This Atheist calls himself “Astute,” I think
In this post at The Astute Bloggers, JR says many Atheists are “more dogmatic than most Christians.” Incidentally, JR himself is an Atheist, but he seems to be either a very casual one who doesn’t give much thought to the way most think and behave, or he’s not thinking it through particularly well.
First, he says …
“I myself am as thoroughgoing an atheist as you will find but I have never seen any need to condemn religion or religious people. Most religions (though not all: Islam comes to mind) seem to be of great help to their believers and I am delighted that that is so. I just don’t seem to have in me the hate that clearly drives many outspoken atheists to their paroxysms of abuse.”
It’s not “hate” that “drives many outspoken atheists to their paroxysms (big word) of abuse.” It’s Christians nosing their way into the lives of Atheists by pushing moralistic policies into schools, labs and hospitals. It’s Atheists drawing a line in the sand and saying, “You guys run the afterlife however you want; you’re gonna have to fall in line while you’re here.” I’m not particularly “militant,” whatever that means, although I do like to wear camouflage to work. But I understand why Atheists are becoming outspoken critics of Christianity. The Christians have clearly brought it upon themselves.
Then, he adds an odd question:
“One small point that I would make about the article I have referenced concerns the idea that atheists characteristically subscribe to moral relativism. I think that is broadly true and it does make nonsense of the condemnations uttered by such atheists. How can they say religion is wrong while at the same time saying that there is no such thing as right and wrong?”
Is this guy really an Atheist? First of all, I’ve very rarely (OK, never, actually) heard an Atheist say religion is “wrong” from a moral perspective. They’ve said religion is wrong, as in “incorrect,” and they might say it’s mostly harmful to society, but I don’t think they’d say you’re morally wrong for being religious.
Secondly, no Atheist that I know of says “there’s no such thing as right and wrong.” What they say is there’s no central authority to determine what’s morally right and wrong for everyone, but I’ll take the job if it’s open (Hookers for everyone! Woo-hoo!). Each individual has to be responsible to him or herself. If you choose to do stupid, morally bankrupt things, there will be consequences for that in this life. Once you die, you’re off the hook, but that’s a bold loophole to take advantage of. There is “right and wrong;” there’s just not a book to scare you into behaving in order to avoid a fiery future. If you want to piss people off, not have any friends and probably end up Bubba’s bunkbed bitch somewhere down the line, you can behave pretty much however you want. That is, until Bubba gets ahold of you. Then you’ll do basically whatever he says.
How an Atheist could be seemingly so clueless as to what Atheism is about, I’m not sure. Unless Bubba got ahold of him. And Bubba’s a Christian. Oh no. Somebody please save JR.
The day you start wearing camoflage is the day I stop talking to you.
Just like there are many Christians who have never read the Bible, so are there atheists who are ignorant of what it means to be an atheist. If I were to decide to follow any certain religion, I’d be sure to read up on what it was I was getting into.
[...] Which pretty much sums up what the majority of Christians believe about the mindset that atheism leads to. Note that we don’t say that atheists themselves are amoral, only that they way that they think leads to this type of inconsistency. Jeff Haws from The Atheocracy, answers thus: Is this guy really an Atheist? First of all, I’ve very rarely (OK, never, actually) heard an Atheist say religion is “wrong” from a moral perspective. They’ve said religion is wrong, as in “incorrect,” and they might say it’s mostly harmful to society, but I don’t think they’d say you’re morally wrong for being religious. (source) [...]