Post date: Sep 15, 2014 3:41:47 PM
It's a simple question, but there are so many reasons why atheism is looked down upon.
First, let's break atheism down by its definition.
A - no
Theos - God
By label, atheists believe there is no god. So, given the fact that there's no god(s), from where do atheists get their morality? This has been much of debate throughout the ages.
Atheists assert that belief in God is fearmongering. It's a scare tactic to get children to behave or else the invisible super-being will throw you into fire forever.
OK, let's accept for a moment that the atheist assertion is true. Suppose there is no super-being (God). What reason do you have to be moral? Suppose you could steal $100 from a person without repercussion to yourself. What incentive is there to not steal from them? The Atheist may try to say that it's being a good person, but if there's no way they can get caught, then it would be to their betterment to just steal the $100 from the person and be the richer for it.
By Atheist reasoning, they say "do no harm". This is quite contrary to past atheist actions, which becomes the second major point against atheism. Have atheists done no harm? The answer is a resounding NO.
In the 1920's, a movement based on the Darwinian principles of superior man sprung up. This was known as Eugenics. Ideally, people were to cull society's lesser citizens to create a better tomorrow. ONly the physically and mentally fit were permitted to live. The Eugenics program became the foundation of the Holocaust. While many say that Hitler was a Christian, Truth is that Hitler often showed scepticism toward all religions. This would make Hitler more of an agnostic (if not an atheist).
Now that we've satisfied Godwin's law, what about other notable examples?
Stalin and Mao were both devout atheists. How did they "do no harm" when they ordered mass genocides throughout their countries. This was "for the good of the people". Pol Pot was another atheist who worked millions of people to death. He fed them only a cup of rice every day.
Has atheism always been this way? Looking back at the French Revolution, the church was completely destroyed. After this, the people destroyed their selves with mob riots and anarchy.
In the current years, atheists claim to be the most objective people in the world. They claim that they do the best science. The problem is that atheists (or more specifically the Atheist Scientism movement) has taken steps to block all evidence and theories that are contrary to their world view. If it doesn't advance atheism or creates plausible evidence against it, it's not real science to them. Thus, studies are suppressed or given very little attention. One was a theory from Palaeontologist Robert Bakker, which stated that there are only 1/3 of the dinosaurs out there. The rest are different stages of life. This theory isn't well known because it was buried, since it would remove several transitional forms from evolution.
Currently, Atheists are the most vocal against the practice of religion. They don't want to hear about it, so they want separation of church and state as well as removal of all religious imagery from public squares. One such case was in 2013 where the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF - an atheist group) demanded that the Chipley, FL City Hall remove its traditional nativity from the premise. This was despite the city's majority approving of the nativity.
So, there is a long running stigma against atheists. Much of this is the actions of modern atheists. To overcome the stigma, atheists are going to have to show their selves to be the most tolerant people in the world. Additionally, they're going to have to find a better explanation for their source of morality.