about what right and wrong is that is makes it worse a guide than a child's own intuition. in the bible god condones murder, theft, adultery and pretty much every act that he commands against. i dont need that kind of god to tell me whats right and wrong, particularly since the "god" in question was no more than the ideas of the leaders of ancient israel

Answer 6

Hoo boy, so many pet peeves. Where to begin?

I am bothered by the assumption that I worship Satan.
This goes under the "if you're not for me, you're against me." So, since I don't follow their god, I must worship the opposition. Well, gee, Christians don't worship Allah, and Muslims don't worship Jehovah. Is it safe to say that they both worship Satan? The logic is the same.

I am bothered by the assumption that atheism requires faith.
If there is no proof, then it doesn't take a lot of faith that it doesn't exist. Does it take faith to not believe in unicorns? No, you don't see unicorns, so you naturally do not believe in it.

I am bothered by the assumption that atheism is a religion.
A religion represents a lifestyle that's centered around the belief in some deity. Atheists don't have such a belief, so their life does not center around anything like that. Some theists try to dismiss atheism by saying, "Ha, but it IS a religion, which means you must believe in something." Just calling it a religion doesn't make it one, bucko. Saying that atheism is a religion is like saying that not playing football is a sport.

I am bothered by the assumption that not believing in something means you acknowledge its existence.
This is one of the most twisted pieces of logic. I don't even know where to begin to disprove this. I'll simply point out that people can not believe in lots of things. Some claim that if you can assign an identity to God, then you acknowledge it must exist. Sorry, but I think we can all agree that we recognize the concepts of dragons, fairies, and mole men. Identifying these creatures do not mean that we must accept their existence as fact.

I am bothered by the assumption that religion has a monopoly on morality.
"Without God," they claim, "we would all be reduced to barbarians who kill and rape each other." I don't have a god, and I know not to kill and rape. This seems to be justification for the existence of God. What it does is it warns us of the people who believe this. They are admitting that they do want to kill and rape, but they hold back only because they believe God will punish them. Who is the more moral animal: The atheist who is good because he cares for others or the theist who is good only to avoid punishment?

I am bothered by the assumption that all atheists are angry at God.
Your cat story prompted this thought. A true atheist could never be angry at God. That is like being angry at the Tooth Fairy when you chip a tooth. Some people claim to be atheists and then follow it up with, "And I've cursed God ever since for taking my father away." Nope, you're not an atheist. You're an embittered Christian who is currently angry with your religion. Just because you are mad at your father doesn't mean you're automatically an orphan. As it is with soi-disant atheists who are mad at their gods.

Answer 7

I think the biggest misconception people have about atheists is that just because they don't believe in a god they are necessarily immoral, amoral, or unethical.

Answer 8

Christians are the only group I know with any major misconception of atheists -- That deep down I KNOW their version of deity is correct. I hate that one. It's false and it goes against their own religious teachings (it's judging my heart, something their book tells them is a big NO-NO).

Answer 9

I have heard the greatest misconception is that people think an atheist is a devil worshipper, whereas an atheist believes in neither god, nor the devil.

Answer 10

They think we have never picked up a religious text. We have no clue about what religion is. That is the biggest. That we could just MAKE ourselves believe, just in case, is a close second. (Pascal)

I have to agree with the morals thing. that and the Satan thing. I always figure those are the most ignorant people though