Kirk Cameron: Probably Not a "Recovering Atheist."

Try to watch this without vomiting.

So, aside from the fact that the kid who played Mike Seaver is all preachy and stuff, I have several problems with this.

I seriously doubt that Kirk Cameron was ever an atheist.

No, this is not a "No True Scotsman" fallacy.

I'm not claiming that he never was a "true good atheist."

I simply doubt that he was an atheist.

Rationale: The atheist (unless he or she is an anti-theist) does not claim that "there is no god," nor do they "hate him." The atheist doesn't "hate god" anymore than they hate the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot.  The atheist is no more angry at one particular god than they are at Zeus or Thor.  The atheist denies that there is sufficient evidence to support any of the numerous claims that gods exist.  And not just Kirk Cameron's god, but any god, goddess or any supernatural entity that people worship.  An atheist knows this.  A "recovering atheist" (if such a thing exists) would as well, or would at least acknowledge that this is the case.  

I came to be an atheist after a long, slow painful process of examining my beliefs, and why I believed them.  I still have to conceal the fact that I am an atheist for reasons I have previously explained here: 

Kirk Cameron has relayed no stories like this, or like other atheists who came about their disbelief the "hard way."  So this casts serious doubts on his claim.

So this leaves open for speculation the question as to why Cameron would claim to be a "recovering atheist" when he doesn't really talk like someone who was.

I have several  theories.

Theory A. He never really thought about belief and what he believed until a charismatic evangelical got a hold of him sometime during his formative and vulnerable adolescent years. This person painted a false picture of "a typical atheist" for him that he somehow identified with and that false picture remains in his mind today.  If this is true, then Kirk Cameron's intellect (like his acting career) peaked in his teens and he hasn't learned a damn thing in 30 some odd years.  This is troubling, because it means that what ever anti-aging potion he's using has affected his brain.  

Theory B. He suffered some childhood trauma that made him "mad at god," so he responded by declaring that god didn't exist out of anger, only to feel bad about it later and repent for his "atheism."  The problem here is if that is the case, then he never *really* stopped being a believer.  Ergo, he never *really* was an atheist.

Theory C.  Kirk Cameron is a liar and a shameless opportunist who is using this as an angle to gain "intellectual street cred" for his empty and weak arguments so that he and his used car salesman partner can continue to make money off of delusional people.

Now if this is true, we'd have to have some sort of evidence to show that Cameron and his cohort Ray Comfort are dishonest.

Judge for Yourself: