It is a common misconception among the faithful that atheists are simply believers who have grown so angry with God that they turn their backs on their faith. Not so.
The recent crop of "New" atheists seem to the religious community to be attacking God and venting their hatred of Him, while simultaneously trying to recruit new apostates to their cause. The idea that atheists hate God is yet another in a long line of myths and misunderstandings about atheism and atheists.
A closer reading of the books written by authors like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens reveals something altogether different. The attacks in The God Delusion or God is Not Great-How Religion Poisons Everything aren't aimed at the Judeo-Christian God, Islam's Allah or any other deity, but at the leaders and organizations that use belief in those beings to justify their existence and pick the pockets of the faithful.
If atheists hate anything, it isn't a supernatural being but the damage that belief in such a being can do. Atheists don't hate God any more than they hate trolls or unicorns, since they assert that none of those beings actually exist.
"Thou Shalt Not Mock My Faith" is the Unstated Eleventh Commandment
Atheist writers like Richard Dawkins turn phrases like “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."
Admittedly, that sounds pretty hateful, but expressing a hateful point of view isn't the intent. He uses that particular phrase and phraseology to humourously point out that (in this case) the Christian religion isn't strictly peace and love but comes from a somewhat less benign tradition. Whether that is actually true or not, it is true that Dawkins' language provokes debate.
No court in existence could convict Dawkins of libel for making that statement, since the expressed nature of the God of the Old Testament is indeed demonstrably similar to the way he characterizes Him by means of a simple reading of the book. That doesn't mean that saying such things demonstrates hatred. It is a modern and more aggressive version of Mark Twain's "It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand."
Dawkins doesn't hate God. He mocks him. To the ears of the average believer that mockery sounds hateful. Further, and perhaps less forgivably, Dawkins has the audacity to mock the belief in God. In Dan Dennett's Breaking the Spell, the concept of believing in belief is examined. Dennett suggests that many religious people are more attached to the concepts and trappings of belief and faith than to the actual deity they profess to believe in. Certainly even a gentle mocking of that faith can raise hackles.
Hating God and Pascal's Wager
Hatred requires that a being, an idea or a situation be acknowledged as existing. Atheists cannot, by definition, hate God since to the atheist such a being isn't at all likely to actually exist. In Pascal's famous Wager, he suggests that believing in God is a safer bet than not believing since there is the chance, however slim, of a reward for faith in the afterlife. Atheists are forever on the opposite side of the Wager, while someone who believes in God but hates Him still believes and by extension still lays odds on the belief side of Pascal's Wager.
Atheists have any number of things that they hate. They are human, like everyone else. There are good atheists, bad ones, liberal atheists, conservative too. The only hatred that categorically cannot be listed among their various failings is a hatred of something they don't believe exists.
The copyright of the article Do Atheists Really Just Hate God? in Religious Tolerance is owned by James Richardson. Permission to republish Do Atheists Really Just Hate God? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
It seems a bit of a play on semantics to me, no? An atheist, does not
believe in any god and mocks those who do. (not all atheists mind you)
They may not hate God, But some (perhaps most?) obviously have problems
with people who do. (Or the very concept) "Tolerance", is a
double edged sword, and I have met and heard far more intolerant Atheists
then Christians. It is absolutely true though, that there are good atheists
and bad ones, just as with all people, even Christians. The difference is
Christians are accountable to God, and Atheists are accountable to know one
but themselves (and the laws and regulations of the place they live of
course). Their morality is as rigid as they want. Is it not that way for
Christians too? They choose weather they obey the law or disobey. Here are some links that explain much better than I can.
http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5688
I am living proof that God is hateful. No matter how many times I've
prayed to Him, He always finds ways of kicking me in the teeth. He goes out
of his way to make sure that every day I am upset, aggravated, nervous, and
constantly berated by people. Every "good" thing that I've ever
had has always had a Trojan Horse built into it, so that it turns out to be
corrupted in the end. This is why I curse and curse and curse Him.....it's
called hopelessness. I don't go to church anymore because it's a
waste of time. I used to enjoy it, I really did!! But, the way my life is,
by Tuesday, any benefit is gone and I regret even going. I even resent God
for tricking me into going. I haven't put a dime in the church
collection box in 10 years. Why? Because I am on the "payroll
deduction" plan. God finds ways of taking it out of my hide.
Tithing--whether I want to or not. Things are constantly breaking on me,
requiring replacement. I won't waste space on examples, but take my word,
God is behind it.I feel his presence. The way I see God now is this:
He sat up there for billions of years & got bored. So he created the
universe & saw that it was fun. On the 6th day he created man and saw
that this was REALLY fun. Kinda' like we did as kids, pulling wings off
flies or tormenting ants with a magnifying glass. I sincerely believe that
all the crap in the world is God's way of entertaining himself.....at OUR
expense. Adam & Eve were thrown out of Eden. Why? Because they
learned "the truth" by eating the apple. This is why, I believe,
God hates ME....because I know the truth about HIM, that he's not the kind
loving wonderful Lord that they say he is. Just look at Job....he had his
life ruined by God (and Satan) over a $5 bet. Devil said, "I bet I can
make him hate you". God said, "You're on!" So Job suffers
and suffers for years so God can prove a point. HOW CRUEL IS THAT??? Don't go blaming Satan....he's just doing his job. If an old lady gets
mugged and you walk by & ignore it, U R just as guilty! So it is with
God. Look at all the pain and suffering that religion has caused. The
Crusades, Witch Hunts, the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust, all the Holy
Wars, even 9/11 was caused by religious hatred. So many have suffered in
His name and He sits back & lets it happen. Sometimes I think I
hate God, but I really don't. I just RESENT him for having all that power
and glory and just sitting idle while people suffer. Just hateful
Nov 25, 2008 8:24 PM
Guest :
Just what the article is pointing out. The comment above is from a
believer who resents or perhaps hates. No atheist would or could resent a
god like that. I can't hate what I don't believe exists.
Dec 5, 2008 1:17 PM
Guest :
How does an atheist "hate" god? It would be like hating
leprechauns or fairies. They dont exist and neither does god. As an
atheist, I just get on with my life, doing the usual things, you know,
friends, family, work, hobbies, vacations, the same stuff all normal people
do. But I have one great advantage - I don't have to fear a non-existent
heaven or hell or worship any myths. I can also slep in on Sundays and I
never, ever have to give a cent to religidiots who live off the sweat of
others. Life is good!
Jan 15, 2009 6:58 PM
Guest :
Problem is atheism is being hijacked by people who want to attack and
destroy Christianity and other religions. To me Atheism is a cheap cop
out. There is so much in the universe that we cannot explain, so much in
our own bodies we cannot explain. Atheists just give up and decide that
someday science will figure it out. Atheists also do not understand that
no mortal can understand God. God is an immortal deity that we simply
cannot comprehend because we only live for a century at the max. If people
would take time out of their I-pod, fast food, american idol watching
pathetic lives and read a book or had a braincell left to think perhaps
they could begin to understand that there has to be something out there
that we just cannot comprehend. This is my impression from the handful of
Atheists I have met. out of them only one truely did not believe in God.
The others just said I was dumb, or an idiot, or got outright mad. Pretty
small minority of true atheists out there I guess.
Apr 4, 2009 3:25 PM
Guest :
NO, atheist do not hate god(s). Anyone who hate(s) god(s) is just an angry
theist or polytheist. You have to understand what the definition of
atheism to understand why this is a true statement.
