Myth:
For atheists, the whims of society have become the final judge for behavior.
Response:
One of the most common distinctions which religious theists try to draw between themselves and atheists is how they follow absolute, objective, eternal, and transcendent standards laid down by God while atheists follow...well, something much less concrete and certainly not as good. There are thus many myths about atheists surrounding the presumed nature of what atheists believe and how they construct their sense of morality.
In this one, atheists are told they base everything on the whims of society.
There are multiple problems with this ? all of which really should be plainly obvious to the religious theists (almost always Christians) who are saying it. To begin with, society (usually America) is highly religious and highly theistic. If atheists were simply following along with society, then it's strange why they aren't at least religious theists themselves, if not actually Christians. To be an atheist means bucking tradition and popularity in order to follow a different path despite the pervasive dislike and distrust of atheists throughout America.
In fact, the process of becoming an atheist usually involves questioning a great deal of what a person has taken for granted in the past. This means that many atheists not only end up questioning beliefs about religion and theism, but they also question many popular political and social beliefs ? often beliefs which themselves tend to be justified or defended with religious arguments.
Atheists are thus perhaps among the least likely people to simply follow along with the crowd and accept whatever "whims" society has established for behavior and morality, much less anything else.
A second problem lies in the fact that this myth implicitly assumes that religious theists generally and Christians in particular do not allow the "whims" of society to direct their behavior. If this were true, then we should see a more radical distinction between Christian behavior and general social standards ? but do we? I don't think so.
By all measures, Christians are no less likely, and in some cases perhaps more likely, to do all the things everyone else in society does ? including the things which Christians complain about. Whether it's sexual behavior like abortion and premarital sex, or more general behavior such as watching sports and being workaholics, Christians look pretty much like everyone else ? probably because most people in America are Christians.
This myth acts as an effective way of dismissing what atheists have to say because few people will be interested in listening to anyone who simply follows "whims," regardless of where those whims originally come from. People who promote this myth communicate the idea that atheists shouldn't be listened to when it comes to ethical or social issues, but without actually addressing any of the arguments atheists make. It's a cheap way of getting out of having to offer anything substantive and serious of one's own.
For atheists, the whims of society have become the final judge for behavior.
Response:
One of the most common distinctions which religious theists try to draw between themselves and atheists is how they follow absolute, objective, eternal, and transcendent standards laid down by God while atheists follow...well, something much less concrete and certainly not as good. There are thus many myths about atheists surrounding the presumed nature of what atheists believe and how they construct their sense of morality.
In this one, atheists are told they base everything on the whims of society.
There are multiple problems with this ? all of which really should be plainly obvious to the religious theists (almost always Christians) who are saying it. To begin with, society (usually America) is highly religious and highly theistic. If atheists were simply following along with society, then it's strange why they aren't at least religious theists themselves, if not actually Christians. To be an atheist means bucking tradition and popularity in order to follow a different path despite the pervasive dislike and distrust of atheists throughout America.
In fact, the process of becoming an atheist usually involves questioning a great deal of what a person has taken for granted in the past. This means that many atheists not only end up questioning beliefs about religion and theism, but they also question many popular political and social beliefs ? often beliefs which themselves tend to be justified or defended with religious arguments.
Atheists are thus perhaps among the least likely people to simply follow along with the crowd and accept whatever "whims" society has established for behavior and morality, much less anything else.
A second problem lies in the fact that this myth implicitly assumes that religious theists generally and Christians in particular do not allow the "whims" of society to direct their behavior. If this were true, then we should see a more radical distinction between Christian behavior and general social standards ? but do we? I don't think so.
By all measures, Christians are no less likely, and in some cases perhaps more likely, to do all the things everyone else in society does ? including the things which Christians complain about. Whether it's sexual behavior like abortion and premarital sex, or more general behavior such as watching sports and being workaholics, Christians look pretty much like everyone else ? probably because most people in America are Christians.
This myth acts as an effective way of dismissing what atheists have to say because few people will be interested in listening to anyone who simply follows "whims," regardless of where those whims originally come from. People who promote this myth communicate the idea that atheists shouldn't be listened to when it comes to ethical or social issues, but without actually addressing any of the arguments atheists make. It's a cheap way of getting out of having to offer anything substantive and serious of one's own.
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