Atheists Don’t Exist

One of the more delusional positions I’ve encountered taken by theists is that atheists don’t actually exist. There are two approaches to this position. The first is based upon some sort of “logical” argument (I place “logical” in quotes because, as usual, the theist is being anything but) and a second based upon biblical authority which I’m going to ignore for the moment.

I found a typical essay espousing this position by a gentleman using the name of Dante Tremayne. Below are excerpts, with commentary.

“I do not believe in the existence of atheists. “

You’re off to a really bad start. What you believe, or do not believe, is irrelevant. Reality has a way of persisting in spite of our “beliefs.”

“By ‘atheist’ I am referring to the ideal person who does not believe in the existence of God, not the person who labels themselves as an atheist.”

What the hell is the difference? Usually one arrives at a conclusion first and then accepts the label. Ah, but I suppose we must await further elucidation which is, I presume, yet to come.

“All people who label themselves as ‘atheist’ are not, by definition, atheists, because they all believe in the existence of God.”

I see. So should I presume that any self-label implies the opposite of the label? So are theists then non-theists, stamp collectors then non-stamp collectors and chess aficionados then non-chess aficionados.? Ah, but again, perhaps we just need to be patient and an explanation of this quixotic statement may yet be forthcoming.

“I know they believe in the existence of God by their irrational behavior. I am not referring to the inconsistency of their lives with their claims. For instance, the nonbeliever (I believe I will refer to our “atheist” friends by that term for the duration of this article) necessarily holds the belief that we are the result of time plus matter plus chance, merely evolving accidents, the product of random collisions of matter.”

Well, I have to admit that this is a rather unique description of Cosmology, Abiogenesis and what I suppose is Evolution. Let’s see, where does one start with this one. While chance plays a part, there is nothing random about Organic Chemistry or Natural Selection. Both follow well defined sets of rules and can be relatively easily modeled with mathematics. Is it possible some super intelligent deity designed and enforces those rules? Sure it’s possible, it just doesn’t seem all that likely.

“Yet they wish to believe that these accidental collisions produce truth, fact, and a coherent understanding of the universe.”

No, but the Big Bang, the formation of the stars and planets and the emergence of life and its evolution on planet Earth has left hints and evidence which can be studied and analyzed by a logical mind following the rules of scientific investigation. After several hundred years of doing this we have a vague sort of understanding of the way things might work. If you think it is totally coherent you’ve missed out on the lack of a unified theory and haven’t delved much into Quantum Mechanics. What we have is a series of as yet unconnected areas of fairly well substantiated conclusions separated by complex questions and gaps in our knowledge. It’s unclear to me why the fact that we are steadily expanding our knowledge and understanding is always a source of abject fear for the theist. Perhaps because the more we learn, the less need we have of the god hypothesis.

“The irrational behavior I am referring to is the nonbeliever’s inability to admit when they have been defeated.”

What’s this? Am I to understand that someone has actually come up with adequate evidence for the existence of god? Stop the presses! Warn the television and radio outlets! Huh, what’s that? No, nothing new has in fact been put forward beyond the same old teleological, ontological and cosmological arguments that have failed to impress skeptics for hundreds of years? Then allow me to suggest that so-called “defeat” exists only in your own mind. It's just another delusion.

“Instead, he retreats to his study to continue his search for one — just one — argument or proof that God does not exist. And he will repeat this over and over.”

Err, no, you have it backwards. The atheist has no burden of proof as he makes no positive claim. Disbelief is the null hypothesis; the default position. If you claim that a god exists, that is a positive statement and the burden of proof is upon you. If you don’t understand what I’m saying, then you don’t understand what an atheist is. Perhaps that’s why you, mistakenly, don’t believe they exist.

“If God were just some unicorn theory that had no real affect on a person’s life, as some nonbelievers claim, then why don’t they treat it as such? Why don’t they just shrug and go on?”

God, as he doesn't exist, may have no effect upon a person’s life but, unfortunately, his followers do. Personally I would love to simply “shrug and go on.” The problem is Muslims hijack aircraft and fly them into buildings and their Christian counterparts push their special brand of delusion into the public square every chance they get. As Chris Hitchens says, religion poisons everything. Left to their own devices Christians would have Christian prayers in the public schools, the Ten Commandments posted in public buildings and Creationism taught in lieu of the science of Evolution. I don’t really care if they want to wallow in their delusions and ignorance in the privacy of their own home or church but, when they infringe upon me and mine with their lunacy then I cannot “just shrug and go on;” I have to waste some of my precious existence defending my right to be free from their delusion.

“Here is how this works, and how I know I’m right. When the believer is discussing the existence of God with a nonbeliever, ask them why they don’t like God. Every one of them will present a list.”

Whoa, hold up a second there Tonto. That list relates to the believer’s CONCEPT of god and not to god as a real entity. Concepts can exist in and of themselves. I can acknowledge the “concept” of a unicorn and the “concept” of a leprechaun without accepting that these things exist. Similarly I can recognize the existence of the “concept” of a god, such as the Christian god, without having to accept his (her? Its?) existence. The point is that it is unclear to us why you would even desire such a god to exist. Luckily, he doesn’t.

“There are no atheists. If you were to find one real atheist, as G.K. Chesterton says, you will have found a madman.”

Nope. Sorry, but you’re wrong again. I’m a true atheist and I’m about as sane as anyone can be in this insane world. Actually, I wish I was insane, then perhaps the world might actually be sane and I could sleep much better at night.

To be honest the position is so ludicrous that the only way you can respond is to laugh at it. I suspect that it is rooted in the deep fear of the theist that his god may in fact not exist.

Those that espouse the biblical argument are usually very conservative fundamentalist Christians that claim the bible is inerrant and for them the stakes are even higher. The biblical argument is based upon Romans 1:20 where Paul makes the argument that god’s “eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen.”

So clearly that everyone, by definition, knows he exists. Now Paul wasn’t talking about atheists, but about pagans for he goes on to say they “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.”

But I suppose one could argue that an atheist is a special kind of pagan.

Now I say the stakes are higher because accepting that Paul is WRONG means the bible isn’t inerrant and the entire foundation of their religion collapses.

In the final analysis however both arguments rest upon the theist not understanding what an atheist believes and the long road most of us have taken to get where we are. I’ve encountered many theists that have never really thought about their beliefs. They just sort of accepted what they were taught and never saw any particular need to question things.

I’ve met very few atheists that haven’t spent a considerable amount of time thinking things through and the more religious their upbringing, the more thinking they’ve done. This is not an area that theists untrained in the realm of Apologetics should venture into. I saw many well meaning people walk into buzz saws on the now defunct General Apologetics Forum. A forum disbanded by Christian Forums because it became a deconversion pit.

So much for Christianity’s obvious truths.