50 Great Myths About Atheism

318 Pages·2013·4.73 MB·English

by  Russell Blackford

Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Introduction
What is Atheism?
Why Bother About Myths?
Drawing the Lines
Do These Myths Actually Exist?
How Did We Decide What Myths are Worth Investigating?
Are We Picking Easy Targets?
Have We Defeated Theism?
Chapter 1: What is Atheism?
Myth 1 Atheism is Just Another Type of Religion
Myth 2 But the Courts Recognize Atheism as a Religion
Myth 3 Atheists Believe in God but are in Denial
Myth 4 Atheists are Certain There is No God
Myth 5 Atheists Hate or are Angry with God
Myth 6 Atheism is a Rebellion Against God's Authority
Myth 7 Atheists See No Good in Religion
Myth 8 No Atheist Believes in Anything Supernatural
Myth 9 It Makes No Sense for an Atheist to Practice Any Kind
of Religion
Myth 10 Atheists Worship False Gods (Satan, Money,
Materialism, etc.)
Chapter 2: Atheist Living
Myth 11 Atheism Robs Life of Meaning and Purpose
Myth 12 Atheism is Depressing
Myth 13 Atheists Have No Sense of Humor
Myth 14 Atheists Don't Appreciate Some of the Greatest Works
of Art
Myth 15 There is no Christmas in Atheist Families
Myth 16 Atheists Don't Appreciate the Beauty and Perfection of
God's Creation
Myth 17 Atheists Fear Death (More than Others)
Myth 18 Atheists Turn to God When Death is Near
Myth 19 There are no Atheists in Foxholes
Chapter 3: Atheism, Ethics, and the Soul
Myth 20 Without God There is No Morality
Myth 21 Atheists are Moral Relativists
Myth 22 Atheists Don't Give to Charity
Myth 23 Atheists Deny the Sanctity of Human Life
Myth 24 If There is No God We are Soulless Creatures
Chapter 4: Name Calling
Myth 25 Atheists are all Communists, Left-Wing, Liberal…
Myth 26 Atheists Can't be Trusted
Myth 27 Many Atrocities Have Been Committed in the Name of
Atheism
Myth 28 Adolf Hitler was an Atheist
Myth 29 Atheists Give a Free Pass to Non-Christian Religions
Chapter 5: Horrible, Strident Atheists
Myth 30 Atheists are Arrogant
Myth 31 Atheists are Intolerant
Myth 32 Atheists Want to Ban Teaching Religion to Children
Myth 33 Atheists Want to Strip People of their Beliefs
Myth 34 Atheists Want to Ban Religion from the Public Square
Myth 35 Atheists Don't Understand Moderate Religion
Myth 36 We Should Fear a “Fundamentalist” or “Militant”
Atheism
Myth 37 Atheists are to Blame for Religious Fundamentalism
Chapter 6: Faith and Reason
Myth 38 Atheists Don't Understand the Nature of Faith
Myth 39 Atheism Depends on Faith, Just the Same as Religion
Myth 40 Atheism is Self-refuting, as Rational Argument
Presumes the Existence of God
Chapter 7: Religion and Science
Myth 41 There is No Conflict Between Religion and Science
Myth 42 Atheists Confuse Two Forms of Naturalism
Myth 43 Atheism Implies Scientism
Myth 44 Evolutionary Theory is a Form of Atheistic Religion
Myth 45 Albert Einstein Professed a Belief in God
Myth 46 Atheists Can't Explain Miracles
Myth 47 Atheists Can't Explain the Resurrection
Chapter 8: No Future for Atheism?
Myth 48 Atheism is a Bad Bet (Pascal's Wager)
Myth 49 Atheism is Only for an Educated Elite
Myth 50 Atheism is Doomed in a Postsecular Age
Chapter 9: The Rise of Modern Atheism
A Very Short History of Atheism
Beginning Atheism
How Did We Become Secular?
Classic Theistic Arguments
Religion and Science—Conflicting or Compatible?
Conclusion—the Reasonableness of Atheism
International Atheist and Related Organizations
References
Index

This edition first published 2013
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Blackford, Russell, 1954—
50 great myths about atheism / Russell Blackford, Udo Sch klenk.— 1 [edition].
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-67404-8 (cloth : alk. paper)— ISBN 978-0-470-67405-5 (pbk. :
alk. paper) 1. Atheism— Miscellanea. I. Title. II. Title: Fifty great myths about
atheism.
BL2747.3.B575 2013
211′.8— dc22
2013006626
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Acknowledgments
We wish to acknowledge assistance from Ophelia Benson, Jenny Blackford,
Robert Brookey, Jerry Coyne, Darragh Hare, Tauriq Moosa, Antonio Marturano,
Nikoo Najand, Graham Oppy, Jacques Rousseau, Grania Spingies, Naomi
Stekelenburg, and Peter Sy. All offered us their favorite myths about atheism,
and some went beyond this with other valued assistance or advice. In particular,
Professors Coyne and Oppy gave valued comments on an earlier draft of the
chapter entitled “The Rise of Modern Atheism.”
The following Queen's University students provided us with valuable research
assistance at different times during this project: Monica Joshi, Geoff Mason,
Brendan McCreary, Nikoo Najand, Matthew Pike, and Eamon Quinn.
We also thank the originator of the Jesus and Mo cartoons featured in this
volume for his generous permission to use his wonderful art work.
We owe a particular debt of gratitude to our copy-editor Jenny Roberts, whose
rigor, skill, and eye for detail saved us from numerous infelicities and errors (we
take full responsibility for those that remain).
Last but by no means least, Jeff Dean, our then editor at Wiley-Blackwell,
approached us with the idea for this book. In a way it owes its very existence to
him.