Ethan links us to this video in which the narrator makes the case that an intellectually honest atheist should be a nihilist. He is, of course, correct:
Here's the problem for the atheist:
If there is no God then there are no moral duties. Most atheists, however, believe there are moral duties and objective moral values. But they can't have it both ways. Either they should give up their belief in moral duties and objective moral values (and with it any grounds for making moral judgments of any behavior other than their own) or they should give up their atheism and acknowledge that there must be a personal, transcendent moral authority which grounds all moral duties and values.
To continue in their atheism while making moral judgments - such as oppression is evil, capitalism is bad, war is immoral, or child abuse is morally abhorrent - is to abandon their commitment to the life of reason. It's surely an odd choice for people who pride themselves on being more rational than those gullible, superstitious theists.
