How to Smugly Misunderstand Atheism

In his "open letter," friar Casey Cole asks us whether we're good atheists. This "exhortation" as he calls it ends with a plea to make sure we indeed are good at not believing in his God. From his religion's perspective, this is weird because he's asking us to do a good job sending ourselves to hell by being an affront to God. From a common sense perspective, it's weird because he's asking if we're good at not believing a paranormal claim, and nobody asks if we're good at not believing in vampires or UFOs. Unless you're way too invested in a specific claim, it makes no sense.

Everything about Casey's video from start to finish shows that he misunderstands atheism on the most basic level, and thus his "exhortation" comes off as the kind of condescending thing you'd expect to see from out-of-touch clergy who has gotten too used to people easily respecting whatever he says. While you may have never gotten asked this specific thing by a Christian, there's a fair chance you've been made to feel guilty by this kind of gentle approach that tries to guide you back to the faith. Please see this for what it is, and don't feel bad because people serve up their barbs and persistent misunderstandings behind a smile.

NOTE: My attitude has never changed more over the course of watching a video. At first I saw this priest as being well-meaning and respectful, only to start seeing the condescension and malignant jabs become more obvious as the video went on. If my tone seems unwarranted at first, hopefully the reasons for it become more apparent as the video goes on.

The original video:    • An Open Letter to Atheists from a Priest  

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