A question that many atheists often hear from theists is, "What are you so angry about?" Another is, "Why do you hate God?" Or even, "Why do you have to bash Christianity so much?"
These are all very valid questions when asked of many atheists, especially those who haven't been atheists for very long. But they should cause all atheists to stop for a moment and reflect upon why they're being asked.
Back in my Freethought Society of Northern Utah days, we would often have meetings that eventually evolved into gabfests of small pods of people. Occasionally, someone would be offended by, for example, anti-Mormon statements made by someone. Or maybe by jokes that make fun of a particular religious group or belief.
To a theist, such behavior is offensive, and a bit incomprehensible. And let's face it, we atheists don't generally react well to atheist-bashing or jokes like, "Did you know there's an atheist holiday? April 1st!" We don't appreciate them, so why should we think they'd appreciate them?
And it's not just theists who are offended, but also those who are still questioning their beliefs. Bashing their childhood religion is not the way to show them how enlightened atheists are. But even more than that, anyone who has any respect for another human being's feelings (whether or not you respect their beliefs) should know better than to bash the person's faith to their face.
But it's almost understandable, why we have this tendency. In Utah, for example, there were many members of my freethought group who'd been raised Mormon, and were angry about having been lied to all those years. Or maybe angry at themselves for swallowing it for so long. They felt abused, having been in a cult without realizing it. It's natural to lash out at what we see as the source of our pain. In many cases, it happens to be religion.
The anger, the "hatred" (if indeed that's what it is), even the jokes, are all part of the severance package that comes with leaving a faith behind. Make no mistake - religion's grip on a person can be very, very strong. And even those of us who break free of the bonds occasionally still feel the ghost of that grip. And we lash out at that, too.
And this lashing isn't often prefaced with a "No offense, but…" comment. We bash faith, we make fun of believers, and we think little of it.
But most atheists, I like to think, as they grow comfortable in their atheism, eventually lose the desire to be so spiteful. The anger subsides. The hatred, generally, vanishes.
I've been an atheist for over two decades. That's longer than I was a Christian. I've had time to get over the anger and resentment. Yes, I still occasionally mock. I still rant. But I take care to never offend a believer to his/her face, unless they're in mine, first.
I try, today, to focus on the negative aspects of religion in society, rather than what I see as just the general idiocy of religion in general. I find this to be a more productive approach to fighting the Christianization of America than mere blanket statements about faith, or picking apart Bible verses.
But more than that, I try not to do it because I don't like to hurt people. My goal with this site, and with my activism, isn't to offend. It's to educate and motivate. The type of behavior I've written about here is counterproductive to that. Understandable though it can be, at times.
Many atheists reading this article might respond with, "Yeah, but we're treated like crap by these theists." And that's often true. I can't even count the number of vile emails I've received over the years. I know webmasters of other atheist sites will agree. Some of them, though fortunately not me, have even received death threats from supposedly "loving" Christians.
Such behavior makes it very difficult sometimes to not get angry, to hold back the epithets. All I can say is, "Try." For everyone's sake.
