There are good and bad people, atheist and religious.  Atheists, in general, don’t go around bashing religious people for simply being religious.  We criticize religion and the beliefs themselves, but since when are those beyond criticism?  We disagree with and criticize their beliefs, but we don’t bash the people.  Now, this is not to say we don’t criticize religious people, but it is for their actions.  When actions that deserve criticism are religiously based or religiously justified, then are we not to bring that up?  A bigot is a bigot, people should expect to be criticized for damaging, dangerous, and disgusting public actions justified religiously.  Those are individual people, not all the religious.  Comfort doesn’t make the same distinction when talking about atheists.  He can’t get by his bigotry.

Ray Comfort, the Angry Bigot

Comfort can’t help himself, though.  He can’t even get through the title without insulting atheists, or skeptics, terms he clearly doesn’t understand as he uses them interchangeably.  We are angry.  We don’t have legitimate concerns or criticisms and legitimate reasons not to believe.  No, we’re angry!  The way Comfort writes, you’d think you can pick an atheist off the street by his menacing expression.  Anyone not burdened by bigoted ideology can see that is ridiculous.  Just like many other minority groups that experience prejudice, we’re really just like anyone else.   I know I’m a pretty nice guy.  I defy you to find a single one of my many religious friends who would call me “angry.”

In a way he is right though, we are angry about something.  We are angry about bigots being able to get away with such disgusting screeds against us without any societal repercussions, and instead being congratulated in American society.  Yet, if we simply say the most passive expression of “I am atheist,” without any sort of aggression, we are immediately subject to the worst of societal repercussions.  Do we not have the right to be angry when we are belittled and attacked simply for existing?

Comfort, the Scientist

There’s also the whole thing where he tries to use science to disprove atheism, although he has no scientific credentials and even religious scientists would find his arguments laughable.  Remember, this is the guy who claimed bananas are proof of God’s creation because he made it fit perfectly in our hands.

Let’s ignore that he has no understanding of how to properly interpret scientific evidence, and even makes up evidence off the top of his head and claims it to be scientific.  All of this is dwarfed by the fact that he has no concept of how evidence and the burden of proof works.  He attempts to disprove atheism, but atheism posits no claim that can be disproved.  He loses before he even starts.  Atheism is the default position.  If one was born in a world where everyone had forgotten religion, no one would have to say “there is no god.”  The idea of a god would not come up unless people brought it to you, as parents do during childhood.

Comfort is the one making a claim, that there is a god who created everything.  He is the one who must prove his point through evidence.  He can’t do that, so instead he tries to disprove something that asserts no claim that can be disproved.  His logic fails from the very first premise.  Since that is impossible, he instead reverts to atheist-bashing.  He has nothing of substance to say, so he bashes us.  Yet we are the immoral, dangerous ones?  Give me a break.

I, for one, reserve my right to be an angry atheist/skeptic, as long as he and other religious bigots continue to attack and insult us.