Common Atheists' Myths

http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/atheists_myths.html ^

[truthfinder9]

Introduction

I know that Christians are supposed to be the ones who believe a lot of myths. However, the vast majority of atheists believe myths such as religion is the primary cause of wars, and the vast amount of atrocities have been caused by religious people, the Bible has been vastly changed over the centuries, Paul invented Christianity, and the list goes on and on. Find your favorite myth below and read the article so that you won't embarrass yourself in the future.

Atheists' Myths

• Atheists have Proven God Does Not Exist. Right? - Only if that god is not the God of the Bible
• Religion is the Cause of All (Most) of the World's Problems - Religion is not even close to being the leading cause suffering in the world. In fact, atheists have been responsible for most of it within the last 100 years.
• Are Most Wars the Result of Religious Belief? - Religion is implicated in less than 7% of all wars over the entire written history of mankind.
• Is Christianity a Made-up Myth Written by the Disciples? - Now really - would the disciples write about all their shortcomings, make the Christian church into a female, design heaven with no sex in it, and say that they were going to be married to Jesus in heaven? I don't know about you guys, but this is not what I would have written if I had made up the Bible!
• Paul Invented Christianity? Is the Founder of the Christian Religion Paul of Tarsus or Jesus of Nazareth? All Paul's core teachings were also taught by Jesus and the disciples, and are even found in the Old Testament.
• Misquoting Jesus: Does Bart Erhman Prove the New Testament is Corrupt? - Contrary to Erhman's claims, the New Testament canon was established in the early second century, and scribal errors/changes did not affect any significant Christian doctrine.
• The Christian Church Was Never Really Persecuted - Were all the reported persecutions of Christians were made up by the Christian church?
• The Bible Has Been Changed Over the Centuries From the Original? - Sorry, the manuscript evidence doesn't support this idea at all.
• Jesus Christ as God and the Trinity Was Not Invented Until the Fourth Century? Contrary to the claims of The Da Vinci Code, even secular sources indicate that Christians worshipped Jesus Christ as God no later than 113 A.D.
• This Joyful Eastertide: A Critical Review of The Empty Tomb (2006) - Has the resurrection been proven false? )
• The Universe Just Happened Without Any Need For a Designer - For all those who expect to win at lotto!
• There is No Evidence For the Fine Tuning of the Universe - The cosmological constant (dark energy) shows this belief to be false
• "The Lost Tomb of Jesus": Have the Bones of Jesus Christ Been Found? Only if Jesus had his ossuary inscribed when He was 2 years old!
• Omnipotence is Logically Impossible? Atheists attempt to define God out of existence through illogical arguments
• The Universe is Eternal - Contrary to atheist's claims, the majority of scientists state as fact that the universe had a beginning.
• Only Stupid People Believe in God - A large number of famous scientists believed in God, many being devout Christians
• The Roman Catholic Church's Condom Policy is Responsible For the Spread of HIV and the AIDS Crisis in Africa - Actually, HIV infection rates are lower in Catholic-dominated countries!
• The Myth of the Flat Earth by Jeffrey Burton Russell - The "history" that Christians taught a flat earth was not invented until the 19th century. (off site)
• People are Basically Good - Proof to the Contrary
• Jesus didn't really die on the Cross? - The old swoon theory doesn't hold up to historical/medical reality.
• Hitler was a Christian? - This seems like a no brainer, but there are free-thinkers who think he was. (off site)
• Jesus and Adolf Hitler - The new (and improved?) German Jesus (off site)
• Are Atheists and Theists Morally Equivalent? Aren't atheists morally superior to theists?
• Atheism Doesn't Lead to Immoral Behavior - Or Does It? In theory it doesn't, but in practice...
• Atheism and Humanism Provide Hope for the Future - The ultimate "hope" of atheism is eternal entropy as the universe loses all ability to perform work, and all life, consciousness, and knowledge is eternally destroyed.
• The Bible Teaches a Flat Earth Covered by a Solid Dome
• Teaching Religion to Children is a Form of Child Abuse? Dawkins's hypothesis is falsified.
• BLOODLINE: Serious Documentary or Hollywood Hoax? - by Gordon Franz MA
• Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion
  • Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion Chapter 1: A deeply religious non believer - Deception, lies, and misrepresentations.
  • Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion Chapter 2: The God Hypothesis - Failure to support debunked assertions, quoting out-of-context, and a desire to escape moral accountability.
  • Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion Chapter 4: Why There Almost Certainly Is No God - Richard Dawkins' Ultimate Boeing 747 argument is shown to be formally fallacious.
• The Universe Just Created Itself Out of Nothing - Why Stephen Hawking is wrong about God not creating the universe.
• Book Review: The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris - Sam Harris claims that science can determine human values, but just resorts to ranting about religion.

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

More Answers

• Answers for Atheists and Agnostics
  • Criticisms of God's Character from Atheists and Agnostics
  • Criticisms of God on the Basis of the Existence of Evil and Suffering
  • Religion is Stupid
  • Bad Christians
  • Bible and Science Criticisms
  • Answers to Bible Contradictions
  • Skeptics' Objections to Christianity
  • No Evidence of the Supernatural?

[eastforker]

To whos standard? Yours?Would it be incorrect to say for instance Greek culture is surrounded by the cult of Greek mythology? Since the cult of Greek mythology influnced Greek culture. Play all the word games you like if you think it makes you feel more cultured.

[circlecity]

"Me biting my tongue till the blood runs outta the corner of the mouth. This is pure bilge to put it mildly. Its OK till the piousness spills over."

Then please enlighten me, what is the objective basis for "morals" without God. Nobody has ever been able to answer the question before but maybe you'll be the first. I anxiously await the response.

[eastforker]

I pointed out that is impossible if there is no God because objective morals are impossible without a God..........................................................................See, that is your opinion and belief, that does not make it a fact except in your own mind.

[circlecity]

“I am so much ‘gooder’ than thou”. Pleeeeeezzzzzzzzz!!!"

You don't even understand the question at issue. Being religious doesn't make anyone any "gooder" than anyone else. It does, however, provide an objective standard to define something as good or bad. Atheism doesn't.

[circlecity]

"See, that is your opinion and belief, that does not make it a fact except in your own mind."

No, by definition "moral" presupposes a normative standard. That's simple logic. It is the exact opposite of "opinion". Now please tell me where this standard comes from if there is no God. Don't dodge the question.

[RegulatorCountry]

Oh, so you are part of a cult, then, by your own definition?

Such an interesting person you are.

[HerrBlucher]

Yes, exactly, and conversely, many Atheists are “better” people than professing Christians, but this certainly is no indicator of the lack of truthfulness of Christianity as many anti-Christians are quick to believe. Of course, when we say “better” we have an idea in mind of a certain endpoint that is preferred and that the individuals we are referring to are more (better), or less (worse), in accordance with that endpoint. It is that endpoint that measures goodness over evilness. Hitlers, Stalin’s, and Mao’s “endpoint” obviously measures good and evil on a different standard. And we know for a fact that the propaganda campaigns that lead to the fascist and communist genocides painted the State’s enemies as evil and justly deserving of torture and death.

So what standard are we going to live by? And is that standard simply a personal choice either adopted or invented by the individual, or does it originate with the Origin of everything?

[eastforker]

We are human beings, we can think and rationalize, we like to treat other as we would like to be treated.We understand loyalty to our partners.We react sometimes violently when there is a threat to our family.Not because of god or gods, but out of love.We can even teach loyalty and love to some animals, where is their god.Is god a requirement to show common decency or respect, no.In your mind, you think it must be taught as a belief, You can believe in goodness without being taught and not everyone needs salvation by beliefs.

[eastforker]

I guess it could be stated that anyone in the Old Testament that was not a Hebrew was, in gods eye, an enemy of the Hebrew. ............ The standard we live by has changed and evolved over many thousands of years.Islams standard hasn’t changed much in the last 700 hundred or so.Our standards have changed in the last 150 or so. 150 years ago taking a woman or girl to be your wife at the age of 14 was a moraly accepted practice, but not today.On the other hand , 150 years ago women dancing naked on a stage was not an accepted practice in this country, but prostitution was.

[Allen In Texas Hill Country]

Then please enlighten me, what is the objective basis for “morals” without God. Nobody has ever been able to answer the question before but maybe you’ll be the first. I anxiously await the response.
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With your supposition that there is/must be a God it is obviously impossible to address your question. Later you said that a religion is ‘required’ to set moral standards. That is your ‘belief’, nothing more. Its unfortunate tho that implicitly you must believe that you can live a higher moral life than I. Hmmmmmm ‘unfortunate’ isn’t the right word.

[Allen In Texas Hill Country]

No, by definition “moral” presupposes a normative standard. That’s simple logic. It is the exact opposite of “opinion”. Now please tell me where this standard comes from if there is no God. Don’t dodge the question.
*************************************************************
The discussion below uses the term ‘moral authority’. It starts off saying it ‘might/could’ come from a God (God). But in the end I think it says that we, society, defines moral authority. Not laws mind you but doing what is right.

http://theblog.philosophytalk.org/2007/07/where-does-mora.html

[kosta50]

Before I would read any of this...or take any of it seriously...I’ll need a working definition of “God”

Good luck. BTW, all the provided links say "does not exist on this server."

[circlecity]

"With your supposition that there is/must be a God it is obviously impossible to address your question. Later you said that a religion is ‘required’ to set moral standards. That is your ‘belief’, nothing more. Its unfortunate tho that implicitly you must believe that you can live a higher moral life than I. Hmmmmmm ‘unfortunate’ isn’t the right word."

Actually I never said whether I believe in a God one way or the other. I merely said without God there is no objective basis for what you call morality or right or wrong. An atheist can easily live a "higher moral life" than a theist but only as defined by the theist. Merely because one presupposes a God doesn't mean they live up to the standards set by that God any better than one who doesn't believe in a God. But if one doesn't believe in a God then there are no standards, only what they personally chose to do or whatever makes them feel best about themseles. Without a God there is no objective basis for saying Hitler was any "worse" a person than Mother Theresa. Every serious philosopher has acknowledged this, even Kant with his cop out of the catagorical imperative.

[kosta50]

Agree completely.

Second that!

[kosta50]

Spot on.

[Logic n' Reason]

Good luck. BTW, all the provided links say "does not exist on this server."

Might 'a known, huh?

IMHO, the "Desiderada" has it about right...

". . . You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
You have a right to be here,
And whether or not it is clear to you,
No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God,
Whatever you conceive Him to be. . . "

[circlecity]

"But in the end I think it says that we, society, defines moral authority. Not laws mind you but doing what is right."

But that definition will change from society to society and within a society over time. There is nothing fixed and it is completely relative and arbitrary. Thus, there is no objective reason why I as an individual should follow or accept what any society arbitrarily choses to define as right or wrong other than the fear of punishment.

[eastforker]

Every serious philosopher has acknowledged this, even Kant with his cop out of the catagorical imperative.

This could be the reason you are so confused, put the damn book down, get to know real people and use you own mind to decide what is real. We have enough philosophers and community organizers

[kosta50]

I pointed out that is impossible [to have objective moral standards] if there is no God because objective morals are impossible without a God

Morality is relative, not absolute. The standard is determinate by the society, subjectively.

[truthfinder9]

Go to the main page, SB.