A better way to view atheists.

[Brian37]

Another fallacious myth about atheists theists think is that we speak in terms of absolutes, which is patently false. To understand why this is false, all the believer has to do is think about all the claims of others outside their own claim, and the rightful rejection of those claims. We don't have to think much about rejecting the claim that the sun is a god. The atheist simply discards prior data when it is known to be false.

How much time does the believe take when thinking about Thor making lightening? How much time does the believer think about Apollo being a real god? Discarding bad claims does not make us arrogant, anymore than saying the earth is not flat makes one arrogant.

The reality is that atheists are open minded, when proven data comes in we adapt. What we don't do is cling to something merely because we like it. It is merely being intellectually honest, like being a reff in the NFL watching a replay "This is what happened, and this is the call".

Not liking our message does not make us evil, anymore than finding out Santa is not real will cause doomsday. It just means your knowledge and intellect has matured.

[josephpalazzo]

Santa's not real... :-?

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Another fallacy is that atheists are all open minded people. Some are, some aren't. The same holds true of theists. Belief in a god doesn't by default make anyone closed minded nor does it make them open minded.

[Brian37]

Santa's not real... :-?

You didn't get the memo?

[Mermaid]

Santa's not real... :-?

THAT'S A GODDAMNED LIE!  YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!

[Plu]

The best way to view atheists is by grouping them by all the things they have in common, listed below:

- do not believe in gods

[Eugeny Anatolievich]

Some people don't believe in gods, but they believe in astrology, chiromancy or any similar things. Are they atheists?

[Plu]

Do they confirm to all the items on my list? Then yes, they are atheists. They merely serve as additional examples of why the list I gave is entirely complete.

[Jason78]

Some people don't believe in gods.... Are they atheists?

You seem to have answered your own question there

[Brian37]

Some people don't believe in gods, but they believe in astrology, chiromancy or any similar things. Are they atheists?

Since "atheist" by definition refers to god belief, unfortunately yes, atheists can believe this crap too. I have gotten into it with si fi wooers who claim Star Trek predicted the cell phone and believe that the transporter will be a future possibility.

[Plu]

They're only "unfortunately" a part of the group if you are intent on either changing the meaning of the word or trying to build atheists into an exclusive group of your own design.

Which are basically both bad things.

[Sal1981]

I think it has to do with the dismissal of their own cherished belief is seen as an attack on them personally. DarkMatter2525 did a YT vid on that (below).

[youtube:awkc01f2]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j8ZMMuu7MU[/youtube:awkc01f2]

[entropy]

.

[Smartmarzipan]

Santa's not real... :-?

[SGOS]

How much time does the believe take when thinking about Thor making lightening? How much time does the believer think about Apollo being a real god? Discarding bad claims does not make us arrogant, anymore than saying the earth is not flat makes one arrogant.

While Christians will dismiss Thor and Apollo in the blink of an eye, we might still strike some of them as arrogant, because we dismiss something they spend a great deal of time dwelling on.  I say "dwelling" rather than "thinking" because thinking to me implies some sort of rational process.  Dwelling can include things like pointless worry or spinning your wheels on circular reasoning, continually coming up with the same answer you've already decided on.  Even using faulty logic, after one keeps coming up with the same answer, it still reinforces one's belief.  Then atheists come along and ignore all that time and energy they have spent.