Evidential Proof

As stated before, Atheists are not people that believe in gods. They lack any kind of god whatsoever. This doesn't mean they reject the idea of gods, they just don't believe in any particular god. Why? The most used reason is that there is no evidence for the existence of any known god. This reason usually is not enough for Theistic believers, as it usually prompts a very common question.

"What do Atheists define as evidence?"

You may be surprised at how often this question comes up. Most Atheists are actually surprised that this question is even asked. As far as they knew everyone used the same definition of evidence. However, there are many people that do not look up definitions in dictionaries until pressured to. As such, there are many people using words in the wrong way. To keep things simple, let's look at the dictionary definition of Evidence.

That which tends to prove or disprove something.
~ Dictionary.com

That's a pretty simple definition. Evidence is something that proves a claim or disproves a claim. With this definition in mind, most Atheists agree that we currently have no evidence to prove or disprove the claim of gods. This is why there are so many Atheists in the first place.

Theists continue to claim there is evidence for their god(s) and that it is sufficient to prove the validity of their position. However, this simply is not the case. The most evidence that any religion currently has is their holy scriptures, which themselves do not have much credibility or evidence supporting them. Usually this is countered by claiming that their scriptures were divinely inspired, which is not evidence of anything or evidenced by anything.

On the opposite side, it is impossible to provide evidence for a negative claim, only negative evidence to a positive claim. As such it is impossible to prove that no god exists. This is why most Atheists hold the position of lacking evidence for the positive claim that any particular god exists.

So, the best way to convert an Atheist is to provide evidence for your position. And Atheists need to research their own position, to make sure that provided evidence, on both sides, is accurate.

Hitting Defense

Atheists are almost constantly under attack, and not always because of their lack of belief. It starts simple enough, they only want to help. However, as the conversation goes on, they begin to notice that you are set in your ways, and that you are, indeed, an Atheist.

This is usually where the conversation begins to take an ugly turn. Without meaning to, both sides begin to accuse the other of various falsehoods. You might accuse their deity of being malicious or having completely illogical attributes, for example. Eventually, however, you may end up facing a rather unpleasant rebuttal.

"Wasn't Adolf Hitler an Atheist?"

This happens far more often than it should. The point of the opposition is to force you to rethink your position. If such an obviously "evil" person was an Atheist, do you really want to be part of this group? How does one respond to such an accusation? Without knowledge of the man, you are forced to find various ways that you are different from him, but you are still left with him being in the same group, which can be an unsettling feeling.

Have no fear, though, for Hitler was NOT an Atheist. This is a common misconception that has been spread around for a significantly long time. It started off as Hitler simply being Anti-Religious because he persecuted the Jewish people. As definitions and stories were passed along and misconstrued over time, the definition of Atheist merged with Anti-Religious and Adolf Hitler became an Atheist.

As pointed out in previous posts, Atheists are not "Anti-" anything, besides the positive claims of deities. So, just by that, Hitler cannot be an Atheist. It goes further than that, though. Hitler said in his book, Mein Kampf, "I am convinced that I am acting as the agent of our Creator. By fighting off the Jews. I am doing the Lord's work." And in 1938 he declared, "I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so." This places Adolf Hitler well within the realm of Catholicism, which is well outside of Atheism.

Not only was Hitler NOT an Atheist, he outright persecuted Atheists! This is rather strange behavior for one with no religious intent. In a speech he made in Berlin in 1933 he said, "We were convinced that the people needs and requires this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out."

Although Hitler being an Atheist would not mean anything about Atheism, I hope this puts to rest the argument that Adolf Hitler was an Atheist, as it is simply not true. The same also goes for Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot. All of these historical figures are used against Atheism practically on a daily basis. While this blog does not condone attacks of any kind on anyone, it is important to know this information in order to defend yourself.

Always do your research before attempting to defend, otherwise you may end up attacking yourself.