Hating the gods ain’t the same as being an atheist
Why do so many theists persist in telling testimonies that are completely at odds with claims that they were atheists?
I read one such testimony recently where the man telling it made a statement to the effect that he was an atheist because he was too arrogant to bow down before the cross of Christianity. He never actually said he didn’t believe in God, just that he had issues with God and Christianity that were directly related to his narcissistic tendencies.
People just lapped it up, praising him for humbling himself and accepting Jesus. I just wanted to scream “If he was an atheist – I’m the Queen of England!”. Hell, I might still do that. I know what you might be thinking. It’d be rude to challenge someone’s description of themselves like that.
But, here’s the thing. Not following a god for whatever reason is not the same as not believing that such a god exists. It’s like stating you’re for gender equality but want to ban women from certain career tracks because of the vagina issue. You would be guilty of contradicting yourself and it would not be rude to point that out.
It seems to me that these particular theists were never atheists, but merely rebellious believers. It’s like a kid that gets fed up with their parent’s rules and moves out. They don’t quit believing in the literal existence of their parents – they’re just mad or whatever.
Of course, these theists get by with these odd and contradictory stories because of what the religious leaders say about atheists, but that just goes to prove how intellectually challenged they are at the very least.
Any reasonable person should be able to see through the “I was a jackass for Darwin and now I’m a jackass for Jesus” song & dance.
What do you think?
KC: You’re right, of course. Here’s how I analyze the situation.
A lifelong theist experiences either an acute trauma or a chronic feeling of depression or a dissatisfaction with being repressed by his religion. He or she then says: “God is being shitty to me, so I’ll show Him a thing or two. I’m going to become an atheist. I hate God!”
Over the next few weeks/months/years the God-hating theist continues to believe that he or she is an atheist. However, eventually one of the following two things occur.
1) the God-hating theist realizes that there was no penalty for hating her god and that hey, maybe there isn’t any god to hate. She is then on the way to becoming an atheist as you and I define it.
2) the theist realizes that there was no penalty for hating his god and decides that his god must actually love him. He tries to figure out what he must have done wrong in the first place for God to have acted so pissily toward him. Maybe he finds another sect or cult, but he’s back on the god track. Big time. And now he’s a former atheist!
That’s why, whenever I run across such nonsense, I challenge any “atheist” who seems to be angry at God or Jesus.
Sounds good.
This is precisely the kind of story theists want because it backs up what they argue, that the choice of atheism is based on irrationality. No doubt you’ve heard it before – “what happened to make you an atheist?”. The implication is clear, that you’ve reacted emotionally to a particular depressing or tragic situation by rejecting god. It’s all part of a grander scheme of theirs to undermine the foundations of nearly every atheist which are the means by which they live their lives and ultimately arrived at atheism, reason and critical thinking. This is one of the angles in that argument. The others include claiming atheism is merely based on faith and that it’s a religion. I went into some depth on this before.
I agree, this person you speak of from the testimony was no atheist to begin with. No doubt it was some adolescent, Jerry Springer guest wannabe rejecting god like he’s an overbearing parent. “Screw you! I can do what I want! You’re not the boss of me!” Completely ridiculous. If you’re an atheist because you hate god, hate your church, hate your parents, are sad your dog died, or any silly reason other than rationally rejecting the claims for the existence of a god or gods for lack of evidence, you’re not an atheist. You’re a an upset theist.
Why is it that a remarkable number of theists accuse atheists of ‘hating’ god? I’ve only been here a few months and I have gotten that reaction to my comments a couple of times. How can I hate something that does not exist? Should I hate compassionate conservatives? Should I hate millionaire welfare queens? Should I hate Lamarkian evolution? Should I hate the little pills you can add to water to make gasoline? Should I hate Thor? Zeus? Mazda?
I agree that such claims as “I used to be an atheist and hate god” comes not from atheism, but rather from an adolescent rage against an unfair authority figure. An upsetheist is not an atheist.
Okay, now I’m confused. Billy, are you saying Mazda does not exist?
Sorry, my bad. I should have written Uhura Mazda, the Zoroastrian god. The car company does exist. I used to have a Mazda. That clear it up?