RE: Why do atheists hate God?: An article Dissection
October 28, 2011 at 11:41 am
(This post was last modified: October 28, 2011 at 11:44 am by Ziploc Surprise.)
In defense of the article writer *wait, let me put my horns on...hold on a second* there is a certain degree of confusion within the general population with the definition of an atheist and the difference between god and religion.
Distinguishing between an Athiest and an unaffiliated person.The label "Atheist" is self explanitory. It literally means no religion but I have observed that there is a vast pool of people who are apathetic about what they believe. Religion and religious beliefs are not as important as getting to work on time, what salad dressing to use or the possibility of their soccer team winning. Don't get me wrong I don't find fault with these people I am pointing out that they exist. I am also pointing out that some theists (and some unafiliated people) confuse these people with people who have made a conscious choice not to have religion or believe in a supernatural being i.e. the atheists. In the words of the "Rush" song "Frewill (as I recall)? it says "You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice, if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice (technically speaking this is true. choosing not to decide is usually just not a deliberate choice).......I will choose frewill. Choosing freewill is a deliberate conscious choice.
Confusing god and religion: The other condition that seems to exist is that many people confuse god and religion. God/gods/spirits etc refer to supernatural beings. Religion is the structure of beliefs and practices set up to deal with these beings. In many religions various sects/denominations etc can agree that they believe in the same supernatural being but not agree on how to deal with this being (they disagree on religious practices and or structure). This is an example of how a religious structure can exist separately from a supernatural being. In the same way one can own a car but you can believe either that your car should be spotless and clean and not smell bad or you can believe that your car is a place to eat, sleep, and store all your worldly possessions in (a situation that naturally leads to a mess). It's the same car just different beliefs about how to treat a car.
Is it god? There are many people who don't practice religion but when something shitty happens to them they blame a supernatural source instead of leaving the causality to randomness or perhaps a mistake or a character flaw within themselves. I know many unafilliated people who shake their fist at the sky.
Is it religion? I know other people who hate a supernatural being because someone from a particular religion that claims to worship this supernatural being was a dick to them. There are religious people who aren't dicks. If one religion can have both dicks and non dicks then I would venture to say that these people must be acting independently from their supernatural being. This makes it easy to identify the cause of their dick like behavior. Are they dicks because they are selfish bastards who have independently interpreted their religious doctrine (the structure) to justify their behavior? Or, if they interpret their doctrine to mean "thou shalt not be a dick", then are they just generally dicks who consciously know that they are violating their religious doctrine when they exhibit dick like behavior? To be a dick or not to be a dick. Whether it is nobler in mind to interpret your religion to justify your dick like behavior or suffer the slings and arrows and be a sinner. This is the question. God I love to mess up Hamelet...I digress
Conclusion. These two conditions; the confusion between unafiliated people and atheists, and a confusion between a supernatural being and religion can account for the illogical notion that atheists (those who have made a conscious choice not to have a religin or believe in a supreme being) hate God. After all you have to have some sort of belief in a supernatural being in order to be mad at it. Athiests (the one's without spaghetti for brains) put the blame for shit where it lies, In randomness or some sort of provable cause like, for example, it's their own damn fault.
Distinguishing between an Athiest and an unaffiliated person.The label "Atheist" is self explanitory. It literally means no religion but I have observed that there is a vast pool of people who are apathetic about what they believe. Religion and religious beliefs are not as important as getting to work on time, what salad dressing to use or the possibility of their soccer team winning. Don't get me wrong I don't find fault with these people I am pointing out that they exist. I am also pointing out that some theists (and some unafiliated people) confuse these people with people who have made a conscious choice not to have religion or believe in a supernatural being i.e. the atheists. In the words of the "Rush" song "Frewill (as I recall)? it says "You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice, if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice (technically speaking this is true. choosing not to decide is usually just not a deliberate choice).......I will choose frewill. Choosing freewill is a deliberate conscious choice.
Confusing god and religion: The other condition that seems to exist is that many people confuse god and religion. God/gods/spirits etc refer to supernatural beings. Religion is the structure of beliefs and practices set up to deal with these beings. In many religions various sects/denominations etc can agree that they believe in the same supernatural being but not agree on how to deal with this being (they disagree on religious practices and or structure). This is an example of how a religious structure can exist separately from a supernatural being. In the same way one can own a car but you can believe either that your car should be spotless and clean and not smell bad or you can believe that your car is a place to eat, sleep, and store all your worldly possessions in (a situation that naturally leads to a mess). It's the same car just different beliefs about how to treat a car.
Is it god? There are many people who don't practice religion but when something shitty happens to them they blame a supernatural source instead of leaving the causality to randomness or perhaps a mistake or a character flaw within themselves. I know many unafilliated people who shake their fist at the sky.
Is it religion? I know other people who hate a supernatural being because someone from a particular religion that claims to worship this supernatural being was a dick to them. There are religious people who aren't dicks. If one religion can have both dicks and non dicks then I would venture to say that these people must be acting independently from their supernatural being. This makes it easy to identify the cause of their dick like behavior. Are they dicks because they are selfish bastards who have independently interpreted their religious doctrine (the structure) to justify their behavior? Or, if they interpret their doctrine to mean "thou shalt not be a dick", then are they just generally dicks who consciously know that they are violating their religious doctrine when they exhibit dick like behavior? To be a dick or not to be a dick. Whether it is nobler in mind to interpret your religion to justify your dick like behavior or suffer the slings and arrows and be a sinner. This is the question. God I love to mess up Hamelet...I digress
Conclusion. These two conditions; the confusion between unafiliated people and atheists, and a confusion between a supernatural being and religion can account for the illogical notion that atheists (those who have made a conscious choice not to have a religin or believe in a supreme being) hate God. After all you have to have some sort of belief in a supernatural being in order to be mad at it. Athiests (the one's without spaghetti for brains) put the blame for shit where it lies, In randomness or some sort of provable cause like, for example, it's their own damn fault.
