How dare cartoonists make fun of atheists? We are not to be mocked!
You know what this demands, right? Rioting in the streets! That’s right — all you True Atheists will get off your butts right now and go set an embassy or a cartoonist, whichever is handiest, on fire.
Or not.
If you think about it, that cartoon graphically expresses the point that atheism is a religion the way not collecting stamps is a hobby. ;-)
Maybe the Danish cartoon actually depicted the invisible pink unicorn with a bomb on top of her head. You can’t prove that it didn’t.
I recently expanded my hobbies from not collecting stamps to also not collecting coins. I think not building model railroads is next, since I could use a challenge.
My hobby is much more challenging than yours. I am constantly working out in my pastime of not running marathons.
I’m not going to reply to this post…D’oh!
The presenter of that BBC radio program PZ linked to a few weeks ago suggested that atheists should go knocking door to door asking ‘have you heard the bad news?’
That is a very prudent choice, PZ. For as it says in Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked man fleeth when no man pursueth.” It is obvious therefore that running when nobody is chasing you is bad. It is not an abomination like mixed fabrics or shellfish, but you should still be careful.
So we atheists get upset if no god is mocked? That actually makes perfect sense.
hehehe…
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=798
In reply to cartoon #2, it was really a picture of Odysseus with a bomb atop his head.
But I do stuff like that pretty much every day. I’m an atheist – no morals, you know.
Hmm, is that why there is what looks to me like a stick of dynamite with a lit fuse in the first cartoon? It’s to the left of the little shrub by the door.
I just like feathery dinosaurs.
http://www.dresdencodak.com/gallery/a_dinocomic_01.jpg
No atheist is going to riot over this.
It is not the case that atheists “believe in nothing”. Most of us are educated in science and have opinions on ethics. Plenty of things besides fairy tales are worth distributing on pamphlets.
Recommended Reading: Bertrand Russell, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, John Stuart Mill, Richard Dawkins.
The usual little ufo is there as well. I don’t see the rabbit, though. These are traditional ‘extras’ in Bizarro.
The stick of dynamite is in every Bizarro strip. As is the alien. And there’s usually pie.
The stick of dynamite is NOT in every strip, unless I missed it – he’s very clever at disguising his ‘extras’.
Others include a piece of pie on the floor, an eyeball, a shoe, a ‘k2’ Any I’ve forgotten?
Hang on, I like the blank pamphlet cartoon.
Atheism = think for yourselves!
I need a clean piece of paper right now. Where is that door to door atheist?
The second cartoon is gold. I gotta use that one. :)
The way I heard it was something like “Atheists riot today after a piece of blank paper was found on a cartoon editor’s desk.”
Atheism is never having to care about anyone but yourself.
Ccuser: Atheism is never having to care about anyone but yourself.
Me: And Theism is having is never having to care about anyone but your god!
Both not right … but you started it!!!!
cartoonists like to make the fun out of us.
jenny
http://www.spaml.com
It seems that typical atheists are less likely to get grumpy at being made fun of than theists. Or at least, that’s what I see.
God is powered by irony.
http://dresdencodak.com/cartoons/dc_019.htm
hey PZ, this article is #2 on http://reddit.com/
Brilliant!
Like several atheists here, I don’t see how either of these cartoons mock atheists.
Of course, I couldn’t understand how the chocolate Jesus mocked Catholics, so what do I know?
I wonder if the person who wrote that is capable of understanding how wrong he is.
Probably not, but we can hope. I wouldn’t wish a lifetime of that that kind of ignorance on anyone.
Here is another anti-atheist cartoon.
http://www.futureofthebook.org/mitchellstephens/archives/2006/02/cartoons_of_the_atheist.html
You might also like these cartoons about Atheist Eve.
http://www.atheist-community.org/atheisteve/
Scientific secular atheists do believe in something – that there is no God. They do so despite their theories falling pathetically short of the realities they try to understand.
Atheists believe in ignorance.
Layguy, as Mark Twain said, “Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.”
Unlike god groupies, atheists at least try to understand reality.
Aaaaaand… Another irony meter bites the dust! XD
Scientific secular atheists do believe in something – that there is no God. They do so despite their theories falling pathetically short of the realities they try to understand.
We observe that while we don’t have a complete scientific understanding of the universe we live in, the available evidence strongly suggests that God–in any form, but especially as traditionally imagined–is not necessary to explain it. No “belief” is necessary.
Atheists have no need to “believe in” ignorance–its existence can be empirically observed, as you’ve so kindly demonstrated.
Ugh; that top blockquote was too properly formatted. Let’s try again:
This statement, while false and idiotic, could be rendered true with little effort. “A consequence of Atheism is not being required to concern yourself with the affairs of others except when your conscience demands it.” Theists without consciences might have some difficulty understanding the difference. Sucks to be them.
We observe that while we don’t have a complete scientific understanding of the universe we live in, the available evidence strongly suggests that God–in any form, but especially as traditionally imagined–is not necessary to explain it. No “belief” is necessary.
Atheists have no need to “believe in” ignorance–its existence can be empirically observed, as you’ve so kindly demonstrated.
Atheists believe in ignorance.
Says the man who believes that a helleno-judean mountain god who abhors people for not eating kosher food (Zechariah 9:7), enjoys slaughtering immensely (Isaiah 34:5) and believes that snails are melting away when they produce mucus (Psalms 58:9) was intelligent, crafty or even sane enough to create the entire universe. If the creator behind the universe manifests himself in the bible, he’s been off his medication for the last 4000 years.
But no, scientific secular atheists are the ignorant ones… it all seems so clear to me now.
(Oh, and don’t give me the “These verses are taken out of their context” jibe. I grew up as the son of a pastor, and have read the damn thing 5 or 6 times, plus a number of volumes on exegetics & contextual theology. Needless to say, I think I know what the verses before and after says.)
The entire damn thing, that is. Having looked ay John 3:16 five or six times wouldn’t prove much of a basis for a statement. =)
Aaaaaand… Another irony meter bites the dust! XD
I recommend hooking several up in parallel, rather than series. Distributes the load better.
Personally, I wasn’t aware that there was any “theory” of atheism. Perhaps LayGuy could enlighten me, with properly sourced cites.
(“Hello, Acme … yes, I’ll need a gross of irony metres, shipped rush… yes, again…thank you”)
Atheists are only different from those who believe by requiring absolute “proof” that a god exists before believing in it. In its absence, there is no choice but to be a non-believer. Reality-based versus faith-based – that is the difference.
How ironic, I had some door knockers come by yesterday. They seemed like nice, if not missinformed kids. So I took some time to inform them. With my wife trying to keep a straight face, I refuted any points from the bible they could come up with. After 45 minutes they asked me to write down some of the things I was trying to teach them, so I went in the office and printed off about 25 pages of material. (thanks http://www.athiests.org) They actualy took it with them, I hope they read it.
Its probably the first time they went to a house and took more pamphlets than they tried to give.
Of course, atheism IS a religion expressed in the negative. Even Einstein, who was famously agnostic, observed this. Atheists are necessarily negative because they are essentially undergoing a process of detoxification: cleansing themselves of doctrinal pathologies they’ve been indoctrinated with from their early childhood.
Even Richard Dawkins readily acknowledges that their can be no positive affirmation of atheism: it’s tautological.
Man is a creature trapped in a corporeal body in time and space. We make decisions and there are results. It is a process taking place over time and space. There are some observable truths: birth, growth, decay and death. To make the most of our lives it seems reasonable to be as ethical as possible in order to make this a better world for ourselves and others.
In this sense, atheists, nontheists, agnostics, Deists and Unitarians are quite faithful – if one takes faith to be a form of expectation that is inseperable from one’s actions (and not as some supernatural longing). Curiously, this is exactly the philosophy of the parables and the ancient Hebrews, prior to its subversion by Paul, the Herodian Roman agent provocateur and inventor of Christianity.
I’ve never met an atheist who couldn’t agree with the Golden Rule. Let’s face it, there are plenty of Christians who neither agree or practice that simple philosophy. To be fair, what religion practices the Golden Rule?
Hitchens is quite correct: religion poisons everything.
Those theists slamming atheism often fail to recognize that the ‘flavors’ atheism comes in are ‘weak’ and ‘strong.’ Weak atheism can be defined as without a belief in any god(s) and strong is to declare that there is/are no god(s). Theists do not have much problem with their rejecting other gods, but tend to get their knickers in a twist when someone rejects theirs.
“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” – Stephen Roberts
~
LOL – you atheists make me laugh as you scramble your flawed “logic” to poke holes into the belief in God.
When will you sit up and take notice that atheism is a belief just as much as believing in God?
Both views do not satisfy human reasoning so it takes faith to conclude anything in this area.
But go ahead and slander me..I honestly could not give a flying monkey. :)
LayGuy, do you have an actual argument? I assume flinging insults is all your “intellect” can handle.
Atheism isn’t a belief. It’s a lack of belief in theism. Get a dictionary. We “believe” in other things – life, liberty, family, friends, whatever. But thanks for playing and trying to look like you actually know something.
Oh Sarah – and your intellect is so much bigger because you discard theism. Read over my comments and point out to me where I said that atheists don’t believe in other things.
Seriously, allow your belief in evolution to help you grow a brain before you sit down and respond with a comment.
Comment 34…
…”Layguy, as Mark Twain said, “Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.”
Unlike god groupies, atheists at least try to understand reality….”
Yeah I agree with you – you guys try to understand reality and so do we. You guys approach it from a different perspective – the assumption there is no God. Whereas I approach it from the assumption that there is a God.
For a long time, evolution made a lot of sense. That is until the theory started falling apart with the introduction of technology that allowed us to peek into the complex structure of the cell.
You guys try to explain away all this from chance. This is your attempt at explaining reality. My interpretation of reality ditches chance as a mathematical absurdity as the data is stacked up against it so high.
But atheists don’t get this. They use science to justify their rebellion against theism – even though the science is flawed beyond reconciliation.
The assumption is not that there is no god; the assumption is that if there is one, we’ll see some solid evidence that one exists. There is no good evidence for a god, therefore we don’t need to create one.
Oh, and if you try to troll other science blogs in the future, don’t use the “explain away all from chance” argument. That’s wrong, and immediately pegs you as an idiot who doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. So you say the science is flawed beyond reconciliation? Then why does it continue to work? Why do the predictions always bear out? Why hasn’t anyone found a Precambrian rabbit fossil yet?
I’m an atheist and I thought it was pretty damned funny. =)
Uh, no, LayGuy.
You approach it from the assumption that there are two possible explanations for the universe — god or no god. I approach it from the assumption that there are infinite possible explanations, none of which are evident.
Making a 1:1 bet is not too unreasonable. Making a 1:infinity bet is not worth my time.
Your misstep is the assumption that believing that a god exists is the same thing as knowing anything about that god.
As a side wager, I’ll pretend that I believe in a god that is the exact opposite of the god you believe in. Everything you say your god did, does or says, I believe in a god who did, does or proclaims the opposite.
And I have the same chance of being right as you.
Oh, but wait. Maybe I believe in a god who says everything your god says except — he lies about everything.
Same odds on that god.
And so on.
LayGuy, I am extremely curious as to why you think knowing more about the cell damages the theory of evolution. Care to elaborate? Details, please.
Ccuser: Atheism is never having to care about anyone but yourself.
Me: And Theism is having is never having to care about anyone but your god!
Both not right … but you started it!!!!
Taking this to its logical conclusion…
Accepting Christ as your saviour means that you can rape, murder and pillage, safe in the knowledge that you will have a place in heaven. Just accept Christ as your savior and Christ will take the rap on your behalf. Christianity is immorality incarnate. If there is some sort of god with a heaven and hell, I suspect that Christians will go to hell. On the other hand if their version of god exists, then morality would force me to suffer in eternity of damnation rather than suck up to Him for an eternity. Suffering for an eternity would not negate the fact that I would be on higher moral ground than those “eyes lifted in admiration, fawning Christian cowards.”
LayGuy, have you ever noticed the similarity between the bacterial flagellum and the type III secretion system?
If so, look up the term “exaptation”, and then come back here.
I study molecular biology, and nothing in it “makes sense except in the light of evolution”.
LayGuy, have you ever noticed the similarity between the bacterial flagellum and the type III secretion system?
If so, look up the term “exaptation”, and then come back here.
I study molecular biology, and nothing in it “makes sense except in the light of evolution”.
I should mention my other favorite example: tubulin (eukaryotes) and FtsZ (bacteria and archaea).
I should mention my other favorite example: tubulin (eukaryotes) and FtsZ (bacteria and archaea).
To those who claim that atheism “BELIEVES IN…”
There are two completely different meanings to the word faith. The first meaning, which I present as “faith”, is (to quote the first reference in Websters) “confidence or trust in a person or thing”. It does not imply certainty. The second meaning, which I present as “Faith”, is (to quote the first reference in Websters) “belief which is not based on proof”; in other words a certainty based on belief, generally derived from Fairy based religion.
You have Faith that your definition of atheism is the only possible definition. Your mind appears to be quite limited by your preconceptions: it lacks nuance and exhibits your “blinders”. You INSIST you KNOW what my beliefs are. You appear unable to understand the difference between the statements, “I do not believe in the existence of Fairies” and “I believe in the non-existence of Fairies”.
You insist, “You claim to be an atheist.
Therefore, you believe in the non-existence of God.”
A parallel statement might be, “You claim to be a Theist. Therefore you believe in the existence of Allah”.
As my faith is statistical, so my beliefs are also statistical; not, as you demand, certain. All of my beliefs are educated guesses.
My beliefs about the existence of Fairies are based on the probability of affirmative statements, such as “Yahweh exists”. Based on both the internal contradictions within the proclamations of this alleged being and the external contradictions between these same proclamations and our shared external world, I judge the likelihood of the existence of Yahweh as approaching zero. Using the same process with all the other alleged Fairies of human experience, I find that the likelihood of any Fairy existing also approaches zero.
“I do not believe in the existence of Fairies” because my experience & judgement of the probability of a Fairy existing approaches zero.
This is completely different from your insistence that I “believe in the non-existence” of Fairies. That statement implies a certainty which is not present in my beliefs. It is not based on an affirmative statement (I believe __) but on a negative statement (I believe in NON-__).
This is not a matter of semantics, it is a matter of both logic and intent. I am open to being incorrect. All that would be necessary is “credible evidence”.
I have faith that Fairies do not exist.
I do not have Faith in the non-existence of Fairies.
So LayGuy couldn’t “give a flying monkey” what us nonbelievers think, which is why he keeps coming back to this thread. Christian logic in action.
Guys like him are a hoot, though. He tells us that We Believe In No God, showing that the term “nonbeliever” throws him for a loop. And as for the fellow who informs us that “Atheism is never having to care about anyone but yourself”, well, he is of course correct, and the fact that so many of us care about everyone else anyway remains beyond his comprehension.
It is the ones for whom a prohibition by the Invisible Magician in the Sky is apparently the only thing preventing them from rapine and pillage who aren’t quite ready for civil society.
If there is no god then I choose to believe in my fellow human beings. If there is a god then he is absent and irresponsible, there for I would much rather believe in my fellow human beings.
Atheists are jacked up mofos who have no idea wat they is talking about. WHen the world ends, i’ll yell down to u ppl in hell, saying ” Told u so fool! ” enjoy the unbearable flame of hell suckas.
Wait a sec.. Atheists are very altruistic people. All their religious organizations are non-prophet. *** good evening friends…. ***
AJ..maybe you should learn to spell before you try to teach religion
I originally saw the cartoon with the Atheist door-to-door No-News-Sharers in the newspaper and taped it to my wall. Hilarious!
I think the biggest misperception about atheists is that we claim to have “proof of the nonexistence of god(s)” when in fact we don’t believe it because there is not a shred of evidence that it is true. The very worst reason to believe any claim is that it is undisprovable. No scientist can prove that there is not a mile-high purple teddybear orbiting a planet called Carebearworld one hundred trillion lightyears from Earth, even though it is nonsense I just made up. There is not one scintilla more evidence supporting the existence of an omniscient, omnipresent, omnibenevolent being called god than there is supporting the existence of the giant deep-space teddybear. Both are undisprovable; I’ll believe one or both of these claims when mountains of evidence result in the establishment of either as fact, and not before.
As to “holy books”, I have one thought. Objectively speaking, it makes no more sense to read a Stephen King or Ray Bradbury novel and believe that it is a factual account of actual events in the real world than it does to read the Bible and believe those things. It should be painfully obvious, but merely writing something down, whether last week or thousands of years ago, does not automatically make it true.
Obviously the person that made these cartoons were Christians think of Atheism as a religion.
I might do the first thing to some homes of mormons but on the paper it will say
“god is the word dog spelled backwards”
I might just get that as a bumper sticker. It sounds good WOOT!
To me, atheism is a belief that you are your own god. Simply an act of rebellion.