An Open Letter to Atheists from a Priest

If you are an atheist, I have a quick question for you.

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[AronRa]

Would you like to talk to me about this on my channel?

[jeronimogarcia]

Doing what's right without expecting any reward such as going to heaven is one of the best feelings as an atheist.

[jonathanstern]

I don't mean to sound insulting, but I don't know how else to put it. I think a good person doesn't need a super-structure to help others. Personal feelings of empathy and a general sense of humanity, I think is all that's necessary to want to do good acts.

[Anonymous-fwje]

You don't need religion to have morals. If you can't determine right from wrong, then you lack empathy, not religion.

[xmalstromx]

I think the simplest way to explain my thought process is that I don't need a celestial or extraterrestrial being to hold me accountable for being a bad person. I do good things and treat people in a positive manner because that is who I want to be. Society benefits more from helping one another and working together in a positive manner than tearing one another down.

[xavierlebeuf]

I can't think of a better response than Rationality Rule's

[jrwsaranac]

Of course, there are a million ways for a non-believer to ask, "are you a good Christian?" Because I will make the observation that there are many more Christians using their religion to justify bad behavior than there are atheists using non-belief to justify bad behavior. And by "more" I mean both raw numbers and relative numbers.

[isaacgates]

"There is no superstructure making this demand on your life." Bruh I literally live under a government that has laws...

[JenomKolemjdouci]

Be kind. Without witness, without reward.

[Karaki]

"Simply declaring yourself an atheist and going about your life isn't enough." Only it is. I don't need to rationalize my lack of faith in god(s). Only believers have challenged me to explain my lack of faith. That's not a flaw of my character. Being a "good" atheist I would never challenge a believer to explain his or her faith.

[matmirza]

"I might insult you, makes you feel bad, or wasting your time."

Dude, that is what me family do everyday.

[vargheseantonyv.b.]

Doing what is right in this futile world, without expecting any rewards, And understanding that there is no reward, is the way of genuine GOOD HUMAN.

[nanalen]

Apologise to no man for your beliefs. Hurt no man because of your beliefs.
This, as an atheist, is how I get through life

[rdvqc]

I am more preoccupied with being a good person than a good atheist. I have considered myself to be non-religious for some 50 years now but have always tried to be kind, generous and open-minded. I have probably studied more religions than most believers. I feel no need to promote my views on life beyond encouraging folks to be kind and respectful of others.

[meatrace]

This whole thing just feels really performative rather than earnest.

[beatlecristian]

I’m Catholic and I have to say we’re not going to win anyone over by being condescending. I’m sure you mean well but apologetics has to be done with charity.

[_WowSignal_]

Although expressed with sincerity and goodwill, there is an underlying opinion here that atheists must necessarily have a shallow understanding - if only we would read more, we would come around to your way of thinking. In my experience the reverse is true - atheists tend to be well-read and have thought through the issues in depth.

[holywaterbottle]

So an atheist has to constantly read and research thousands of hours of literature to justify their position and to be deemed a "good atheist" by you.
Do you hold Christians to the same standard? A Christian is only a good Christian if he has read and understood the works of the greatest Jewish and Islamic scholars?
Let's be real here, the average Christian hasn't read the bible.

[MuscleMaxZ]

To answer just one of your questions: Even as a very young child I had problems "believing" in this invisible "father" figure. I stopped going to church, for one reason being that I actually felt embarrassed anytime we had to bow our heads in prayer to this invisible being. I just felt stupid and asked myself, "why are we doing this"? To put it bluntly, I felt like a jerk. I was born an atheist and never wavered, even though I was made to go to church, but only up to a point of perhaps 10 years old or not even10 years old. Even to this day I don't go into churches, except perhaps to view architecture, etc. I came to realize very early on that belief in god or an afterlife is just wishful thinking. Also, I have a personal story that has stayed with me all my life: As a child of around 7 or 8, when I was home I was bored and picked up a bible and just started to read from the beginning. I did not make it many verses into Genesis when I again said to myself, "this makes no sense". It's very simple. Show us sufficient proof commensurate with the claims of a god and we will take it more seriously.

[VicedRhino]

"I don't want to waste your time" says the priest who opened the video with 8 seconds of silence as he sat and dusted off his robes.

With 86, 653 views on this video, that amounts to 693, 224 seconds (481 full days) of our collective time wasted. You literally wasted over a year of our collective time in a video where you said you didn't want to waste our time.