Apparently, in USA being an atheist is now the greatest impediment to a career in politics, with only 10% of the US population identifying themselves as atheist. The LA Times decided to clear the score by explaining some of the common myths surrounding atheists (presumably, Richard Dawkin’s “The God Delusion” and other books targetting religion is encouraging them). My favourite is Atheism provides no basis for morality. Last time I checked, atheists do not have texts inciting them to intolerance, violence and cruelty as an excuse to do bad things, nor the fear of not getting into Heaven (or whatever reward is offered) to do good deeds.
Read about some of the common misconceptions about atheism from the LA Times here.
a very one-sided and intellectually dishonest article. Mr. Harris resorts to cheap shots at the opposition instead of trying to vindicate atheism as a lifestyle choice. Frankly, there is no such thing as an “atheist” if your God is not divine, then it’s of the world… money, power, etc. Let’s seek to find common ground; Harris’ work is divisive at best.
Well, the article is designed to be one-sided to dispell some of the more commonly held myths around aetheism. Atheism is the belief there are no Gods (or God), so whether atheists believe in money, fame or power isn’t really relevant (plenty of people who believe in God[s] also believe in money, fame or power).
If you have a good counter article that you consider non-divisive (either atheist or non-atheist) I’ll post it up for you, always keen for some alternative views. Don’t forget there’s theists, deists and pantheists along with the well known religions.