Atheists Don’t Hate God.

I'm an atheist and an active participant in debate groups about skepticism vs Christianity, and skepticism vs religion in general. These are neat groups and I have met many intelligent believers and skeptics through them. I've also met very unintelligent skeptics and believers because of them. More than anything else though because of these groups I've been introduced to bad arguments. If you go onto these groups you'll hear bad arguments from both sides, but I want to address one from the Christian camp in this post. If after you read this post and want me to write more stuff like this let me know. 

There are some Christians (not all Christians think this way, so if you want to comment keep that in mind) who believe that skeptics "hate God". This is not true. At all. In fact it's so untrue that there's actually a word for people who "hate God(s)". And guess what? That word isn't "atheist", it's actually "misotheist". A misotheist is someone who hates God or the gods. Atheists do not hate God or the gods, and many skeptics who say that they "dislike" deities mean in the same sense that readers dislike Voldemort or any other antagonist in a literary piece. The implication with misotheism is that these are men and women who believe a deity (or deities) exists and that for whatever reason these beings ought to be hated and are hated at least by misotheists. An example of a misotheist can be found in the movie "God's Not Dead" in the antagonist Professor Radisson. Misotheism and atheism are not the same and I want to operate under the assumption that the Christians who think that atheism=misotheism are merely misinformed and not individuals who seek to confuse others into thinking this way. 

As a skeptic I have no opinion on God. I do not hate or like God. In order for me to have an opinion on God that would make sense to me I'd have to believe in God or in some deity which I don't. When Christians say that atheists hate God it doesn't make any sense to most of us. We understand the purpose behind it: to find some way to rationalize our disbelief in a Christian worldview but it doesn't actually make sense in the real world that we all have to share. My lack of a belief in something you believe in is not in anyway a sign that I hate the thing I claim to not believe in.

I must respectfully ask that Christians who claim skeptics hate God stop making that claim. It's dishonest. I can assure you that as an atheist I do not hate your deity. I don't even really hate your religion. Or you. I hate the behavior of some members of your faction and I'm sure that you can say the same for some members of my group. But that doesn't mean that I'm "suppressing the truth in unrighteousness". I'm merely neutral towards a claim that you make until I see evidence which demonstrates that the claim is reflective of reality. I don't think there's anything wrong with needing evidence to believe in something and I'm sure that many of you don't either, perhaps it's just that what qualifies as evidence to the two of us differs. 

Christians who think that atheists hate God: you believing this isn't going to convince skeptics who know that they merely lack a belief to seriously consider your religion. If anything you'll make yourselves and others who agree with you look silly. You'll also make it harder for us to set aside our differences and genuinely engage in well-meaning dialogue. Please consider this when you next contemplate spreading statements that either imply or out right state that nonbelievers hate your deity. If you want to change the minds of skeptics you need to properly understand the position of skepticism and if you think this way that's proof you don't properly understand the minds of skeptics. And it's possible that you might have thought you were a skeptic when you were actually more properly defined as a misotheist. There's nothing wrong with misotheism and many cultures and belief systems have deities you are supposed to dislike, deities who represent elements that invoke sensations of misotheism in believers in those systems. Keep that in mind.

I hope we can engage in productive dialogues and learn how to treat each other with respect and communicate despite our differences of opinions and beliefs. Let's sincerely listen to each other with respect! Let me know what you think of what I've said here by leaving a comment. I'd love to chat with you.