You are Angry at God

This is a statement that I hear when someone finds out that I am an atheist. It is a frustrating accusation that gets old fast. I could understand that if my journey in atheism was a sudden occurrence, but it wasn’t.

First of all, how can I be angry at something/someone that I don’t believe exists? I’d be setting up a straw man to vent my anger at. I don’t believe in a deity, ergo I am an atheist by the barest of definitions of that word.

Things that I get accused of for being angry at a god for. My daughter’s disability, my lack of success in the world, my failure at relationships, the list could go on. My daughter’s condition is a freak chance of unknown factors as we haven’t a clue to what causes the condition. I am unhappy with my level of success, but the only one that can change that is myself. As far as relationships go, there are a wide variety of factors to why those have failed (and yes, I know some of the foibles and others I don’t). Turning it over to some entity that I don’t believe exists is just a panacea to the underlying problem. It is easier to give it over to “god” than to deal with it for yourself.

For the record, as I stated, I am not angry at god or any other entity that allegedly has sway over this world. I just choose not to believe in something. Sorry if that goes boldly in the face of anything you might experience. That is your choice. Let me have mine.

I am growing in my atheism. I may at times appear to be lashing out. I don’t mean too. What I am doing is expressing my thoughts on something that I have thought long and hard on. I want to share my thoughts with you. Yes, it will appear I am attacking that which you hold dear, but I am not meaning too. I just want to point out why I disagree.

Another reason we get accused of being angry is that we are passionate about our atheism. Those of faith should be able to relate to this idea. You are full of zeal and love for your chosen faith and just want to share it with everybody you encounter. We feel the same way. We tend to point out the errors in scripture and outright contradictions found therein. For Christians, you like to quote your favorite verse for a given situation and quote famous pastors or other authorities of your faith. We as atheists tend to do the same thing with our favorite famous atheists and others of like minds. I often quote Hitchens, Seth Andrews, and Noah Lugeons.

When we get into a heated discussion, it is perfectly okay to walk away with neither side gaining ground over the other. The constructive dialog is good. When it degrades into a shouting match, it is time to walk away and approach the subject another day. If we say, “you really don’t want to go down that road,” we mean it. It usually winds up with someone getting their feelings hurt and a feeling that one side is attacking the other outright. If you want to have a discussion, come prepared. Most of the time we are. We might throw something in your direction you have never thought of. Don’t be daunted by it. We just have been thinking our way long enough to have ideas that are not covered by most (and a lot of times discouraged by the officials of your faith).

No, I’m not an angry person. I am a passionate person. There is a difference.

I hope this helps some of you out. If not, feel free to ask questions. Feel free to DM me. What have you. Will we have heated discussions? Yes. Will one of us appear angry? Definitely. In the end, we should be able to respect one another. Oh, and if you are going to pray for me, keep that to yourself. That is akin to saying to someone, “bless their heart.”

(This post originally appeared as a Facebook post.)