Another misconception about atheists …..

I enjoyed reading Susan Jacoby’s article about atheism and her list of 5 common misconceptions about atheism and atheists.

I’ll go ahead and discuss another misconception about atheism and atheists: there is the misconception that being an atheist is about just “doing whatever you want whenever you want to do it”:

Note: Governor Huckabee is a creationist.

You see this attitude lampooned here:

Ok, perhaps I am focusing too much on a few crazies and religious whack-jobs. But then, I’ve actually had people in my life tell me that “you aren’t really an atheist; you’ve just rejected the simple deity of your childhood”. Their reasoning: I lead a relatively disciplined life (e. g., I work out, do long distance swims and runs and walks, sometimes meditate and do yoga) and I abstain from certain behaviors.

Of course, they go on to say that the real god is, well, not describable, not definable, etc. It is something that you have to “just know”, you see.

Of course, this is sheer nonsense. For one, the vast majority of elite scientists are atheist or agnostic. Do you think that someone can reach the academy of science level without some discipline?

Atheists commit crimes at a lower rate than theists and atheistic countries have lower crime rates than ours.

And of course, atheists can be passionate about life; for example, check out any Richard Dawkins lecture on science. The love and passion in his face are unmistakable.

One does not need superstition to have a disciplined, meaningful life.

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