10 myths about atheists that just won’t go away

8. Atheists were never true believers to begin with

This falls under what is called the No-True-Scotsman Fallacy, the idea that if you reject your religious beliefs later in life, you must never have been a true believer in the first place.

Many atheists are ex-Christians, ex-Muslims, ex-Jews and really any other religion you can think of. The fact that later in their lives they found their beliefs to be challenged and abandoned them does not mean they didn’t believe them truly before that.

Some atheists are ex-pastors or priests, who lived the word of their religion and found something they could not reconcile with their faith and later abandoned it. It would be unfair to say these people were lying all along just because something caused them to change their mind.

Almost everyone is an ex-something. As humans, we change our beliefs constantly on certain things, be it your favorite sports team or player, your political leanings, fashion or music sense. Things happen in our everyday lives which challenge us and force us to change our ideals. This is exactly what happens to some atheists who abandon their previous faith.