DangerousTalk

Religious believers often accuse atheists of being angry, but if you ever read comment on any article dealing with atheism, it really seems like it is the theists who are the angry ones. Why is that?

Last weekend, atheists rallied to protest our exclusion from the “Free Speech Zone” in West Chester, PA. The local newspaper covered the story. I went online to read the story and found a slew of angry and hate filled comments by Christians. This isn’t the first time this has happened either. Any news story that even mentioned the fact that atheists exist on virtually any news website gets filled up with angry, hate filled comments by the religious.

The way I see it, it is a lot like the Santa myth. It just takes one kid to know the truth and the myth is shattered for everyone. The belief is so weak that it can’t stand up to any scrutiny or criticism without falling apart completely. So the mere existence of people who make it known that they don’t believe is enough to get those who do believe on the defensive.

Most religious believers really can’t even attempt to defend their beliefs and so they get angry at atheists for forcing them to think. If everyone believers in God, then they can continue to live in blissful delusion, but if just one person rejects that belief then the delusion is diluted. The possibility arises that God might not exist. The more people reject the belief in a god, the more religious believers have to accept the possibility that they are wrong and that God doesn’t exist.

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Filed under: culture war, Religion, truth