Religion How does anger at God factor into Atheism?

[Curved_Sw0rd]

Had a conversation with a friend, the other day, regarding religion. Dangerous topic, I know, but anyway, Atheism came up and he brought up a point I've not heard in a long time.

"Atheists are angry at God."

I kinda want to see how some of the more erudite posters would take such a hypothesis, as I think there's a case for it. The world is full of suffering, people are evil often enough to make the world miserable, and it's all easily preventable. That said, just inserting words into the mouths of Atheists who can speak for themselves is a little poor etiquette, but it's surely the case for some?

 

[Big Steve]

I've always found that argument to be arrogantly dismissive. It reduces atheists to petulant children, angry at God for whatever reason. This ignores that some people simply are not convinced in the existence of the divine or, indeed, anything spiritual.

There are atheists who seem constantly angry at religion, sure, but I don't think those two things are necessarily the same. Someone who just doesn't believe in God might still come to be angry at rellgious organizations if they perceive said organizations as oppressing them in some way, or influencing public policy to reflect religious values they don't hold, etc.

 

[Deleted member 88]

I don’t find this statement to be an effective argument against atheism, it reduces them to either children or fundamentally irrational and bitter people.

Which a great deal are not.

And generally I’m not a fan of ascribing subconscious motivations to people, even if I disagree with them. It’s patronizing by its very nature and does nothing to convince them their wrong.

That isn’t to say there are some atheists who are angry either at religion, religious institutions or indeed shaking their fist at God himself. But one should not paint all of them without that brush.

 

[Lanmandragon]

I'm an athiest and I'm not angry at God. In fact I respect religions role in building civilizations. I'd imagine most angry athiests are communists and or edgy teens. With a smattering of average folks thrown in.

 

[Deleted member]

I think Atheism is a result of modern philosophical Materialism, not anger at God. Indeed, I think it's possible to be essentially an Atheist while believing in God, because you don't have a theistic worldview even if you make a nominal protestation in a supreme creator, since you are totally focused on the material world.

 

[LifeisTiresome]

I'm basically an apatheist. I don't care.

I do believe that Western Christianity has been declined and what has risen in its place is Social Justice. Its basically a religion in all but name.

 

[Abhorsen]

Ultimately, I am an atheist because the evidence I can observe comes down overwhelmingly on the non-god side. I don't think most atheists are angry at god, because we don't believe he exists.

 

[Deleted member]

Ultimately, I am an atheist because the evidence I can observe comes down overwhelmingly on the non-god side. I don't think most atheists are angry at god, because we don't believe he exists.

And this is exactly why I say that it’s the Materialism of modern civilisation and not hatred toward God which produces an Atheistic state of mind.

 

[Husky_Khan]

I've always found that argument to be arrogantly dismissive. It reduces atheists to petulant children, angry at God for whatever reason. This ignores that some people simply are not convinced in the existence of the divine or, indeed, anything spiritual.

There are atheists who seem constantly angry at religion, sure, but I don't think those two things are necessarily the same. Someone who just doesn't believe in God might still come to be angry at rellgious organizations if they perceive said organizations as oppressing them in some way, or influencing public policy to reflect religious values they don't hold, etc.

Yes one of the disappointing (among many) things about the original Gods Not Dead film was how Kevin Sorbo's atheist professor character eventually revealed in the climax that beneath all of the intellectual justifications for his atheism, when challenged he emotionally broke and admitted the reason he didn't believe in God was because "He took everything away from me! Yes I hate God. All I have for him is hate!" and the Christian student-protagonist retorted "How can you hate someone if they don't exist?"

*dabs*

But yeah it was a bit of a cringe scene.

Then again, after watching the prequel to Gods Not Dead, which is Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, I began to understand why Kevin Sorbo's Professor character loathed the divine so much. Having an absentee father like Zeus, a petty and vindictive mother like Hera and how all of the Gods almost regardless of pantheon or denomination being so petty or cruel, it would definitely have an effect on ones point of view over the centuries and millenia. I just... hope that the student realizes what he's doing.

I've read enough Dungeons and Dragons to know that if this student had his way and he does prove God's existence, the thought of Zeus suddenly emerging in that same college classroom (via lightning bolt of course), thanking the befuddled Christian advocate for bringing him back before transforming into a bull Ram and chasing after terrified busty co-eds whilst bringing storms of devastation upon mankind for the dual sins of monotheism and atheism.

Can't wait for the sequel...

Sorry... what was the thread about again?

 

[Duke Nukem]

I'm an atheist because I don't really see any credible evidence God exists, but i'm not angry at all

 

[Cherico]

Most Athests are not angry at god, other some people who are in the edgy stage.

Id argue the biggest problem with Athism is you have to cope with and grapple with Nilism at some point and have to create your own meaning in life.

 

[Terthna]

When I became an atheist, it wasn't because I was angry with God; rather, I was angry with organized religion, and Christians in particular. Eventually I mellowed out a bit, realized I didn't necessarily have to be completely contrarian with my own beliefs, and became an agnostic theist. After all; it's not god's fault that the people brown-noising him are jerks.

 

[Scottty]

If you look for long enough, you'll probably find someone who yells about how he doesn't believe there's a God, and some reading between the lines will show that he actually is furious at God for something, and is denying His existence as a sort of "take that!".
But he's not the only sort of atheist around, not at all.

There are also people who deny that there's a God because they like to do things that they know that God has forbidden. Communist revolutionaries being an example of this.

But there are also people who've become hostile to religion, and disbelieving in God, for reasons one can have more sympathy for.
Say an intelligent young chap is brought up in a community defined by a certain religion, and being inquisitive and wanting to know he has some honest questions... but those questions are above the intellectual level of the people he's asking, and rather than admit this, they tell him that it's wrong to question, just shut up and believe as you are told, etc.
So he gets the impression that religion is something for stupid people. And sadly, by the time he has the opportunity to meet and interact with Theists who can discuss things and field questions of the sort he had to begin with, his heart has become hardened.

 

[Big Steve]

There are also people who deny that there's a God because they like to do things that they know that God has forbidden. Communist revolutionaries being an example of this.

Uh, with the Communist revolutionaries, wouldn't that be because of the "opiate of the masses" thing, with religion being seen as a tool of elites to keep workers in line with the promise of spiritual reward for obedience?

 

[Lanmandragon]

Uh, with the Communist revolutionaries, wouldn't that be because of the "opiate of the masses" thing, with religion being seen as a tool of elites to keep workers in line with the promise of spiritual reward for obedience?

That's what they claim the truth is they don't like the competition. Communism like many faiths must be both dominant and crush competition.

 

[Deleted member]

The communists actually had a dedicated effort to go around promoting atheism by mocking the Russian Orthodox Church after the revolution, but many miracles occurred which strengthened the faith of the common people, so they ultimately resorted to forcibly closing and converting churches, shooting the remaining priests (who they hadn't shot during the Civil War), and applying the screws that way, because atheist preaching tended to backfire.

 

[SergeantBrother]

This is the kind of thing that Christians say when they don't actually know many atheists or at least haven't talked to them. I'm an atheist myself and I'm not angry at God. I've never even spoken to an atheist who was. How could we be angry with a being we don't believe exists? Now, I have encountered plenty of atheists who are angry at religion or at least some religions. There are plenty of atheists who are edge lords who like to say blasphemous things or attack Christianity* but that isn't the same as being angry at God.

As for myself, I'm not angry at religion or religious people, I think that religious institutions have done great good in the world and my best friends are Christians, in some cases quite devout Christians. With any religion (some more than others) I could find certain tenets which I disagree with and will debate about.

* Edit: that will attack Christianity but are often too cowardly to attack other *coughcoughislam* religions.

 

[The Name of Love]

Not all atheists are atheists because they hate God. But I'm willing to bet that a good chunk of them are atheists because they hate God. Passion moves people to believe something more often than reason, especially in a modern democracy, where reason is stifled.

Now, there are many reasons one could hate God, but there are three main reasons I generally come across. First, they hate God's followers, and since they hate God's followers, they hate him. They could hate God's followers for a variety of reasons, some good, some bad. I knew a friend, for instance, who was abused as a child by his Calvinist family members and became an atheist because of this. Second, they have a false idea of what God is. For example, Christopher Hitchens claims that God is like Saddam Hussein and Heaven is like North Korea. Believing such falsehoods as these would definitely stir up hatred of God. Third, they would hate God because God forbids them from indulging in some vice or sin. For example, if you are a homosexual, then you have ample motivation to hate God because God forbids homosexual acts.

Now, in my experience, one can usually pick out the intellectual atheists from the bigoted ones by the quality of their arguments and the amount of contempt with which they speak. If an atheist is polite and given cogent, well-reasoned arguments for their non-belief, they are probably not a bigot. If they quickly resort to strawman arguments, polemics, and generally come across as an asshole, then they are bigots.

For the atheists in this thread, do you agree with my assessment?

 

[Abhorsen]

Not all atheists are atheists because they hate God. But I'm willing to bet that a good chunk of them are atheists because they hate God. Passion moves people to believe something more often than reason, especially in a modern democracy, where reason is stifled.

Now, there are many reasons one could hate God, but there are three main reasons I generally come across. First, they hate God's followers, and since they hate God's followers, they hate him. They could hate God's followers for a variety of reasons, some good, some bad. I knew a friend, for instance, who was abused as a child by his Calvinist family members and became an atheist because of this. Second, they have a false idea of what God is. For example, Christopher Hitchens claims that God is like Saddam Hussein and Heaven is like North Korea. Believing such falsehoods as these would definitely stir up hatred of God. Third, they would hate God because God forbids them from indulging in some vice or sin. For example, if you are a homosexual, then you have ample motivation to hate God because God forbids homosexual acts.

Now, in my experience, one can usually pick out the intellectual atheists from the bigoted ones by the quality of their arguments and the amount of contempt with which they speak. If an atheist is polite and given cogent, well-reasoned arguments for their non-belief, they are probably not a bigot. If they quickly resort to strawman arguments, polemics, and generally come across as an asshole, then they are bigots.

For the atheists in this thread, do you agree with my assessment?

I think a better way of asking this question is 'Do athiests hate religion?' The issue being is that it's hard to hate something you don't believe even exists.

 

[The Name of Love]

I think a better way of asking this question is 'Do athiests hate religion?' The issue being is that it's hard to hate something you don't believe even exists.

Hm... there's much truth to be said in that. But do you agree that hating Christianity makes you more likely to become an atheist?