...what is the most annoying and sometimes insulting misconception of an Atheist...?
First off, neither "atheist" nor "atheism" is a proper noun, so there's no capitalization involved.
I could write volumes on this topic. But here are a few of my pet peeves:
1. Atheists (per se) have no morals. [As if denying the existence of something because there is no evidence to support it, entails a moral code to be adopted!]
2. If atheists don't believe in a god, what do they believe in? [As if absence of
one (nonsense) belief excludes the possibility of any other beliefs from being held!]
3. Atheism is just another religion. [Incredibly stupid. Atheism has no doctrine, no rituals, no standard of behaviour, no moral codes. no beliefs, and NO god. All it is, is the absence of a belief in all things related to theism. Period.]
4. What justification do atheists have for saying there is no god? [First of all,
the burden of proof always rests upon the shoulders of the one who proposes an assertion (i.e., that god exists). So it is the
theist, not the atheist, who must provide justification. And in the conspicuous absence of any justification to believe in either a god, or a tooth fairy for that matter, it is perfectly reasonable to believe in neither. Therefore, any reasonable person will say that tooth fairies do
not exist. Of course, this sort of "assertion" is not to be confused with the sort of dogmatic assertion made by the theist who asserts that a god
does indeed exist. Firstly, an atheist's assertion that gods do not exist is perfectly reasonable in the
absence of any evidence to the contrary. Whereas the theists' assertion fails to satisfy the required burden of proof to substantiate it. Therefore, their assertion is, by no means, reasonable. Finally, assertions that tooth fairies or gods do not exist, do not
necessarily entail the
logical possibility that a tooth fairy or a god
could exist. Granted, on my pillow one morning, a tooth fairy might appear and allow scientists to establish her existence beyond a reasonable doubt. So, we atheists are usually careful not to assert that it is
impossible that a god (or a tooth fairy))
could exist. It's just so bloody unlikely, that it is perfectly reasonable to believe, and even assert that they don't exist.
There are many more idiotic criticisms of atheism. but these are the most common ones that I have had to deal with on this forum.