Steve Harvey has continued his assault on atheism while promoting his new book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. During his appearance on the Larry King show, he reiterated his claim that atheists have no moral barometer, but then went further, calling atheists “idiots”, and said if he finds out someone is an atheist, “I just walk away.”
Steve went on to ridicule non-theistic ideas about the origin of the universe, saying “you just can’t tell me this spun out of a gastreous[sic] ball.” He then offered this scathing indictment of the theory of evolution: “all of a sudden then we were evolved from monkeys – why we still got monkeys?”
If anyone has stumbled across Steve’s book, we’d be keen to follow up on the passages where he apparently recommends women stay away from atheists.
Transcript:
JB: … making people laugh is a great thing…
SH: It’s a… it’s an amazing blessing from God, it really is.
JB: … which reminds me, speaking of God. You say in the book that, uh, you wouldn’t go out with a woman… I guess a woman should not go out with a man who doesn’t believe in God.
SH: Nah, I mean why would you?
JB: Well… well, do you believe that only people who are religious are ethical and moral?
SH: No, I just believe that if you don’t believe in God, then where’s your moral barometer? That’s just me talking…
JB: … I understand you, yeah…
SH: … you can believe what you want to believe, but if you’re an atheist you’re basing your goodness and morality on what? I mean, but what is an atheist? I don’t… I don’t really get into that. You know why? I’ve talked to people all the time– “I’m an atheist!”—I just walk away. I don’t know what to say to you, you know?
JB: Well, an atheist is someone who doesn’t quite believe in… that there is somebody out there… some “God” out there.
SH: Well, then to me you’re an idiot…
JB: Okay, well…
SH: … so I’m cool with that—
JB: But—
SH: I’m, I’m just–
JB: –that’s fine–
SH: –probably not the right ‘politically correct’–
JB: –Nonono–
SH: –thing to say, but if you don’t believe in God, then really you’ve got to have an explanation for this, and you just can’t tell me this spun out of a gastreous ball–
JB: Yeah.
SH: –then all of a sudden then we were evolved from monkeys—why we still got monkeys? There’s too much open here. I just believe that, and if you don’t believe that, then I don’t like talking to you.
JB: I see, okay. Listen—listen—it’s fine with me—
SH: Can you say it on ol’ Larry King?
JB: You can say it on any show–
SH: Okay, okay, okay…
JB: ‘Cause it’s a free country, thank goodness.
SH: It is.
September 30th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
To be a Christian takes “Faith”. Thats why it is called a “faith based religion”
Lets say you are right and that there is no God. What happens to me when I die… Nothing I just die.
Ok, now lets say I am right and God does exist. What happens to you?
October 6th, 2009 at 8:36 am
That’s call Pascal’s Wager, and is faulty logic.
When I die nothing has to “happen” to me other than the natural occurrences that happen to dead bodies. I can live a moral and ethical life without any need to attribute it to a deity, and I don’t need to base my morals and ethics on any text that has within it questionable morals, especially by today’s standards. (Those ten commandments Christians talk about? Yeah, how many of those actually have anything “moral” in them? Not having other gods before this deity? Really? That’s “moral”? Sounds a bit like jealousy to me.)
October 27th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
MK, your statement presumes there is either your god or no god, but in truth, there have been countless gods in human history, recorded or otherwise. If you presume that believing in a god is a gamble then you also have to throw all those other gods into the pot. Since the christian god has rules against believing in other gods you’re immediately in a quandary.
Further, the idea that believing is a lifestyle choice — like telling an atheist to just believe so they can score that sweet deal on an afterlife — is probably not going to fly if there really is a god. You can’t just decide to believe something for which you don’t feel there is sufficient evidence and presumably, any omniscient god would know if you were believing for insincere reasons.
So actually, the question really isn’t as cut and dry as you present it to be.
October 1st, 2009 at 4:46 pm
To be a Christian takes “Faith”. Thats why it is called a “faith based religion”
Lets say as an atheist you are right and that there is no God. What happens to me when I die… Nothing I just die.
Ok, now lets say as a Christian I am right and God does exist. What happens to you?
October 10th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
So I’m guessing if I were to offer you an option that seemed more rewarding than eternal life in Heaven you’d simply change your religous beliefs?
People who take Pascal’s Wager seriously are indeed the most insincere and dishonest idiots of the lot. Surely if a benevolent deity did exist he would reward those who seek him through an honest understanding; and damn those who believe in him out of fear of losing a bet.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:44 am
It seems like, you guys aren’t atheists but rather anti-christain, thus bigots of a different nature. If being a Christain means I’m a bigot then I’m proud to be one.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:07 am
that’s probably because you’re not that bright.
June 21st, 2010 at 6:00 pm
best response.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:43 am
Thumbs up to you!
November 1st, 2009 at 1:49 pm
It’s more the fact that his comments are completely filled with illogical misinformed nonsense and has the audacity to presuppose someone’s ‘moral barometer’ because of their atheistic beliefs. He’s quite obviously never taken an Ethics 101 class in his entire life.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:00 am
The barometer thing makes sense. He’s not saying an atheist has no morals. He’s asking for a trustworthy or constant standard to base moral decisions on -something atheism cannot provide, full stop. And what we have seen in the comments so far is the typical knee jerk reaction to this criticism, which says, “well, your holy book contains some pretty questionable ethics too, bozo.” My response is that I’m willing to defend it as soon as you bone up and admit that atheism gives no objective standard of morality. If you can’t admit that sickeningly plain truth, then there is no point in continuing.
I think the problem with most atheists is not that they’re idiots or that they lack the mental capacity to see that there is a God (even though plenty are idiots). Their problem is a sniveling contempt for truth in preference for their way, their world, their lifestyle, their…
November 4th, 2009 at 4:06 am
Their? THEIR?!?!?! I HAVE TO KNOW!!!
November 4th, 2009 at 10:55 am
You want a trustworthy or constant standard to base moral decisions on? How about the Golden Rule? Ethics of reciprocity aren’t that different then whatever Steve Harvey probably claims to believe in.
November 21st, 2009 at 2:56 am
The Bible has no objective standard of morality. It is constantly contradictory on many subjects we bring up morality in, such as murder. God tells you not to kill, but there are several passages where murder is committed and justified by God. You are taking your morals from a murderer. And take a good look at Christian history, and you tell me how “moral” your ancestors were when it came to slaughtering and conquering in the name of God.
Atheism doesn’t have to provide a standard of morality, because it’s not a religion with a specific text to follow. It’s simply a lack of belief in a higher power. The individual atheist can take his or her morals from philosophy and secular ethic systems.
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Free Thought Gal,
You say that Christians are taking their morals from a murderer. But that is simply not true.
You have to define murder before you can attach that title to God.
Murder is, according to the American Heritage Dictionary:
– The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with
premeditated malice.
– To kill brutally or inhumanly.
Now, if you wish to break it down in its simplest terms, murder is trying to get revenge, to kill someone out of anger, to seek to gain something by that person’s death, or to simply kill for fun.
When God orders someone to kill, He does so in the context of…killing.
Killing is defined as:
– To put to death.
– To deprive of life
You see, killing another human being is acceptable in certain circumstances in the Bible.
Circumstances such as:
– Self Defense
– Times of War
– Punishment for a crime
– Judgment from God
These are all in total and complete agreement with the teachings of the Bible. And these circumstances are also morally and ethically sound.
Also, these acts are examples of justice. When God orders the killing of a human being, He does so as the universal standard of evil and good. If something does not measure up to His perfection, it is called sin. So when God judges a person, He does it like a judge rendering a verdict.
However, God is not a God of war. If anything, He is a God of Peace. But He is not a coward and He will not back down when good is threatened by evil.
He gives us parameters on this area of killing in the Bible.
I hope this has made sense to you and I hope it also presents a clearer picture of the God of the Bible.
In Christ,
GWG
February 3rd, 2010 at 1:00 pm
*sigh* Who better to kill “inhumanly” than a deity who is not human?
Seriously, hair-splitter GWG, your god is claimed to be the omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent creator of the universe, right? You say he’s not a coward (roflmao! what would he have to fear anyway?). So why would an uncowardly, omnipotent, omnibenevolent deity direct mere humans to do so much of his dirty work for him, including slaughtering innocents? He could just selectively and humanely poof bad people out of existence or cause some “accident” to befall them (like the reclosing of the Reed [not Red] Sea on the Egyptian army) instead of ordering “his” people to dash defenseless infants to pieces and rip open pregnant women.
Yaweh may not be a “murderer” by your definition, but the Old Testament leaves absolutely no doubt that he’s a brutal child killer and forcible abortionist – how can any civilized human being possibly justify that? The Geneva Convention prohibits such barbarity – how is it that we humans are more moral and ethical that the deity that supposedly handed down our morals and ethics?
Oh, sure, you can say “He’s God – His Will Be Done” or buck-passing blah-blah to that effect, but what kind of person would make excuses for, much less worship, a deity whose behavior is no better than that of human dictators like Caligula, Vlad “The Impaler” Ţepeş, or Idi Amin? “God of Peace” – HA!
It’s disappointing when someone who professes to understand what the Bible teaches is so oblivious of its actual content (as well as the centuries of theological debate thereon), but that’s the Dunning-Kruger Effect for you.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:44 am
To directly address the 6th-grade, Sunday-school moral barometer position:
The innumerable divergences of morals both in concept and in practice among populations with a religion (and therefore a moral barometer) indicates, perhaps, that we made the whole thing up in the first place.
That on the whole, across populations and generations, there are common moral tenets, indicates biology at least, and an evolved biology at best.
Posit: if there are no people, there are no morals. Start there, then work forward.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I suppose I should elaborate on my point #1:
If a deity is required for some universal moral constant, then the issue becomes muddled. Which deity? Which religion of that deity?
I suppose Mr. Harvey should have chosen a different metaphor. Barometers the world over are beholden to the apparent physical constants. Morals lack such a beautifully simple and unifying framework.
December 30th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Steve Harvey is a bigot only if ignorance can be the primary cause of bigotry. Hold the phone, that’s the number one cause. I do enjoy his repeated interviews linking God to morality. To this I have three immediate thoughts. The first is how presumptuous he is in believing that an inclination towards a higher power will somehow create a higher moral standard. I suppose he has never sought out the rapists and murders that are fine Christians. Perhaps he should police his own people before branching out to attack others viewpoints. Secondly, Mr. Harvey seems to be unaware that an alternate way to learn about morality is through family values and education (and that those things are not mutually inclusive with religion). God forbid someone teaches me that it isn’t right to rape and murder people. Lastly, Mr. Harvey assumes that people are inherently evil and anti-morality. I do not rape and murder people because I don’t want to. I’ve never wanted to. I’m not too lazy too. I know I could probably get away with it. I don’t even refrain for fear of the wrath of god, the police, societal outcast. I’m just nice and like being nice to other people. I’ve also found that being nice to people generally gets a similar response. I might be more open to listening to what you have to offer if you weren’t calling me an idiot, Steve.
Mr. Harvey, if you are so weak that you need to either love, fear, or worship a monotheistic wrathful God to keep you from harming others and make you a charitable person, then I WANT you to believe in God. It doesn’t make you an idiot, but it does make you weak. Heaven forbid you use your faith and start using your accrued wealth and fame to start killing and raping Atheists and alternative worshippers across the land (see the Crusades).
But we would see that coming. First you would start going on tv and telling people how they are bad and dumb and generally lesser people not worth talking to if they don’t share your beliefs… wait a minute….
January 4th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Very well spoken,Homer but I have to disagree with you on one point. Steve Harvey IS a fucking idiot!!
April 26th, 2010 at 1:47 am
People really should read the Bible before they come to conclusions about rather or not it is a/the source of morality. In it God enables and orders many atrocities including murder and rape. Here is an example.
(Judges 21:10-24 NLT)
So they sent twelve thousand warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children. “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.” Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
The Israelite assembly sent a peace delegation to the little remnant of Benjamin who were living at the rock of Rimmon. Then the men of Benjamin returned to their homes, and the four hundred women of Jabesh-gilead who were spared were given to them as wives. But there were not enough women for all of them. The people felt sorry for Benjamin because the LORD had left this gap in the tribes of Israel. So the Israelite leaders asked, “How can we find wives for the few who remain, since all the women of the tribe of Benjamin are dead? There must be heirs for the survivors so that an entire tribe of Israel will not be lost forever. But we cannot give them our own daughters in marriage because we have sworn with a solemn oath that anyone who does this will fall under God’s curse.”
Then they thought of the annual festival of the LORD held in Shiloh, between Lebonah and Bethel, along the east side of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem. They told the men of Benjamin who still needed wives, “Go and hide in the vineyards. When the women of Shiloh come out for their dances, rush out from the vineyards, and each of you can take one of them home to be your wife! And when their fathers and brothers come to us in protest, we will tell them, ‘Please be understanding. Let them have your daughters, for we didn’t find enough wives for them when we destroyed Jabesh-gilead. And you are not guilty of breaking the vow since you did not give your daughters in marriage to them.’” So the men of Benjamin did as they were told. They kidnapped the women who took part in the celebration and carried them off to the land of their own inheritance. Then they rebuilt their towns and lived in them. So the assembly of Israel departed by tribes and families, and they returned to their own homes.
May 23rd, 2010 at 11:55 pm
In this Bible passage, this killing is not justified by God. At the very end it says “In those days there was no king in Isreal, Everyone did what was right IN HIS OWN EYES”.
May 31st, 2010 at 4:39 pm
Secular Humanism, go look it up. End of story. Yes, Steve Harvey is ignorant.