Do you feel this article represents 10 myths and 10 truths about atheism?

Question

http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/10-myths-and-10-truths-about-atheism1/

Weather you are Atheist or something else, do you feel the author is being accurate?

Earl D: Seek help.

Athiests have the lowest divorce rates, are incarcarated at lower rates, and more secular nations have less crime.

Deal with it.

(See some of my earlier questions for links for that information).

Answer 1

A very pleasant deconstruction. I'm saving it to my computer - thank you for posting it.

I find that those myths are very prevalent - especially the "life is meaningless" one.

I *do* wish he'd made the point more clearly that most of the Nazis considered themselves to be Christians and most certainly were NOT atheists as a group, but one can't be perfect I suppose.

Answer 2

Here's my response:

1) Atheists believe that life is meaningless.

Life has two sides that are fully connected. Read Jospeh Campbell's book The Hero of a Thousand Faces and you'll see that it's foolish to distinguish between the spiritual and material worlds. They seamlessly feed off of one another.

2) Atheism is responsible for the greatest crimes in human history.

I agree with this somewhat... communism tries to displace religion. Without religion, though, we would have never survived the transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers.

3) Atheism is dogmatic

This argument fails to counter the "unmoved mover" argument.

4) Atheists think everything in the universe arose by chance.

The universe is obviously unfolding in an orderly manner. Atheist belief doesn't require a chaotic universe, but it does imply a chaotic beginning if there ever was one. Edwin Hubble proved that, at the very least, our version of the universe had a beginning.

5) Atheism has no connection to science.

When did that argument come up? Atheists reject everything BUT science. If they understood science well enough, they'd realize that correlation does not prove causation.

6) Atheists are arrogant.

Not all are, but the ones online sure are when they insult the beliefs of others. I don't go actively picking fights with atheists. The arrogance of atheists is shown in their manner of evangelism.

7) Atheists are closed to spiritual experience.

Scientists have been unable to verify the existence of a force or of a number. These are man-made interpretations of experience. You cannot see a force; you can only see its effects. Religion does basically the same thing.

8) Atheists believe that there is nothing beyond human life and human understanding.

Whoever wrote this totally missed the concept of a spiritual world. It so thoroughly transcends the material world that no device or technology can begin to penetrate it. It's not a question of passing a barrier or a distance but of a true transcending. It's a different reality. Let those words sink in a bit: a different reality.

9) Atheists ignore the fact that religion is extremely beneficial to society.

Again, one needs to understand proper theology. Doing the right thing should be done for the right reasons, and religion is a means to that end. Fear and reward should be later replaced with that self inner motivation. You can't teach a kid that, though. That's a very adult response. That's why kids memorize stuff in Christian schools... it's with the intent that they'll understand it later before the secular world has had a chance to ruin them.

10) Atheism provides no basis for morality.

While Catholics acknowledge a certain degree of natural law (the morality that we're born with), it doesn't cover those gray areas that society is struggling so hard with. We are created creatures, and the origins of this natural law therefore still lie with the Creator. I don't know about you, but I didn't choose my own existence. It was chosen for me. You can say my parents chose it, but if you go far enough back into evolution, you'll find a creature incapable of decision-making that spawned another creature, and so on.

Answer 3

I'm not an Atheist, but I've listened to Sam Harris talk on TV once, and I like a lot of what he has to say. He also raises a lot of good points here. I think some of the counterarguments in this case are more about Harris' own views than about Atheism in general, but I'm glad to have him in the dialogue.

Answer 4

I object to point 5, I could certainly understand how a scientist would claim a "disbelief." This is a very gentle way of asking the question, don't you think... I would even claim it is unnecessarily so, except that the scientist wish to be seen are remaining completely objective. 20% actually were claiming agnosticism and the statistics appear to be fairly old...

I always object to this type of statistic, because it is almost always subject to the pollster.

The writer himself appears to be prejudice against religion, and it shows. He appears to be writing this response not for those to whom it supposes to be intended but whether for atheists. Doesn't he? It appears to be a sort of indoctrination for atheists... and its prejudice... nice... It has the we're better than you feel to it doesn't it? It generalizes unnecessarily.

And of course it completely denies the moral philosophical strong points of believing in God.

Answer 5

As far as the current mainstream atheist goes, yes. Sam Harris is an incredibly smart guy.

Answer 6

I think that was a fair and well put together argument for the case of Atheism through his perceptive, however....

I think that all atheist in general miss the boat with respect to religion. Religion itself is very compromised by the corruption and the taking advantage of knowledge. Truthfully speaking religion has nothing to do with scripture and more about traditions of man, as all scriptures have the same purpose and speak on the same realities. I merely find fault in one of his answers, that an atheist read the bible and sees it as silly because it is apparently out of touch with reality, observational knowledge and laws of physical existence within the universe. Unfortunately what you have here is the great dilemma, atheist have this mindset that they must think for themselves, which I agree with but they implore this in a upside down manner with respect to scriptures. You see they tend to try and interpret things through the ideology of present day modern religions that claim the bible in their literalistic manner.

What I am saying here is that when they approach scriptures it's in opposition to the disenfranchise superstitious ignorance of simpleminded religious people and it seems they never make the observation that religion is traditions and group centered but scripture is something entirely different, having bases on individual centered nature that reveals to the seeker through their interpretation and by their level of thinking or the "filter through which they perceive life is how they will interpret it. Atheist when they read the bible has to disassociate religion with scriptures, how hard that may be, but scripture is something that is applied internally and religion is in direct opposition, a paradox.

This is from one that is not apart of those religions, but maintains the view of mystical and scientific understanding. All scripture is allegorical, and if any reasonable Atheist would just stop perceiving the scriptures opposition to the religious claim that is literal and very stupid, since it is this claim by which they judge it, then they could go and actually research the theology for themselves and see how as it moves closer to the years of its creation that these scriptures played a completely different role and was in fact read as allegories for mind and being, basically allegories of ones innate nature and the laws that control this realm (MANY of the early Christian writings from many church fathers and others said that the scriptures were allegorical and to be applied inward)..

To be honest if the scriptures had never got corrupted then science would have no opponent, as the scriptures were written from a mystical prospective not a literal one. I can tell you from my studies of early Christian writings and etc, that they did not read those things as literal, they were allegories, so historically it is stupid to imagine, but allegorically for symbols that are figurative not so much, since that was the ancient wisdom of those times to explain things by applying the physical sense to explain the dimensions of mind, self, and forces of that make this place determined and controlled, much of which is through scientific terms has only been tapped upon through the findings of Quantum Physics/mechanics.

This is from the prospective of an Gnostic mystic. We also seek direct experience in all things to truly know, but with spiritual things you prove them within yourself and it is in ones power to, if one does the necessary to do so. So it takes, reason, understanding, and desire to do so. Now if Christianity wasn't corrupted and didn't fall from it's source which is proven by history and many many other things, then there would probably be no atheist. But such is life, the winners write history and the losers who often were the truth are left to themselves.

Answer 7

Sam Harris rocks!

Answer 8

I think it's extremely reflective of atheism in general and agrees about 90% with my own beliefs.

Harris and Dawkins are the power hitters of modern atheism.

Answer 9

Total BS, reads like a Religious site when they try to prove Jefferson was a Christian.

The moment he discounts Stalin and Mao and Ho Chi Minh is the same moment you can discount the Pope on the Crusades.

You HAVE to be accountable. What he is saying is Religious people have to accept their FAULTS and FAULTY people, but Atheist don't have to.

Pure BS.

And they're not arrogant.

I tell you I AM going to start clipping Atheist posts here and THROW THEM BACK in their faces.

They are EVERY bit as arrogant as any religious fanatic.

I'm going to start clipping and including AVATARS so eveyrone here can see who the SOB Atheists are.

You want to clip Christians, fine with me. I'd like to know the SOB Christians as well.

Shall we start with a sample. Black Atheist is one who is very arrogant.

I'm going to start clipping avatars, questions and answers and complie 100 of them and stick it right in your faces on every WHINNIE question and answer I hear about ATHEISTS GOOD GUYS CHRISTANS EVIL DUDES and let you basked in your own glory.

I've really had ENOUGH of the HOLIER than THOU attitudies of a lot of Atheists here.

LEt's get one thing clear, you need to use a spray deoderant when you go potty the clean the air of the room out.

And I'm going to start researching ATHEIST child rapists. ATHEIST murders. Real ones. One's who have CLAIMED to be ATHEISTS all their lives.

And I'm going to stick them in your faces until you at least realized you do stink up the potty room after a vist.

And then when you POST those SILLY QUESTIONS about CHRISITIANS BEING MURDERS and I POST 1000 ATHEIST MURDERS BY NAME you're going to have to live with it.

Atheist MURDER, ATHESITS RAPE, ATHIESTS ROB, ATHEISTS GO TO JAIL.

These are INDISPUTABLE FACTS of life.

You are not all saints.

Answer 10

i definitely think so. it seemed to represent a much more humane version of atheist that i had never seen before.