Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
What is Atheism? 2
Why Bother About Myths? 4
Drawing the Lines 5
Do These Myths Actually Exist? 6
How Did We Decide What Myths are Worth Investigating? 6
Are We Picking Easy Targets? 7
Have We Defeated Theism? 7
1 What is Atheism? 9
Myth 1 Atheism is Just Another Type of Religion 9
Myth 2 But the Courts Recognize Atheism as a Religion 12
Myth 3 Atheists Believe in God but are in Denial 14
Myth 4 Atheists are Certain There is No God 18
Myth 5 Atheists Hate or are Angry with God 21
Myth 6 Atheism is a Rebellion Against God’s Authority 24
Myth 7 Atheists See No Good in Religion 27
Myth 8 No Atheist Believes in Anything Supernatural 28
Myth 9 It Makes No Sense for an Atheist to Practice Any Kind of Religion 29
Myth 10 Atheists Worship False Gods (Satan, Money, Materialism, etc.) 31
2 Atheist Living 34
Myth 11 Atheism Robs Life of Meaning and Purpose 34
Myth 12 Atheism is Depressing 40
Myth 13 Atheists Have No Sense of Humor 42
Myth 14 Atheists Don’t Appreciate Some of the Greatest Works of Art 45
Myth 15 There is no Christmas in Atheist Families 47
Myth 16 Atheists Don’t Appreciate the Beauty and Perfection of God’s Creation 49
Myth 17 Atheists Fear Death (More than Others) 51
Myth 18 Atheists Turn to God When Death is Near 54
Myth 19 There are no Atheists in Foxholes 56
3 Atheism, Ethics, and the Soul 59
Myth 20 Without God There is No Morality 59
Myth 21 Atheists are Moral Relativists 66
Myth 22 Atheists Don’t Give to Charity 70
Myth 23 Atheists Deny the Sanctity of Human Life 74
Myth 24 If There is No God We are Soulless Creatures 76
4 Name Calling 79
Myth 25 Atheists are all Communists, Left-Wing, Liberal. . . 79
Myth 26 Atheists Can’t be Trusted 83
Myth 27 Many Atrocities Have Been Committed in the Name of Atheism 85
Myth 28 Adolf Hitler was an Atheist 90
Myth 29 Atheists Give a Free Pass to Non-Christian Religions 95
5 Horrible, Strident Atheists 99
Myth 30 Atheists are Arrogant 99
Myth 31 Atheists are Intolerant 103
Myth 32 Atheists Want to Ban Teaching Religion to Children 107
Myth 33 Atheists Want to Strip People of their Beliefs 110
Myth 34 Atheists Want to Ban Religion from the Public Square 111
Myth 35 Atheists Don’t Understand Moderate Religion 114
Myth 36 We Should Fear a ‘‘Fundamentalist’’ or ‘‘Militant’’ Atheism 119
Myth 37 Atheists are to Blame for Religious Fundamentalism 125
6 Faith and Reason 131
Myth 38 Atheists Don’t Understand the Nature of Faith 131
Myth 39 Atheism Depends on Faith, Just the Same as Religion 138
Myth 40 Atheism is Self-refuting, as Rational Argument Presumes the Existence of God 142
7 Religion and Science 146
Myth 41 There is No Conflict Between Religion and Science 146
Myth 42 Atheists Confuse Two Forms of Naturalism 149
Myth 43 Atheism Implies Scientism 153
Myth 44 Evolutionary Theory is a Form of Atheistic Religion 157
Myth 45 Albert Einstein Professed a Belief in God 160
Myth 46 Atheists Can’t Explain Miracles 164
Myth 47 Atheists Can’t Explain the Resurrection 171
8 No Future for Atheism? 176
Myth 48 Atheism is a Bad Bet (Pascal’s Wager) 176
Myth 49 Atheism is Only for an Educated Elite 180
Myth 50 Atheism is Doomed in a Postsecular Age 182
9 The Rise of Modern Atheism 187
A Very Short History of Atheism 187
Beginning Atheism 189
How Did We Become Secular? 192
Classic Theistic Arguments 197
Religion and Science – Conflicting or Compatible? 209
Conclusion – the Reasonableness of Atheism 234
International Atheist and Related Organizations 236
References 242
Index 261
