Hilariously Bad Atheist Memes (REBUTTED)

I enjoy the challenge of engaging high-level defenses of atheism, but sometimes the low-hanging fruit just tastes too good to resist. Today, we are going to rebut some hilarious atheist memes, because of just how bad they are. So let’s get started. Here’s the first one. “How did Jesus find guys named Peter, John, James, Matthew, Andrew, Philip, Thomas and Simon in the Middle East?” And a comment under this meme says, “This is the one that gets me. When was the last time you met Jews named Mary or Joseph? Jesus is Spanish. Mary’s sister’s name is Elizabeth, a name that came into vogue in 1400s England, probably when half this stuff was written.”

First, there are lots of famous Jews named Joseph. The first one I can think of is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the actor who says he’s 100% Ashkenazi Jew. The name itself comes from the Hebrew Yosef. And Jesus, not Jesus, comes from the Hebrew name, Joshua or Yeshua. The simple explanation is that ancient names change over time when they’re copied into other languages, which brings me to the second point. Nobody tell these people about Alexander the Great or his father, Philip the Second who lived in the fourth century before Christ. Isn’t Alex from the 1990s for a name?

Of course, his Greek name was Alexandros. And his father was Philippos, from which we get the Latinized versions of their names. This happens when you transfer a name in one alphabet to a different alphabet or language. So the English word John comes from the Middle English Ion, which comes from the French Jean, the Medieval Latin Ioannes, the Greek Ioannis, and finally the Hebrew Yochanan, which means “God is gracious.” So there’s nothing mysterious about modern names being used to pronounce more unfamiliar ancient names. And here’s a similar meme. “Paul talks about going to Spain in Romans chapter 15.”

“Paul died around 70. A.D. Spain was established in 1479 A.D. Hashtag atheist.” Checkmate. You got us. The Bible was actually written in the 15th century. And all the evidence that existed beforehand must have been planted by lizard people, or some other conspirator. The Greek word Paul uses in Romans 15:28 is Spania, which refers to a region of the ancient Roman Empire called Hispania, where modern day Spain is located. The Latin Vulgate calls it Hispania. Also people from Spain don’t call it Spain, just as people from Germany don’t call that country Germany in their native language. In German, it’s Deutschland. And in Spanish, the nation of Spain is Espana. In fact, this is the word used in Spanish translations of Romans 15:28. Just as we use an English equivalent of Espana, the Bible uses the closest English equivalent of Paul’s reference to Roman Hispania.

Next, we have, “Humans waiting to be brainwashed,” with a bunch of babies all labeled “Atheists.” This is probably based on the idea that an atheist is just someone who lacks a belief in God. But if that’s all atheism is, then it’s a terribly uninteresting worldview. It’s boring. If the majority of people that hold your position are babies, maybe it’s not a useful position after all. Babies are also amoral, because they lack a moral code. Babies are anarchists, because they lack a belief in government. But that doesn’t prove belief in morality, or belief in government only comes from brainwashing, and there’s no good reasons to believe in those things. Here’s a similar one. “Atheism is not defined by what we believe. It is not a belief system. It has no religious doctrine. It’s just a rejection of a claim that has no supporting evidence.”

All right. Do you believe that the existence of God has no supporting evidence? Is that the reason you reject that claim? If atheism has nothing to do with beliefs, then who cares what it says? Atheism is only worth considering if it says something about the way the world actually is, if it informs our beliefs about the world. And classical atheists had the guts to not just say they lacked a belief in God, but that God does not exist. If you say you lack a belief in God, because you don’t know if God exists, that’s fine. You just don’t get to call yourself an atheist. You are actually an agnostic. And don’t give me the, “I’m an agnostic atheist.” Does God exist? You can say “Yes,” or, “Probably yes,” which makes you a theist. You can say, “No,” or, “Probably no,” which makes you an atheist. Or you can say, “I don’t know,” which makes you an agnostic. End of discussion.

Here’s another one. “Isn’t this the most wonderful irony? An anagram of religion is I leg iron?” Okay, well, an anagram of science is its incest. And you can make a naughty anagram of atheist if you start with the word ate. But yeah. This one is really stretching to find something. Also, did you know that an anagram of like and subscribe is, “Debunks irascible?” So if you want to help us debunk irascible, or easily angered non-Catholic critics, please like and subscribe to the channel. And definitely support us at trenthornpodcast.com. Next, “Bible, an ancient novel full of murder, corruption, homophobia, bestiality, incest and cruelty. It is often read to children on Sunday.” First, there’s no homophobia in the Bible, because homophobia isn’t a real thing. There are people who are cruel towards those experiencing same sex attraction. And that’s wrong. But usually homophobia is a slur that’s used against people who simply think that sex is only moral when it’s the expression of marital love between men and women.

Number two, there are four passages that condemn bestiality in the Bible, but no depictions of bestiality, which is a relief. It’s hilarious also to hear this complaint, because it reminds me of this meme of a guy throwing away a Bible saying, “Finally, a world of pure rationalism,” who then picks up a book defending bestiality called Can Animals Consent? In fact, I cover the modern defense of bestiality that some atheists make more in this previous episode that you can watch if you can stomach it. And speaking of unnatural things, here’s our next gem of a meme. “Homosexuality is not against nature. More than 500 species are known to practice same-sex coupling. Religion is against nature. No other animal practices it.” Replace homosexuality with infanticide, or rape, or murder and you see just how bad this argument is.

Saying, “Yeah, but lots of animals do it. So what’s unnatural about it,” is astoundingly dumb. When we say “against nature,” we don’t mean, “Has no parallel among non-human animals, or doesn’t exist in the natural world.” We mean against human nature, or the way humans ought to behave as humans. That’s why it’s an insult to say to a person he is acting like an animal at the dinner table. Here’s another one. “Science, because reality is so much better than making stuff up.” And then we have The Last Supper that’s populated with a bunch of different scientists. At least the person who made this meme, tried to find scientists who at least identify as atheists, or agnostics, or do not believe in God, people like Stephen Hawking, or Richard Dawkins, or Neil deGrasse Tyson. But as I’ve shown in my previous research, most scientists do believe in God, or some higher power.

Also, there are some blunders here. This looks like Isaac Newton, who also wrote on theology, as well as science. So he definitely wasn’t an atheist. But even if I’m mistaken, and that’s somebody else besides Isaac Newton, that’s definitely the Greek Philosopher Aristotle, who believed there was one infinite God, or prime mover that kept the entire universe in existence. And front and center is Albert Einstein, who was not an atheist. He did not believe in a personal God. But as his colleague, Max Jammer writes in his book, Einstein and Religion, he notes how Einstein did believe in a God that created the universe. And he even denigrated atheists for their dogmatic opposition to religion. The next one says, “Atheist temples, more than one book available.” This is probably the silliest one, because this is a photo of the Long Room in the library of Trinity College in Dublin. The library was built when the college was founded in 1592 as a religious institution. And one of the first important works housed in the library was an eighth century illuminated manuscript of the Bible called The Book of Kells.

It was the Catholic Church that invented the concept of the university in the Middle Ages, and subsidized the study of astronomy in order to better understand the calendar, and worship God. For example, Catholic cathedrals were built with a knowledge of where the sun would be throughout the year as it shined through stained-glass windows. According to historian J.L. Heilbron, “The Roman Catholic Church gave more financial and social support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages, into the Enlightenment than any other, and probably all other institutions.” So it’s my hope that the atheists who made these memes will go and check out a library, and learn more about the cultural advances that the Catholic Church has offered to the world, and how Christianity has improved the world, primarily by giving us a savior, and to also see the historical evidences for our faith.

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