# Denver radio host: "All racists are atheists" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 29, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307 "2014-04-29T20:23:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/21 "2014-04-29T23:42:29Z")
Shit, that logic looks ironclad to me. As an athiest, it must also follow that I am a racist. And here I always appreciated my lack of bigotry. Does this mean I have to be on Donald Sterliing’s side, now? Shit. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/22 "2014-04-29T23:49:32Z")
Now, now, that’s unfair. He didn’t say all atheists are racists. Just that all racists are No True Christians and thus must perforce be atheists. Because (on top of everything that is terrible about his statment) those are the ONLY TWO OPTIONS, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/23 "2014-04-29T23:58:17Z")
But it _is_ still OK to hate the mooslims, right? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/24 "2014-04-29T23:59:52Z")
And Unitarians, yes. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/25 "2014-04-30T00:26:54Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s a No True Scotsman argument, so it’s stupid. He links atheism to racism, and rather than just address the flawed belief, he attributes it to Evil Others. If he said racists are rejecting parts of God’s design by saying he made “junk,” I’d kind of endorse the sentiment. But this is dumb. I can’t say for sure obviously, but it sounds like he was taking a dig at racists who claim to be religious by pointing out the conflict rather than taking a dig at atheists and attempting to paint them as racist. At the very best it and even with all benefit of doubt it was very poorly worded. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/26 "2014-04-30T00:43:10Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > What a fucking idiot. It shouldn’t still surprise me, but it does. How can people espouse a religion, and yet know next to nothing about its scriptures? The Hebrew Bible is full of racism, and the New Testament returns the favor by making Jews the scapegoat for killing Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/27 "2014-04-30T00:48:47Z")
I don’t even get how he came to the conclusion that “atheists are racists” due to the Sterling incident? Did Sterling once claim he didn’t believe in God, did he just assume Sterling must be an atheist because Sterling changed his original Jewish-sounding name to something more WASPish or was it something else. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/28 "2014-04-30T05:05:55Z")
It was the MOOPS! ---
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/29 "2014-04-30T06:44:18Z")
It’s ironic considering the extent to which racist ideology developed in the West as an attempt to morally justify slavery within a specifically Christian framework that had a lot of hostility to the idea. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/30 "2014-04-30T06:47:15Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I don’t even get how he came to the conclusion that “atheists are racists” due to the Sterling incident? > > Did Sterling once claim he didn’t believe in God, did he just assume Sterling must be an atheist because Sterling changed his original Jewish-sounding name to something more WASPish or was it something else. He didn’t come to the conclusion of athiests being racist - but rather the reverse. I read it as saying that racist beliefs are incompatible with Christianity. As a sentiment - what’s wrong with that? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/31 "2014-04-30T06:57:08Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I don’t even get how he came to the conclusion that “atheists are racists” due to the Sterling incident? > > Did Sterling once claim he didn’t believe in God, did he just assume Sterling must be an atheist because Sterling changed his original Jewish-sounding name to something more WASPish or was it something else. God was photographed standing next to a black person. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/32 "2014-04-30T06:58:17Z")
Wow, I wish this guy said that to a younger, healthier (and alive) George Wallace. He would have gotten his face punched in. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/33 "2014-04-30T07:43:06Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > But it _is_ still OK to hate the mooslims, right? > [@Kobal2](#): > > And Unitarians, yes. And the gays? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/34 "2014-04-30T08:52:50Z")
[QUOTE=bengangmo;17334975.] I read it as saying that racist beliefs are incompatible with Christianity. As a sentiment - what’s wrong with that? [/QUOTE] It is technic ally a No True Scotsman argument, even so there’s nothing wrong with saying that racism is incompatable with Christianity. What’s wrong is then claiming that racists are atheists. If a racist self identifies as a Christian, claims to believe in God and follow the teachings of Jesus, you can claim he’s not “really” a Christian, but you can’t claim he’s an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/35 "2014-04-30T09:48:56Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Wow, I wish this guy said that to a younger, healthier (and alive) George Wallace. He would have gotten his face punched in. The much younger, healthier, civil rights lawyer George Wallace would have agreed with him… Both hypocrites playing to their audience. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/36 "2014-04-30T10:09:18Z")
Could we at least get an acknowledgement out of the guy that this means more than 5% of the population are atheists? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/37 "2014-04-30T13:08:15Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > I read it as saying that racist beliefs are incompatible with Christianity. As a sentiment - what’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing, and it may have had its benefits: in **Black Like Me** , the author noted that New Orleans was less racist because Roman Catholic doctrine stressed racial equality stronger than the other churches in the South. Where it’s troublesome is where it allows slackers to say “oh, I can’t be racist: \*I’m a Christian!” \*. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/38 "2014-04-30T13:19:43Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I can’t say for sure obviously, but it sounds like he was taking a dig at racists who claim to be religious by pointing out the conflict rather than taking a dig at atheists and attempting to paint them as racist. That’s pretty clearly how it reads/sounds to me. I guess there might be some implication that being an atheist must be a Very Bad Thing, but I don’t necessarily read that. All he’s saying is that if you call yourself a believer in God and are a racist, you don’t really believe in God. It’s very simplistic No True Scotsman logic (as noted), but that’s all it’s really saying. The reciprocal identity, that atheists are bigots, does not follow. I don’t really see anything here to be pissed off about. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/39 "2014-04-30T13:21:21Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > I read it as saying that racist beliefs are incompatible with Christianity. > As a sentiment - what’s wrong with that? Not Christian =/= Atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307/40 "2014-04-30T16:49:43Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > For just one example, all Christians believe that it is possible to do something so terrible that it will corrupt your descendants for all time - Original Sin. Just to be nit-picky, not all Christian denominations believe in the doctrine of Original Sin. And you could probably not find _anything_ that all professed Christians believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/denver-radio-host-all-racists-are-atheists/687307.md?page=3)