I have decided to start a new series regarding atheism and its errors due to the fact that my “Atheism is stupid” and “Atheism Dilemma” posts have been extremely popular. This new series will be on specific misconceptions that are often repeated by atheists or those who claim to be an atheist. The first misconception will deal with Leprechauns since today is St. Patrick’s day.

Why Leprechauns?

Well, take a look at some of these nonsensical tweets.

@vhinquintela Otherwise, I say to you, “Prove that there’s no leprechaun that created it!” @marsdaddy @BadTheistTweets
— Atheist Quote Bot (@Atheist_Bot) March 6, 2015

My POV: There is the same level of evidence for the existence of any deity as there is for the existence of any leprechaun @Atheist_Eh — Chrisanthrope (@2ManyOfUs) February 19, 2015

I don’t get why theists get mad when i reflect their reasoning? I just replace the word god with mermaid or leprechaun.. #atheist
— Sarah (@nukacola11) February 5, 2015

@CatholicGadfly #atheists we don’t know that leprechaun don’t exist either but we highly doubt it! Same with god — Atheist scott (@athieratheist) August 5, 2014

@CatholicGadfly I’d be happy of you could empirically demonstrate that you’re not worshipping a leprechaun. #atheists
— Percy Noot (@Perdnoot) August 5, 2014

@CatholicGadfly You still lack empirical evidence that your deity isn’t anything but a leprechaun, I see. #atheists — Percy Noot (@Perdnoot) August 23, 2014

@SCDTVS I’d just like to see empirical evidence that you’re not actually worshipping a leprechaun. #atheists
— Percy Noot (@Perdnoot) March 28, 2014

Problem With Argument
The persons behind these accounts are trying to equate God with a Leprechaun.  They argue that Leprechauns and God are one in the same: myth.  To an uneducated person who is not well versed in logic, this argument would seem to be very convincing.  However, to one who is educated and well versed in logic, he or she would see that this argument is a False Equivalence fallacy.  A False Equivalence fallacy is when a comparison of two or more subjects is made, attempting to make a logical connection when there is none (Phillips & Bostian, 2014).

Background
Leprechauns are mythical creatures said to reside in Ireland and guard pots filled with gold or gold coins. The word “Leprechaun” comes from “leiprechan” or “Luchrupan.” in Gaelic.  They are said to be humanoid fairies of some sort (offspring of an evil spirit and fairy) who guard a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and also make shoes.  The myth of the creature originates from a story from the medieval ages entitled “Adventure of Fergus Son of Leti” (Koch, John T. (2006).

Refutation
So we see that Leprechauns are nothing but mythological formulations of the human mind since they can be traced to a human author. The attempt to conflate God with Leprechauns is ignorance at best. We cannot say that God is a myth because we do not have an author from which to trace Him to. Some may say that the Bible shows God’s original in authorship; however, this argument fails because the concept of God or gods predate any “sacred books” found in any religion or culture. Others may say that the concept of God originated from oral traditions.  This argument also fails as the concept is a universal one that can be found in every culture known, both current and extinct. Interestingly enough, the concept of Leprechauns can only be traced to one region: Ireland.  It is not a universal concept.   Moreover, biologically and psychologically speaking, we are all hard wired to believe in God (Boyer, 2008). This is interesting because we are not hard wired to believe in Leprechauns, Fairies or anything of the like.

Therefore, the idea or suggestion that God and Leprechauns are both comprised of myth is illogical and complete nonsense.  This argument is a False Equivalency fallacy that fails to take into account facts and evidence.  It shows the lethargic cognition that some atheists are capable of engaging in.