Sep
7
The next in the long line of very wrong Ray Comfort Quotes about atheists:
"The freedom to be an atheist is the God-given right of every American"
This is probably the closest Ray and I have ever come to agreeing. This statement is 99% right, it only contains 1 extra (compound) word: "God-given". The United States Constitution gives everyone the right to practice their own religion (or lack thereof). No where in the Constitution does it say that Americans have these rights because a god gave them to us. We have the freedom to believe or not believe whatever we choose. However, we do not always have the right to act upon these beliefs. As Matt Dillahunty so often says, "your freedoms end where mine begin". I have as much a right to be an atheist as a Christian has to be a Christian, however neither of us have the right to impose our beliefs (or lack thereof) on one another.
Sep
1
Today, we will take a another look over to Ray Comforts blog, to his second bullet point under "COMFORT, FOR BUDDING ATHEISTS". This one is much shorter than the previous one, but no less incorrect:
"An atheist is someone who pretends that there is no God."
This is absolutely no different than me saying "A theist is somebody who pretends there is a god". (In fact, his statement is not supported by as much evidence as my claim would be, but that is not for now). Again, atheists are not "pretending" anything. They are simply examining the claims, investigating the evidence, and deciding to accept or reject the claim based on a standard of evidence. No pretending, faking, lying, deceiving, cheating, or otherwise dishonestness is required. By asserting that he knows that we are "pretending", he is only making an unsubstantiated claim, demonstrating that he does not fully understand what atheism is. And how can he claim to argue against something he doesn't fully understand?
