Wednesday, August 12, 2020                                           12:11 PM

Why We Hate Atheists   (2020Aug12)

When an atheist finds themselves bereft in a hollow universe, first comprehending the “faith of their parents and grandparents” to be an ancient tradition of subjugation through mendacity, they feel wild anger and bitter resentment. Becoming an atheist often leads to attitudes just as indulgent in our human nature as those held by people of strong faith. I guess you could call these unhappy people Activist Atheists.

A true atheist finds themselves with the same problem as an ‘anarchist’ or a ‘nihilist’: you can’t form an institution to fight the corrupting influence of institutions. And, since we can’t field an opposing team, we can’t really push back.

But more than that, an atheist cannot change anyone’s mind. We come to discard religion, or we don’t—no one talks us into it. Knowing this, a decent atheist will forego the petty satisfaction of sniping at Theists—A Man in the Sky may be silly to you, but it’s not half as silly as hurting someone’s feelings for no good reason. The question of belief or disbelief is moot.

The thing we must look out for is the creepy people who use our faith, or lack of it, as a springboard for their political agenda. The greatness of our nation lies partly in our having recognized that Religion was too dangerous to let it be part of our Laws and regulations—and we separated church and state even before we declared Independence!

True American people of faith have been proud to live in a country that, by allowing many faiths, has kept them free to worship as they please—guaranteed. You think that’s everywhere? That just happens? No, sorry—that’s America. Or, at the very least, we started it. Why do you think all the Theocratic Dictatorships, like the Saudis and Iranians, always call us ‘Satan’?

So, it’s never been theist vs. atheist. The question remains simply this: Do you see everyone else you meet, as an equal? As a friend? As a strange relative at a family reunion? Well, there it is. That’s the only question. And our world is on the brink because too many people answer No.

If a preacher asks a throng to crowd close together on a public beach to pray, in a ploy to ridicule Public Health Warnings, when he’s never done that before—tell me, is that devotion to God—or a deadly PR stunt?