Today, my mom said...

Atheism is an oxymoron.

I can only assume she views atheism as a religion. Any other conclusions? Arguments?

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dustin on January 5, 2011 at 10:56pm

The statement your mother made makes absolutely no sense.

Even if Atheism WAS a religion - it would still make absolutely no sense as you can still be part of a religion and NOT believe in a Deity.

She failed on both counts. But I'm sure you still love her :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dave G on January 6, 2011 at 12:41am

I suspect that she didn't didn't think it through. An oxymoron requires two mutually contradictory aspects of a whole concept. Atheism is a single aspect, the absence of a belief in a deity. There's nothing for it to be self-contradictory with. To do so, you'd have to add an additional aspect, such as an atheist who believes in a god.

Perhaps she's simply falling for the common misconception that atheists actually believe in a god, but are just angry at him/her.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eoganacht on January 6, 2011 at 8:34pm

I think a slap the face is the sound of a one handed clap. Just saying

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mo Trauen on January 6, 2011 at 5:50pm

I suspect the "contradiction" in her mind is between a. god exists and b. you think he doesn't. That would actually be an example of irony, but I don't think she understands that.

Religious people think that the existence of god is "obvious" and "undeniable" because there is "no other explanation" for the universe. They treat the two issues as one in the same and engage in very circular reasoning regarding them.

http://goodatheistarguments.blogspot.com/2010/09/believers-ask-well...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alex on January 8, 2011 at 11:08am

I think Dave G summed it up pretty good.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Adrian Quantum on January 6, 2011 at 5:58am

she should explain her logic and complete the sentence..

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by claudio fernando maciel on January 6, 2011 at 8:05am

Atheism is a religion as much as NOT collecting stamps is a hobby, or NOT smoking a habit.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shine on January 6, 2011 at 10:34am

I would ask her to define "oxymoron" and go from there. Like Dave G said, it necessarily entails two contradictory concepts. This is why oxymorons consist of two words, like "silent scream" or the humorous "military intelligence."

Now, she could be trying to argue that atheism is somehow inherently paradoxical by using the fallacious argument that rejecting God presupposes God. The argument generally states: "In order to reject God, you assume that there is a God that can be rejected." This argument relies upon mistaking the rejection of a belief in God with the rejection of God himself. Rejecting a belief does not presuppose the subject of the belief.

However, I would let her explain her reasoning to you before mounting a defense. It is better to let someone spell out their own fallacious argument. Sometimes, the act of actually explaining a concept is enough for the speaker to realize the flaws themselves.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Laura Foster on January 6, 2011 at 10:57am

This is why oxymorons consist of two words, like "silent scream" or the humorous "military intelligence."

Or "Microsoft Works"

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shine on January 6, 2011 at 11:01am

"Christian Logic" :D

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mo Trauen on January 6, 2011 at 2:22pm

That's a good one!

Moria, if you really want to get your digs in, just say:

"Do you even know what an oxymoron is? It's a phrase containing two inherently contradictory concepts, like 'religious logic', not a word that stands for single concept, like 'atheism'."