Why Atheists Hate Religion

Another Christmas season as come and gone--the 'War on Christmas' is over, for this year. Be sure to look for it again about mid-November next year. I've come across more than one 'article' asking why atheists hate or fear Christians and Christianity so much--apparently, we purposefully get particularly riled up this time of year. I'd like to take a stab at answering this question, but first, I should explain that it isn't even a valid question. As in, you holy folks aren't asking the right question, and I can only assume this is so because you have no idea what the hell you're talking about (I will chalk this up to your immense persecution complex and leave it at that).

I don't know of many atheists who hate Christians, and the ones that actively do, well, I see that more as an individual character flaw that has less to do with their atheism than their general personal stupidity. There are sometimes people who just like to hate and they come in all faiths, or lack thereof. We will set those people aside as a whole other dialog that has nothing to do with atheism or Christianity.

It is likely that a number of atheists hate Christianity. Just as they hate every other organized religion. This is pretty easy to explain--they hate what these religions represent and the actions they support and propagate. I'm talking bigotry, sexism, sadism, hypocrisy...you know, the general inequality and brutishness that keeps them afloat. Atheists hate the divisions these religions create because it's these divisions that make it so hard to find peace and decency on this planet. For those who disagree, I challenge you to find me an example where atheists' and their atheism has been the root cause of systemic hatred, intolerance, violence, and death--I'm talking as a direct result of the foundations of their atheism. Don't give me that old Stalin/Hitler crap, because those loaves don't float.

The fact is that the Big Three religions have long and bloody histories, where they kill each other and every other living thing that happens to have had the great misfortune of being near them. This is why we hate these religions. Case in point. Thanks Israel.

And I don't think hate is too strong a word. Ask me if I hate violence, sexual assault, and murder. I will say that yes, I do. I hate these things. I hate them. And yes, I hate the organizational structures that continue to push these terrible things in order to prop up their sad, delusional philosophies, and more importantly, their powerful grip on the subconscious of the human race. No, hate is not too strong a word.

We also hate that we, who have no bones to pick with anyone that might result in violence and/or death (no, we have no dogma that says it's okay to kill and abuse), are continually demonized. The old argument that atheists have nothing to keep them from acting like maniacs, save our own decency that stems from a love of this life, this world, and the people in it (oh noes!) is a fallacy, and every Christian that actually stops to think about it--but who never do, because they are so ill-equipped for personal, individual considerations that fall outside the box they created for themselves--would see this. They would know this. (For a good piece on what might happen if the roles were reversed, see vjack's Atheist Revolution).

And so, we are deemed the 'bad kids.' And not just during the Christian holidays, but all year 'round. We are discriminated against, we are seen as unfit to hold office, unfit to raise children, unfit for just about anything that requires a conscience. These roles are filled to the brim with the religious, who, as one can easily see in any newspaper and on any news show, every day, sometimes, quite literally, get away with murder. And molestation. And rape. And violence. And adultery. And scams.

Why? Because there is a myth perpetuated within our culture that the religious are pious, no matter what they do, and atheists are evil and destructive, no matter what they do. And Christians wonder why we get so bunched up.

So, why does it seem like the atheists come out of the woodwork around Christmas time? Is it just to make your lives difficult, Christians? No. It's because every year, you seem to feel the need to highlight this monumental social discrepancy, by doing things like, oh, I dunno, using government branches to make a statement--that we are a Christian Nation--to all other faiths, and especially the faithless. You feel the need to scream from the mountain top that we have no place at the table and never will. How very...Christian of you.

You apparently feel like we should happily eat the shit you shovel into our mouths every. Single. Year. And let's not forget, the other 364 days. We can either stand by and take it, which is tantamount to agreeing with you, or we can make some sort of demonstration against it, which we have been doing, more and more so, every year. And we'll continue to do so, so long as you insist on making us not only feel like second class citizens, but insist on painting us in the horrible false light you insist on painting us in.

This is the bed you've made. I hope you sleep well in it, because let me tell you, our stepping up and pushing back allows me to sleep quite well.