Popular arguments you think Atheists shouldn't use

[Clueless Morgan]

I get irritated when atheists trot out the "We're all atheists with respect to most gods, Atheists just go one god further" thing. I think it can be a fair statement, but it's just so over used that I've come to find it annoying.

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With that said, though, most theists probably haven't heard it, so even if I find it annoying I wouldn't be opposed to whipping it out if a conversation with a theists calls for such a thing to be pointed out to them.

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What is wrong with that one? It is true. We do simply have one less god claim we hold than they do. They are merely unaware of the logic they use to reject all the other claims they do not buy.

If you do not believe in Thor, you are an atheist on that claim. If you do not believe in Vishnu, you are an atheist on that claim. You do not hold the position that that god exists.

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it, I said it irritates me.

I even conceded that it can be a good thing to bring up in a conversation with a theist, especially one who hasn't heard it before, and that I would even do so if I felt like a situation called for it, but that doesn't stop it from irritating me.

Incidentally, the reason it irritates me is that I think that it is so often quoted, especially with regards to atheists speaking to atheists (c'mon, we've ALLLLL heard this quote a hundred times), and so often written into books (written for atheists, skeptics, or freethinkers) that it has become overused, hence the reason I posted it in this thread. I wish people would let this particular quote alone for a while so that it can regain some of its punch.

Others feel this way about Bertrand Russell's celestial teapot the way I feel about the "everyone is an atheist" quote. Their feelings don't reflect on the merits of the teapot argument, they just feel that it is overused, just like my irritation isn't a reflection of the merits of that quote, I just feel it's being overuse.