Theistic Threats? (Atheistic Myths #5)

When it comes to myths, it gets hard to tell what is or is not true. Myths, especially those spread on the internet, can be passed around so much, for so long, that they become virtually indistinguishable from facts. Such is the case with today's Atheistic Myth. And, for the first time, it does not stem from a lack of understanding the definition.

"Why do all Atheists think all Theists are murderers?"

First, the short answer is that we don't, not all of us, anyway. There are some that do, but they typically aren't in the mainstream.

However, that is not where this myth comes from, that's just part of the underlying truth. In the past, there have been many instances where people have killed and tortured in the name of their god or gods. Most Atheists these days know better than to lump all Theists together under the banner of murder just because some Theists in the past killed others.

What the majority of Atheists do say, however, is that the religion has killed people, which is very true. There are many instances where a particular religion was responsible for a lot of deaths. These facts cannot be denied. However, does this mean that Atheism could have avoided these deaths? Probably not.

As I stated earlier, there are many people today who do not kill just because it is in their religion. In fact, they have altered their religion significantly to avoid the bloodshed. This means that Theists are not the problem, just the old religions combined with people who were pretty close to unstable already. The religion would simply be the final push they needed. This does not, however, clear the religion of being at fault, if only partially, as it was the final straw, a straw that would not have ever existed otherwise. The person may have been messed up to begin with, but it was the religion they held that ultimately made them decide to kill.

Atheism and Theism cannot kill anyone. These two things, by themselves, cannot do any harm. You cannot kill in the name of Atheism or Theism. Anyone who tries is just using an excuse, as neither of these things have ever commanded death. While there have been Atheists and Theists who have killed people, their Atheism/Theism never told them to. That is simply part of the bigger truth that there are murderers in every large group.

There is, however, another bit of truth to this myth, one that is uncomfortable for others to hear. There are those today who are perpetuating this myth on both sides. While there are those Atheists I've already mentioned who hold this belief, there are also Theists who are constantly wanting the deaths of Atheists, who openly pray for Atheists to die, and who occasionally take it upon themselves to kill Atheists. These same people will also occasionally kill those of other religions, but within this group, those particular people are fewer in number.

As an example, there was a story recently about a girl who noticed a prayer hanging on the wall in her public school, something that goes against the US constitution. She informed her teachers about this, and they did nothing. She informed the school board about this and they did nothing. She was eventually forced to go to the courts to get it removed. All they needed to do was revise this prayer to not include any religious element and it would have been able to stay. They were adamant about not removing it because it was a tradition in their school, one that could have remained just by altering it slightly.

Why am I bringing this up? This girl has since received a never ending supply of hate mail and death threats. As I said, these people are perpetuating the myth. There was also a story about FOX News who had interviewed an Atheist. Simply from that, the FOX News story on Facebook got hundreds if not thousands of death threats against the Atheist, to the point of needing to remove the story from their wall.

These are not the first instances of this happening, either. Theists have been sending death threats against Atheists for a long time. Every time we try to do something that they disagree with in the slightest, there are death threats made.

As I have already said, this is not the fault of Theism, it is the fault of those making the messages. However, the religion is not entirely faultless. It is the religion that taught them to not respect other's beliefs or a lack there of. These are the people who have chosen not to follow the new versions of their religion in the new age. These are the people who are still of the mentality of their ancestors who murdered people in the name of their religion.

So where does the myth stand? The myth is just that. It is a myth that all Atheists think all Theists are murderers. However, some of us believe this, and some Theists aren't making it easy to change their minds. We each need to get these people to stop pushing this myth into the realm of fact, before we have death threats on both sides actually being fulfilled.

A myth is only a myth as long as people don't act upon it.

Thoughtful Resolutions

I've been focusing a lot lately on the aesthetics of what makes an Atheist; how we are defined, how we react to certain situations. However, I've not really gone into depth on how an Atheist thinks. Granted, this is a difficult subject to delve into as Atheists, like all people, are widely different and vary in just about every way from one person to the next. Though there are many similarities to how they think as well, especially when you get a like-minded group in one location.

The main problem I've faced with this topic, though, and the one that has kept me from writing about it, is that it's hard to get into someone's mind, especially when that someone is not yourself. While I may be an Atheist, there is very little point in trying to explain my own mind and my own way of thinking. It would be too personalized and completely unhelpful. However, my mind is all I have to work with. So, I came up with a new way of tackling this topic, and it is very different from how this blog has been handled thus far. Today, I am going to ask the Theists a question and then try to answer it myself in their stead. I already know it won't be very accurate, but I'm not trying to be. I'm simply demonstrating how an Atheist thinks when trying to understand Theists, which is one thing I've been trying to do more lately. Think of it as a New Year's resolution.

As with other touchy subjects, I'll have to give a warning right now that this may offend some people. I'm sorry if this does offend anyone, as that is not my intention. With this in mind, let's get to the question.

"How do Theists know their god(s) exist(s)?"


I figured something broad would give a lot of details to work with.

The simplest answer anyone can give to this question is that they don't. This then falls back on the faith aspect of Theism, where you keep belief that the particular god does exist despite your lack of physical evidence. This is great, as long as you don't then assume that there is no other possible solution. Faith, after all, is meant to teach an open mind.

Some people claim they look at the complexity of the universe and can't fathom it coming from something other than a god. The problem with this is that the most complex things we know about are not designed in the slightest, but the work of various forces. Sure, one could argue that these forces were set in place by this god, but that's going back to the first answer, faith, as there is no evidence for this.

There are those that have a feeling, deep within them, and they believe this feeling is their god. This is a lovely feeling, and one many people would benefit from. However, this also is not a way of knowing whether or not their god exists, but merely assigning something to their god arbitrarily. This, again, leads us back to faith.

The most often used argument for gods that has been used recently is known as the Kalam Cosmological Argument. Essentially, this argument states that all things that began to exist had a cause, the universe began to exist, therefore the universe had a cause. This sounds good, and is logically correct, but the facts aren't there to back it up. We're not entirely sure that everything that exists has a cause, nor are we sure when or even if the universe began. Without the evidence to back these premises, we are, once again, back to faith.

So, from an Atheist viewpoint, the only thing that lets Theists know that their gods exist is faith. As I've already said, faith is not a bad thing. As long as one keeps the open mind that faith requires, it can be a great tool and a great feeling. There are many Atheists who actually wish they could have the faith it takes to believe in gods. However, as I've stated in a previous blog, these Atheists also require evidence to change their minds, making faith unobtainable.

So, there we go, an Atheist's view on how Theists know their gods exist. I hope I have not offended anyone with this topic and that the Theists that read this now understand how Atheists think a little bit better.

Happy New Year to everyone. May this year bring even more joy and disillusionment than the last.