The Atheist's Angst

Comments that I get tired of hearing:

1. Atheists just hate God.
2. Atheists hate Christians.
3. Atheists have a negative outlook on life.

As an atheist, I can assure you that I do not hate god. The statement that an atheist hates god is about as nonsensical as saying that Christians hate sentient hamburgers. In order for someone to “hate” something, one must actually believe that the something exists. How can I possibly hate that which I do not believe exists? Please, I would really like an answer to this one.

As for hating Christians (or any other theist, for that matter), nothing could be further from the truth. For the most part, I do not know you. Just like the example above, I would have to have a certain degree of knowledge about you before I could decide whether or not I “hate” you. Seems rather fundamental to me.

As for the negative outlook, I would contend that theists hold more of a negative outlook on life than an atheist would. Otherwise, why look forward to a “paradise?” I think that I would rather bring about positive change in the world that I know exists than wait for the “next life,” which is, to say the least, unproven.

Yes, there are things in this life that I hate. Hypocrisy, for example. Homophobia would be another example of things I hate. Injustice is a good one. Bigotry. That’s a big one.

So, if you are a narrow-minded, homophobic person that happens to hate others due to their gender, race, creed, age or disability and you just happen to be a Christian… Well, I think you see where I am going with this.