basic theistic criticisms

Another long day at school with the constant stress of working on procrastinated assignments but yet I still managed to find time to get on Paltalk in the beloved Christianity section. For those of you who do not know, Paltalk is a chat network that allows you to speak on the microphone in a chatroom. It is way more structured and organized than yahoo chat. In Paltalk there is order, to talk, you have to wait in a line by raising a hand next to your nickname and the rooms are run by owners who have power to silence you or boot you out of the room.

Anyways, after dialoging and listening to many theists I have noticed that they almost always ALL use the same layman type of criticisms against atheism or atheists in general. I will lay out a few of the popular ones and give my 2 cents on them.

1. Atheists know in their heart that there is a God but they suppress the truth in unrighteousness, mainly because they want to live a sinful lifestyle.

Response:

This is a groundless assertion. On what basis does the theist make this huge claim about what's in the heart of all atheists? Do they think they are God now and that they can search the hearts and minds of men? Or did God somehow give them this secret revelation about the real truth of atheists.

In my opinion, this assertion is rooted in the fact that theists cannot fathom the idea of there being no God so they assume that everyone else is the same. But not being being to fathom something doesn't mean it is not possible. I cannot fathom fasting for 30 days, but yet its been done by many.

With the millions of atheists that exist on this planet, are we to assume that ALL of them are lying about their atheism? And that they ALL really do believe in a God but just simply suppress that knowledge in unrighteousness? Another problem which never seems to catch the theists attention is that if it is merely our desire to live sinful lives guilt free, then we do not need to go as far as being an atheist to do it. I can choose to be a Deist, for example, and live however I want without guilt. It's kind of awkward as to why one would go the lengths of atheism if all they have to do is pick one god out of the pool of thousands that will allow sinful behavior.

2. Atheists believe in nothing.

Response:

My immediate reply to the theist is to tell them that I do in fact believe in something. I believe that there are no gods.

3. Without God there is no reason to be moral

Response:

If were dealing with morals such as murder, theft, rape, etc.. then the simple reply is that prison sentences is a perfectly good reason to abide by the law. We as humans are social creatures, and we have to get along with our fellow man if we want some type of peace and harmony. Not wanting any trouble from people is another obvious reason to do good without a god. There are other reasons but these will suffice.

4. Atheism is a religion and one of its main beliefs is evolution.

Response:

This one demonstrates that the theist has not taken the time to look up the term 'religion' in a dictionary. Here it is:

1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

Atheism simply means a LACK OF belief in a god. That's it. By definition, it is not a set of beliefs and practices. And believing in evolution is not a prerequisite to being an atheist. For instance, I can be an atheist and believe that life on earth was started by ET's. The idea that atheism is a religion is a huge myth which is embedded in the mind of just about every theist. It is a vampire myth, it just will not die.

5. Atheists who hang around and debate Christians are deep down inside seeking God and wanting to believe.

Response:

To add more clarity to this one, typically theists tell me that if I truly do not believe in a god then I should never go in a christian chatroom and talk to them and I should live my life never talking about God because who spends so much time debating something that they do not even believe in? Sometimes the theist will ask if I ever debate the existence of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.

Obviously, it is not fair to compare the issue of God to Santa Claus. Why? Because while I agree that both concepts are myths, it does not change the fact that there are religions everywhere promoting this god concept. Theists try to spread their religious messages via street witnessing, international missionaries, prisons, politics, schools. They are IN MY FACE. And yet they expect me to just stick my head in the sand and stay quiet? I do not debate them because i am seeking a god, but because I am responding to their nonsense which they try to inject into the fiber of society. It is called standing up for what is right.

Later I will take a closer look at the issue of morality and demonstrate that the theists charge of how we are "borrowing from their worldview" is absolutely ridiculous and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the atheistic worldview of morality.

Peace.