# Attention: Atheists. You do not "Know the Truth". **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 22, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708 "2009-10-22T03:42:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/1 "2009-10-22T03:42:16Z")
Not a pitting of **Lobsang** , per se, but I am pitting the arrogance displayed in his OP found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536875). Anyone that claims to “Know the Truth” is an idiot at best, and possibly Westboro Baptist Church level crazy, too. Atheism is a belief…or lack of belief…like any other. It is either true or not true. It is certainly possible that one or more religions have some basis in reality. Nobody gets to “know” for sure until you die. If you wake up on the other side, hopefully there will be time for an “Aw, shit” before the fires of perdition claim you. As an Atheist, you are not better, smarter, sexier, or otherwise superior to a believer because of what you believe. You eat, sleep, shit, fuck, and breathe the same as a theist. Get over your smug superiority already. Nobody “knows” the ultimate answers. Life is a cosmic crap shoot, and you don’t get to roll the dice until you die, if ever. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/2 "2009-10-22T03:48:19Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Not a pitting of **Lobsang** , per se, but I am pitting the arrogance displayed in his OP found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536875). > > Anyone that claims to “Know the Truth” is an idiot at best, and possibly Westboro Baptist Church level crazy, too. Atheism is a belief…or lack of belief…like any other. It is either true or not true. It is certainly possible that one or more religions have some basis in reality. Nobody gets to “know” for sure until you die. If you wake up on the other side, hopefully there will be time for an “Aw, shit” before the fires of perdition claim you. > > As an Atheist, you are not better, smarter, sexier, or otherwise superior to a believer because of what you believe. You eat, sleep, shit, fuck, and breathe the same as a theist. Get over your smug superiority already. > > Nobody “knows” the ultimate answers. Life is a cosmic crap shoot, and you don’t get to roll the dice until you die, if ever. Anyone that claims to “Know the Truth” is an idiot at best, and possibly Westboro Baptist Church level crazy, too. Rejection of dowsing is a belief…or lack of belief…like any other. It is either true or not true. It is certainly possible that one or more forms of remote sensing have some basis in reality. Nobody gets to “know” for sure until you die. If you wake up on the other side, hopefully there will be time for an “Aw, shit” before some sort of enraged spirit demon splices your head with an enchanted Tarot deck. As someone who doesn’t believe in remote sensing you are not better, smarter, sexier, or otherwise superior to superstitious people because of what you believe. You eat, sleep, shit, fuck, and breathe the same as a middle-aged Wiccan with creepy clothing. Get over your smug superiority already. Nobody “knows” the ultimate answers. Life is a cosmic crap shoot, and you don’t get to roll the dice until you die, if ever. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/3 "2009-10-22T03:50:42Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Nobody gets to “know” for sure until you die. I’ll let you in on a great Cosmic Secret. I know _exactly_ what’s going to happen to me when I die: I’m going to decompose. You too. > [@](#): > > If you wake up on the other side, hopefully there will be time for an “Aw, shit” before the fires of perdition claim you. . . Get over your smug superiority already. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/4 "2009-10-22T03:52:38Z")
At least he is logical. That does give you confidence . ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/5 "2009-10-22T03:56:10Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > As an Atheist, you are not better, smarter, sexier, or otherwise superior to a believer because of what you believe. You eat, sleep, shit, fuck, and breathe the same as a theist. Get over your smug superiority already. You had me until the fuck part. 😛 Really, theists are experts on creating a shitload of limitations regarding that (and eating too) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/6 "2009-10-22T03:58:00Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Not a pitting of **Lobsang** , per se, but I am pitting the arrogance displayed in his OP found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536875). > > Anyone that claims to “Know the Truth” is an idiot at best, and possibly Westboro Baptist Church level crazy, too. Atheism is a belief…or lack of belief…like any other. It is either true or not true. It is certainly possible that one or more religions have some basis in reality. Nobody gets to “know” for sure until you die. If you wake up on the other side, hopefully there will be time for an “Aw, shit” before the fires of perdition claim you. > > As an Atheist, you are not better, smarter, sexier, or otherwise superior to a believer because of what you believe. You eat, sleep, shit, fuck, and breathe the same as a theist. Get over your smug superiority already. > > Nobody “knows” the ultimate answers. Life is a cosmic crap shoot, and you don’t get to roll the dice until you die, if ever. You got _all_ that from that one post? Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/7 "2009-10-22T04:01:27Z")
He’s more damning with faint praise by suggesting that belief in an omnibenevolent deity is somehow beneficial or desirably for, well, obvious reasons. So there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/8 "2009-10-22T04:03:37Z")
> [@black\_rabbit](#): > > I’ll let you in on a great Cosmic Secret. I know _exactly_ what’s going to happen to me when I die: I’m going to decompose. You too. That’s exactly what I expect to happen. I could be wrong. Might wake up dead and realize I shoulda loved me some Jesus. Or done bong hits for Thor. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/9 "2009-10-22T04:06:23Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Not a pitting of **Lobsang** , per se, but I am pitting the arrogance displayed in his OP Meh, there’s no amount of atheist arrogance that can compare to any random week in the history of the Catholic Church. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/10 "2009-10-22T04:06:51Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Not a pitting of **Lobsang** , per se, but I am pitting the arrogance displayed in his OP found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536875). > > Anyone that claims to “Know the Truth” is an idiot at best, and possibly Westboro Baptist Church level crazy, too. His OP was hardly arrogant. Would he have been “an idiot at best” if he treated the nonexistence of fairies as a given? By the standards we use for everything but religion and other garbage beliefs, atheism is as close to “obviously true” as you get. Saying “there is no God” is no more “arrogant” or unreasonable than saying “there is no Oberon” or “there is no Flying Spaghetti Monster” or “Godzilla is fictional”. Claiming that belief in God deserves to be taken seriously; THAT is arrogant. > [@Oakminster](#): > > It is certainly possible that one or more religions have some basis in reality. About as likely as _The Lord of the Rings_ turning out to be a documentary. > [@Oakminster](#): > > As an Atheist, you are not better, smarter, sexier, or otherwise superior to a believer because of what you believe. Well, yes, we are superior in one small way; being right. And as a rule atheists are more intelligent, better educated and more rational. Because being a theist is _ **stupid.** _ ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/11 "2009-10-22T04:08:26Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > That’s exactly what I expect to happen. I could be wrong. Might wake up dead and realize I shoulda loved me some Jesus. Or done bong hits for Thor. Or you could waste what’s left of your life worrying about all the things that could happen to you after you die-bearing in mind that of all the millions of possibilities that exist, we only has solid evidence for the one that involves decomposition. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/12 "2009-10-22T04:08:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You got _all_ that from that one post? > Wow. No. It’s more of a built up over time thing. \*\* Lobsang\*\*'s thread just tipped the scale in favor of commentary. That’s why I’m not pitting him, I’m pitting an attitude I see among Atheists–one of which I happen to be. I’m more of a “Don’t bother me with that religion crap” kinda Atheist, though. Not so much into the “Theists are fools deserving of mockery and scorn” kinda Atheism. Thus, posting ensued. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/13 "2009-10-22T04:13:16Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > No. It’s more of a built up over time thing. \*\* Lobsang\*\*'s thread just tipped the scale in favor of commentary. That’s why I’m not pitting him, I’m pitting an attitude I see among Atheists–one of which I happen to be. I’m more of a “Don’t bother me with that religion crap” kinda Atheist, though. Not so much into the “Theists are fools deserving of mockery and scorn” kinda Atheism. Thus, posting ensued. So, instead of finding a post that could serve as an example of what you are bitchin’ about, you take the lazy way out and just pick the most current one that uses the term “atheist”. How’s that working out for you so far? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/14 "2009-10-22T04:13:30Z")
The point of my sarcastic reply, which has been echoed non-sarcastically by others since, is that disbelief in God is on no less firm footing than disbelief in other things that we consider obviously wrong. For any given belief, there is always some scenario by which it could be right or wrong, so you can never be certain that a belief is true. For example, I cannot rule out the idea that the Holocaust is an elaborate hoax performed by aliens with an amazing ability to fabricate evidence. But the point is that believing that God does not exist is on no less firm footing than believing that the Holocaust occurred or that Jupiter orbits the Sun. It’s no more arrogant to believe that God does not exist than it is to believe that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a hoax. (yes, I did just compare belief in God to Holocaust denial. This is because I actually do think that the former idea is no more defensible than the latter. I am willing to defend this idea.) ---
**Author:** ![sundog66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@sundog66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundog66)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/15 "2009-10-22T04:13:33Z")
I think that any arrogance on the part of atheists is not because they think they “know the truth” but rather because they think they are behaving in a rationally superior way, making the best possible conclusions based on the available evidence. If God were to reveal itself to everyone in the world tomorrow, I think many atheists would not regret their previous ignorance and gain respect for theists but rather would continue to believe that prior to the revelation, they were still behaving in a rationally optimal way. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/16 "2009-10-22T04:16:13Z")
> [@sundog66](#): > > If God were to reveal itself to everyone in the world tomorrow, I think many atheists would not regret their previous ignorance and gain respect for theists but rather would continue to believe that prior to the revelation, **they were still behaving in a rationally optimal way**. They were. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/17 "2009-10-22T04:18:21Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > That’s exactly what I expect to happen. I could be wrong. Might wake up dead and realize I shoulda loved me some Jesus. Or done bong hits for Thor. Thor’s not interested in bong hits, Oak. Just do your bit for the common man (Odin’s the god of heroes, kings, & other assholes), and you’re in good with the Lord of Thunder. Not that it matters. I cribbed the Valhalla list a little while back, and you’re on it. so unless you massively piss off the Aesir in the next–well, you’re better off not knowing the date–you’re good for feasting, wenching, and rassling between then and Ragnarok. Pity we’ll be on opposite sides. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/18 "2009-10-22T04:20:21Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > No. It’s more of a built up over time thing. \*\* Lobsang\*\*'s thread just tipped the scale in favor of commentary. That’s why I’m not pitting him, I’m pitting an attitude I see among Atheists–one of which I happen to be. I’m more of a “Don’t bother me with that religion crap” kinda Atheist, though. Not so much into the “Theists are fools deserving of mockery and scorn” kinda Atheism. Thus, posting ensued. 😕 You’ve been reading **Der Trihs** for three years, and _that’s_ what pushed you over the edge? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/19 "2009-10-22T04:20:33Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Well, yes, we are superior in one small way; being right. And as a rule atheists are more intelligent, better educated and more rational. Because being a theist is _ **stupid.** _ We are not demonstrably right. We don’t believe. Others do. Nobody’s got the teacher’s edition of the textbook with the answers in the back. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708/20 "2009-10-22T04:27:40Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > 😕 > > You’ve been reading **Der Trihs** for three years, and _that’s_ what pushed you over the edge? LOL. Actually, I generally tune him out on politics, guns, religion, the military, and morality. Too predictable. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-atheists-you-do-not-know-the-truth/514708.md?page=2)