Can Atheists Worship/love the Divine? Yes.

[brotherlylove]

I've been thinking about this issue.

Suppose Socrates was a fictionally made character by Plato. We can still respect and honor that character.

Now Suppose he was real, and we thought he was fictional or rather didn't know whether he was fictional or real. If we respect the character describe, and it accurately describes the real person, then our respect for that person would be real.

In the same way, if Atheists don't believe Maximullly great being exists, but that maximally great being is worthy of highest honor, love, and veneration, which is synonymous with being worthy of Worship...

Then whether they believe he exists or not, or even are strong atheists whom deny such a being exists to do philosophical arguments such as the problem of evil or suffering or bad design...but they acknowledge that the hypothetical being is WORTHY of Worship....

Then they are worshiping that being, whether they know he exists or not.

I don't think this logically follows for most atheists, although they may be able to conceive of receiving such adoration unto themselves.

I think they are hung up on notions of autonomy, thinking that the independent, self-reliant mode is the superior mindset.

I do not think they can imagine a maximally great being because their spiritual eyes are clouded by preconceived notions about deity. It think it is difficult for them to conceive of a being that is truly worthy of praise, and worship, because they reject the notion that there is anything higher than themselves, except perhaps for some vague notion of the grandness and majesty they see in creation.

They see worship as beneath them. Even if they found out that this is the reason they were created, the very purpose of their existence, they would still deny it. They just can't trust God or admit that the designer of the Universe knows better than they do about what is best for them.

They are probably contrasting this to human beings, and how wrong it is for us to worship another human, when the only reason for this is, it is wrong to worship anything other than God, not that there is anything wrong with worship. I don't think they see that distinction. No one else is worthy of worship but God. It is wrong to worship false idols. They probably do not realize that we are all built to worship something, and if it isn't God, it will be something else. Whether it is self, money, power, sex, fame, or even nature, idolatry is not just about bowing before a golden calf.