A Preposterous Atheist Cliche

Michael Shermer recently used a preposterous atheist cliche (seen via William Briggs):

In most surveys, nine out of ten Americans respond in the affirmative to the question “Do you believe in God?” The other 10 percent provide a variety of answers, including a favorite among skeptics and atheists: “Which god do you mean?” And then they offer a litany of classical and non-Western deities: Aphrodite, Amon Ra, Apollo, Baal, Brahma, Ganesha, Isis, Mithras, Osiris, Shiva, Thor, Vishnu, Wotan, and Zeus. “We’re all atheists of these gods,” the stock reply concludes, “but some of us go one god further.”

For the record, I believe in God and Allah and Brahman and the First Cause and that Existence exists … and I also believe they are the same entity.

The atheist cliche is a classic example of circular reasoning. First, atheists assume that theists are narrow-minded fools and then point out how ridiculous the beliefs of their straw men are. These are all reasons to believe … only if you already believe.

I would now like to point you in the direction of “The Universal Prayer” by Alexander Pope. If you insist on something short, you might be interested in Robin Weinbaum's prayer in The Quincunx of Time by James Blish:

To Whom it may concern: Thy Will, not mine.