Top myths about atheism and skepticism

There’s little that’s more tiring than having to address and refute the same stupid, ill-informed and malicious claims over and over again, and so, I’ve decided to do something about it (for whatever little it may be worth). Below are some of the most common smears, attacks, canards, lies and general myths that the godless and the rational-minded find themselves encountering seemingly no matter where they go, constantly belched out by people either too ignorant or dishonest to know any better.

Feel free to link to any of these as an excuse not to hammer out your own lengthy rebuttal; that’s certainly what I plan to do from now on whenever applicable. Just click on the little anchor indicator (“A1”, “S3”, etc.) to get the URL anchor for each individual item.

As always, suggestions for further myths to debunk are encouraged. This list is periodically updated with new entries.

(Please note that while this list is written from the perspective of a dominantly Christian culture, terms like “God” and “believers” are meant generally and are intended to apply to all religious adherents and all the deities they believe in.)

ATHEISM:
A1 | “Atheism is a faith/religion”
A2 | “Atheists are (just) angry at God”
A3 | “Atheists are mean and aggressive”
A4 | “Atheists are immoral and/or evil”
A5 | “Atheists are selfish hedonists”
A6 | “Atheists live without purpose or meaning”
A7 | “Atheists believe in nothing”
A8 | “Atheists were abused as children”
A9 | “Atheists are mostly/all old White guys”
A10 | “There are no atheists in foxholes”
A11 | “Atheists can’t cope with death/loss of loved ones”
A12 | “Atheists hate and/or want to destroy religion”
A13 | “Atheists hate and/or want to end religious traditions/holidays”
A14 | “Atheists are angry at and/or hate religious people”
A15 | “Atheists really do believe in God, deep down inside”
A16 | “Atheists are just ignorant about religion”
A17 | “Hitler/Stalin/Mao/Pol Pot/<etc.> were atheists/led atheistic regimes”
A18 | “Atheists/Evolutionists believe in social Darwinism”
A19 | “Atheists are their own god”
A20 | “Atheism is a childish belief”
A21 | “Atheists cannot love or grieve”

SKEPTICISM:
S1 | “Skeptics don’t think anything is real/true”
S2 | “Skeptics want absolute truth”
S3 | “Same evidence, different interpretations”
S4 | “Skeptics treat science like a religion”
S5 | “Skeptics deny the possibility of paranormal phenomena”

— Atheism —

A1 | “Atheism is a faith/religion”
The most common anti-atheist trope and coincidentally the most easily disproven: Open a dictionary. Atheism is specifically the lack of any belief in any god(s). Now, atheists (in the strictest sense) are not inherently irreligious – after all, Buddhists don’t believe in any creator or all-mighty god^* – but this does not mean that atheists therefore have faith in faithlessness, which makes no sense at all. Atheists may be part of an atheistic cultural movement (with groups, gatherings, insignia, public speakers, etc.), but the lack of any doctrine or true leaders disqualifies atheism from being a religion.

Some theists also base this claim on the idea that atheistic positions (“God doesn’t exit” and virtually any variant thereof) require blind faith to believe in. This is also false, seeing as the reason atheists reject God-belief is generally because they have, in fact, looked at the evidence and concluded that arguments against God’s existence are stronger than arguments in support of it. In addition, it’s highly hypocritical to accuse atheists of irrational negative belief in gods, given that what makes a theist a theist is their irrational positive belief in their God, which cannot be founded on any credible basis.

A2 | “Atheists are (just) angry at God”
Also: “Atheists hate God”, “Atheists blame God for <etc.>”, etc.
One cannot be angry at something that one doesn't believe exists. It's like hating unicorns, or blaming Voldemort for all the murders. This canard is usually trotted out against an atheist who dares to criticize a theist's beliefs or the events depicted in the Bible, or anything of the sort. Their criticism is interpreted as anger, which some people foolishly believe implies a belief in the matter being criticized. If some atheists do appear angry when they criticize a divine being (ie. “Your God is a cruel tyrant!”), they are only angry at the idea of said God as espoused by believers, especially when it is trumpeted as a basis for deleterious behavior. In the end, they are angry at bad religious people and their bad excuses, not any actual deity.
Related: A15: “Atheists really do believe in God”

A3 | “Atheists are mean and aggressive”
Theists have long held a position of privilege in society that made it deeply disagreeable, even outright tabooed, to question their beliefs. But now, more and more people are beginning to speak their minds with less reserve, which is often equated with rudeness and hostility towards religious people. But this is really no different than what theists have been doing for centuries: speaking their minds with impunity. (Never mind the fact that atheism has historically been, and oftentimes continues to be, treated much more negatively than religion is today.) Theists simply need to disillusion themselves of the false idea that religious beliefs are sacred and untouchable, and accept the fact that they are as open to discussion – and criticism – as anything else.

A4 | “Atheists are immoral and/or evil”
This one is particularly irksome, given that it’s both transparently false and personally insulting for the atheist receiving the remark. Many theists believe that morality originates from God, and that anyone who rejects God therefore rejects their own sense of right and wrong. This then supposedly turns them into heartless and conscienceless losers who are as likely to eat a burger as they are to rape a goat (or worse). Not only is this offensive, it’s also obviously and demonstrably untrue. Firstly, atheists are distinctly underrepresented in prisons (notably in the U.S.), which immediately blows a hole in the notion that atheists are less moral than the rest of society, given that they apparently commit less crimes on average than the religious.

What’s more, the logical extension is true: Theists, who are supposed to be more moral and ethical, tend to be more prone to various crimes and misbehavior such as murder, teen pregnancy, marital problems, and others (at least in the U.S.). Not to say that religion inherently makes people bad (it doesn’t); it just means that is isn’t necessary for one to be a decent person and responsible citizen. (And, honestly, when theists declare to atheists, as some actually do, that the only thing stopping them from becoming the next Ted Bundy is their belief in God and fear of eternal damnation, this is not a good way to persuade atheists about believers’ supposedly superior sense of morality. Actually, it terrifies the shit out of them at the prospect of a society full of potential murderers held back solely by a threat of post-mortem punishment.)

In addition, this assertion doesn’t even make basic logical sense. If morality does originate from God, it thus inherently applies to the whole world and everyone in it. Thus, why would a person’s disbelief in God somehow void this rule in their case, rendering them amoral? If God really is the creator and master of all, then either his brand of morality applies to all, or it applies to none. And if the latter is true, then no-one on Earth has a God-given sense of right and wrong … which thus entails that we all just do what we personally feel is right. This is the scientifically valid viewpoint. (The factors that decide what we think are right and wrong are many, varied and complicated; see this primer on the evolution of morality.)

A5 | “Atheists are selfish hedonists”
Similar to A4: “Atheists are immoral and/or evil”, but toned down to reflect misconceptions about atheists’ routine behavior. Theists who don’t believe atheists are necessarily evil can still accuse them of being self-centered jerks who only do what they feel like. This is false for the same reason as with the supposed immorality and/or evilness of atheists: One’s moral code does not come from divine origins, and therefore, ignoring God does not make one any more or less responsible and agreeable than anyone else. There are selfish and hedonistic atheists just as there are selfish and hedonistic theists, and same goes for reasonable and modest folks.

This is also often used to accuse atheists of indulging in decadence (such as casual sex, promiscuity, gambling, etc.). In this sense, the accusers are partially correct – but only in the sense that lack of religion also equals lack of guilt and shame that are often forced upon people by their religious entourage, despite not actually doing anything wrong. Someone who has sexual flings with lots of people is not a bad person for it, nor is what they’re doing inherently wrong. Unless someone is actually harmed in their person or rights, then there truly is no merit for guilt or shame.

A6 | “Atheists live without purpose or meaning”
Religious people often go on about how their beliefs and worldview afford them a sense of direction and contentment, and then turn around and claim that atheists, who don’t believe in God, therefore do not feel such emotional satisfaction. This is both false and silly. Even if atheists don’t believe that they’re all special little urchins in God’s eye, they still have their family, friends, job, hobbies and life in general to derive significance and happiness from. Everyone makes their own goals in life; the only difference is that atheists don’t misconstrue the satisfaction earned in accomplishing their goals as originating from some divine source.

A7 | “Atheists believe in nothing”
Also: “Atheists attack/reject all beliefs”, etc.
Many theists mistakenly believe that atheists who don’t believe in divine entities therefore don’t believe in anything. This is a classic false dilemma where only two options are considered and any others are ignored, which is silly and unfair. Atheists who don’t believe in God can still espouse beliefs in virtually anything, both rational and not (plenty of atheists still believe in paranormal phenomena such as ghosts, New Age nonsense, and etc.). Most skeptical atheists are happy to believe in credible scientific notions about the natural world (Big Bang, Evolution, laws of physics, etc.) and simply reject anything that they feel is either unprovable or otherwise immaterial to their life. After all, why believe in something that cannot be shown to exist, and that also doesn’t affect you or the world around you in any way?

A8 | “Atheists were abused as children”
This is another offensively close-minded tack used against atheists, as well as against virtually anyone whose beliefs or behavior goes against established norms (such as gays, feminists, nudists, etc.) Nonetheless, there is absolutely no reason to believe either that A) most atheists were in any way mistreated as children when compared to the norm, or that B) child abuse even has anything to do with the presence or absence of religious belief to begin with. (For example, I had loving and caring parents, and still became an atheist all on my own.)

A9 | “Atheists are mostly/all old White guys”
Also: “Atheism is a boys’ club”, “women/Blacks/etc. are mistreated at atheist conventions”, etc.
There is a kernel of truth to this one, though not enough to warrant making it into a credible attack against atheism as a belief or movement. It is true that the atheist movement, as it currently exists, consists mostly of Caucasian males in their 40s or 50s, though this is not to say that there is any critical dearth of either women or people of other ethnicities. Regardless, this is a cultural issue, not a religious or ideological one, so this really is a silly attack at any rate.

A10 | “There are no atheists in foxholes”
For starters, tell that to the Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, to name two obvious examples of godless soldiers. But the phrase is actually intended to imply that atheists would quickly go running back to religion as soon as they’re afraid or encounter hardships, which is based on the mistaken idea that either atheists don’t really believe God doesn’t exist and will come groveling back the moment things start to heat up, or else that they’re cowards who will happily commit Pascal’s Wager or some such just to “play it safe”. Either way, this is a mindless dismissal of the fact that atheists are as sturdy in their beliefs (or lack thereof) as theists are, especially when they realize that religion is no more comforting in the face of pain or peril than non-belief. It’s just one way of coping amongst others, one that relies on delusion and fantasy.

A11 | “Atheists can’t cope with death/loss of loved ones”
Because atheists don’t believe in any afterlife, theists thus assume that the death of loved ones, or the idea of one’s own mortality, presents a crushing blow to nonbelievers that leaves them incapable of dealing with the grief or fear. This is absurd for the same reasons as with A7: “Atheists believe in nothing” and A6: “Atheists live without purpose or meaning”: The fact that atheists don’t believe their loved ones continue to exist in some other dimension or form of being (or that such is where they are themselves headed when they eventually die) does not hinder them from grieving like anyone else. True, it deprives them of the comfort of thinking that their loved ones are still out there, somewhere, waiting to be reunited someday, but they understand that this was only a delusion in the first place. Rational people prefer to experience reality rather than wallow in false hopes. And the idea that their suffering at losing loved ones would be alleviated if only they turned to God is particularly insulting; one will not make any friends by trying to proselytize to grieving atheists, no more than they would in trying to sell life insurance at a funeral.

A12 | “Atheists hate and/or want to destroy religion”
This is used by theists who are troubled at how atheists are growing increasingly vocal about their unhappiness with religion’s grip on society, especially when it comes to the mixing of church and state. Theists often take this to mean that atheists hate religion as a whole and wish nothing more than to eradicate it from modern civilization. This is simply false; atheists want people to liberate themselves from religious belief, rather than try to force anyone to deconvert. What’s more, there is nothing wrong with trying to force religion out of governmental functions. Leadership works best when applied equally to all people without any groups afforded preferential treatment based on their religious creed.

A13 | “Atheists hate and/or want to end religious traditions/holidays”
Also: “War on Christmas/Easter/<etc>”
This is epitomized spectacularly with the annual “War on Christmas” nonsense, where atheists are supposedly trying to end any and all mention or practice of Christmas, or are otherwise trying to secularize it completely. Theists often extend this false idea to other religious customs, thus making it seem like atheists are trying to end any and all mention of religion (see “Atheists hate and/or want to destroy religion”). However, the simple and obvious truth is that atheists have no problem with Christmas, nor any other religious tradition or holiday. Most atheists actually celebrate Christmas as do Christians with familial gatherings, good food, exchange of presents, etc. Atheists just don’t want Christians forcing their own beliefs down their throats and encroaching upon the separation of church and state. The government (particularly in the U.S.) is meant by law to be free of religious influence; trying to make sure this is respected and enforced is not Christian persecution. It’s simply following the law. There’s nothing discriminatory about following established concepts that apply equally to all.

A14 | “Atheists are angry at and/or hate religious people”
Some theists think that atheists are particularly hostile towards religious folks based solely on their status as people of faith. This is simply not true; while there are arguably some more intolerant atheists (every group has its fringe), the vast majority of nonbelievers simply don’t care about what others believe in, be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Pagan, and etc. What atheists do get angry at is religious intrusions into their lives from theists who try to infuse their beliefs in the public square. This really applies to divisions between people of any faiths (or lack thereof); believe in whatever you want, but please don’t pester others with it, or (worse yet) try to convert them or get them to act in whatever way you want them to. If they don’t believe in what you believe, they have no reason to obey or even respect your faith’s rules and teachings. It’s only normal for them to get angry at you when you try and cram your beliefs down their throats, and prolonged exposure to this sort of behavior may very well taint their view of all religious people as a result, which is unfair for both parties.

A15 | “Atheists really do believe in God, deep down inside”
Also: “Atheists are just confused/uncertain”, “atheism is just a phase”
It takes a special kind of sanctimony and arrogance to declare that people who don’t believe in what you believe really do, somewhere deep down. The fact is that atheists are just as secure in their beliefs (or lack thereof) as theists are in theirs. Asserting to anyone, atheist or religious, that you know what they believe in better than they do is not only foolish, but is also an amazingly effective means of getting on their bad side in record time. Because it’s extremely annoying. If someone tells you they don’t believe in God, chances are they truly don’t.

Of course, some atheists do have doubts of various magnitude about God and this and that. After all, many (if not most) atheists were once religious and went through a deconversion process that was, itself, one long period of doubting and questioning before they eventually made up their minds. But nonetheless, trying to nag them into turning one way or another is not going to accomplish anything favorable for anyone.

A16 | “Atheists are just ignorant about religion”
Also: “Atheists just haven’t heard/read enough about God/Jesus/Muhammad/etc.”, “sophisticated theology”
Another favorite proselytizing argument is to say that if only atheists knew more about a given religion and its theological details, then atheists would see that it was obviously true and immediately change their minds about it. But this relies upon the assumption that atheists know less about religion than adherents do, which surveys indicate is not only false, but literally the opposite to reality, as atheists (at least in the U.S.) actually tend to be more knowledgeable about various religious faiths than their own believers are. This is only expected, given that minorities usually inform themselves better about reigning majority groups and their traits in order to defend themselves from oppression.

Another side to this argument is the irony that people who do learn more about religion actually tend to be less religious as a result (see the common atheistic argument that reading the Christian Bible is what made them lose their faith), which is partially related to why atheists tend to score higher on IQ tests than most (though not enough to secure any real bragging rights, which would just be childish, anyway).

Finally, accusing atheists of not being religious out of ignorance is also rather hypocritical, given that the central reason why most atheists dismiss religion in the first place is because religious people offer no credible evidence (much less “proof”) for the claims espoused by their faith, including the one that’s at the utmost core for most religions: that God exists. It’s akin to defending the elegance and majesty of a palace that’s built on quicksand; anyone with an ounce of critical thought can see right through it. (See the Courtier’s Reply.)

A17 | “Hitler/Stalin/Mao/Pol Pot/<etc.> were atheists/led atheistic regimes”
Also: “Atheistic regimes are responsible for <ridiculous number> of deaths”
Another exceedingly common anti-atheist trope, and quite possibly the single most boring one as a result of its sheer overuse. It’s also often outright false, depending on the villain being referenced. Taking Hitler, for instance: Although the Nazis’ religious beliefs and positions were complex and difficult to analyze clearly, it cannot be credibly argued that they in any way strove to erect an atheistic society, seeing as atheism was, itself, largely banned under Hitler’s rule. (For his part, Hitler repeatedly mentioned “God’s will” and regularly attributed his survival of various assassination attempts to a divine power and “divine providence”, which rather blatantly rules out any notion that he was an atheist.)

Besides, even if every single bad person in history had been an atheist, the point still remains that it has nothing to do with atheism or atheists. Atheism is merely a belief regarding the (non)existence of God or gods (or, at the most, an eponymously titled social movement for recognition of atheists as equal citizens). Any dictators who enshrine(d) it into law in their regimes simply use(d) it as a structure, not as any sort of cause or driving force. The only reason why these dictators might have resorted to “organized atheism” (as some fallaciously call it) is because they replace the traditional deities of religion with themselves, effectively turning their personas into gods for their subjects to worship, thus increasing their control over the populace. And even then, this hardly qualifies as atheism in and of itself, given that being revered as a deity, by definition, violates the “godless” part of godlessness.

Finally, no-one in the history of humanity has ever done anything “in the name of atheism”, which makes as much sense as burning a neighbor’s house down because of a militant disbelief in purple-crested unicorns. One acts in the name (or influence) of whatever human and earthbound motive propels them (love, hate, loyalty, vengeance, greed, etc.), not because they don’t believe in divine beings. (And regarding the possible argument that these evil atheists acted because they had no good sense of morality, see A4: “Atheists are immoral and/or evil”.)

A18 | “Atheists/Evolutionists believe in social Darwinism”
This would normally be classified as a myth about Evolutionary Theory and those who accept it, but it’s so often used against atheists (who are all commonly assumed to be Evolutionists, anyway – as if that were a bad thing) that I feel it merits mentioning here. “Social Darwinism” is the notion of applying a garbled version of “survival of the fittest” to human society, implying that nontheists generally embrace the dismissal, or even the active elimination, of the weak, the sick and the elderly, comparable to eugenics. Anti-atheists who believe that godless folks have no moral compass or conscience (Myth A4) thus assume that atheists uphold or encourage this distorted idea. Of course, this is as ridiculous as it is easily disproven. For one, atheists do have a moral center, and are therefore prevented from holding such beliefs (much less acting on them) by virtue of possessing basic human empathy, among other things. Secondly, it once again relies upon the broad assumption that all atheists adhere to the same socio-political ideology, which is as absurd and demonstrably false as any other myth, given the very wide variety in beliefs and ideology present amongst godless ranks.

A19 | “Atheists are their own god”
This is arguably the silliest anti-atheist attack out there due to its sheer mindlessness. Some theists declare that because atheists claim to reject belief in gods, ergo, they must believe that they, themselves, are their own god. This relies partly on the gravely mistaken assumption that atheists simply must believe in some form of godhead, whatever it may be, no matter how absurd. Nontheists are fully aware of their decisive lack of divinity. The fact that they don’t believe in god(s) doesn’t then force them into mental acrobatics to try and conjure up some other higher power to worship, much less themselves. The fact that this claim would be mocked by any sufficiently astute third-grader is a good indicator that it doesn’t belong in any intelligent person’s rhetorical arsenal.

A20 | “Atheism is a childish belief”
This claim comes in two varieties: that atheism is childish because it is silly and naive, or it is childish because many atheists lost their faith in God at a young age. The first is an immature swipe that merits no attention, but the latter is more annoying due to the dishonest twisting of words behind it. A “childhood-era” belief is not the same as a “childish” belief; otherwise, the same (il)logic could be used to declare that the idea that Santa Claus doesn’t exist is also a “childish” belief because most people stop believing in the magical fat man during their youth. Children and teenagers are perfectly capable of rational thought, and it is both unfair and foolish to dismiss someone’s beliefs solely on the grounds that they originated during their formative years.

A21 | “Atheists cannot love or grieve”
This is loosely related to Myth A11, but taken further to the point of declaring that nonbelievers aren’t even able to grieve, or love, in the first place. The theistic notion is that since the spirit of life comes from God, therefore, those who reject belief in any divinity are thus deprived of this source of emotion and passion, leaving them with empty hearts and minds, unable to form strong connections with other people and to feel pain at their passing. Of course, anyone with any shred of reason can immediately blow umpteen holes through the utterly absurd (and downright outrageous) idea that atheists are anything less than fully human (or humane) merely as a result of their lack of god-belief. Emotions and states-of-mind of all kinds (love and grieving included) are entirely physical processes, the result of complex yet understandable biochemical reactions in the brain that are completely irrelevant to, and uninfluenced by, whatever spiritual beliefs (or lack thereof) a given person may espouse. Understanding basic biology and neurology doesn’t make these emotions (and others) any less real and powerful, no more than does knowing about atmospheric refraction take away scientists’ ability to appreciate the beauty of rainbows.

— Skepticism —

S1 | “Skeptics don’t think anything is real/true”
Some folks mistake skeptics’ avowed doubts and ignorance as an admission that they don’t actually know anything. While it’s true that skeptics are generally more inclined to admit that they may not know a large number of things (regardless of presuppositions and ideas they have about various subjects), this should not be taken to mean that they don’t know anything, or that they think they don’t. Skeptics are just unashamed to admit their own honest ignorance about various topics that they haven’t learned about, and generally require some credible evidence before being willing to put their faith in any given claim.

S2 | “Skeptics want absolute truth”
This is also something atheists are accused of quite often (when not similarly accused of thinking they know everything, which is just stupid). Many people mistake skeptics’ quest for answers and credible evidence to mean that they want absolute, irrefutable truth before accepting anything as real. The truth is that skeptics simply want solid evidence based upon actual research and refuse to settle for unreliable forms and sources of information (such as testimonials, which are inherently tainted by the human condition and are therefore simply unusable). A skeptic doesn’t need perfect proof to believe in something; just give them solid and verifiable evidence, and that will be enough.

S3 | “Same evidence, different interpretations”
This is used by virtually anyone who claims that a scientific consensus is just one way of interpreting a same set of data; ie. that one set of numbers could be taken to mean different things for various reasons. This is outright false, for the reason that skeptics and scientists don’t rely upon singular sets of data to build their conclusions, but other pieces of evidence as well, which all come together to paint one clear picture. Yes, a single bone could be either a hundred or a million years old, but when one takes into account various dating methods performed on the bone and its geological surroundings, its true age is thus determined beyond any reasonable doubt or risk of misinterpretation, and claims to the contrary are either ignorant or dishonest.

S4 | “Skeptics treat science like a religion”
A popular attack against skeptics who rely on the scientific method to establish what is true or not is that they treat science as if it were its own religion (or, as some trollishly dub it, “science fetishism”). This is really just immature sniping from people either too ignorant or stupid to know any better, and as such, barely warrants a response other than quickly pointing out how science, regardless of the devotion that many followers undoubtedly possess for it, does not meet any criteria for it to be an actual religion based on blind dogma and unreasonable leaps of faith.

S5 | “Skeptics deny the possibility of paranormal phenomena”
Also: “Skeptics are just closed-minded”
A common argument used against skeptics who so often debunk paranormal claims is that they are closed-minded and flat-out reject even the possibility of supernatural activity, thus implying that they would refuse to believe in it even if presented credible evidence of its occurrence. This is usually used by believers and promoters of various fringe beliefs who are bitter towards skeptics for throwing dirt all over their fantasies about UFOs and Bigfoot and clairvoyance and whatnot. But skeptics aren’t mere cranky naysayers out to destroy any belief about supernaturalism they encounter; they simply require anyone claiming to have seen or performed something extraordinary to prove it. The fact that none of these claims have ever been credibly substantiated gives skeptics license to be pessimistic about new “discoveries” as they arise, given that they are usually debunked easily with a minimum of critical rigor.

Last updated: 03/11/13 9:40 AM ET

* Originally read “Buddhists don’t believe in any supernatural beings”, which Junpei Hayakawa in the comments informs me is false. More here.