Can you be angry at "god" and simultaneously disbelieve its existence?

[Pyrrho]

I think it depends on what you mean.  When you watch a movie, and the actions of a fictional character make you angry, are you angry at the character?  Would it be more correct to say that you are angry at the idea of something, rather than the something?  Like the idea of some villain torturing people in the story of the movie, and not angry with any real torture from it, as it is just pretend?  And if that is right, then when being angry with the idea of something, in the case of some nonexistent thing, that "something" would really be nothing.

So, I think it is more a question of language use than anything else.


I like the way Laika put it:

Well I wouldn't say I'm angry at God. I don't like him as a character, but I don't have a grudge against him. Most of the time when I get angry, it's directed toward the foul actions committed by some of the people who believe in him (Westboro Church, I'm looking at you). 

But yes, I feel as though I can dislike him as written in the Bible and dislike what his character drives some individuals to do, while still saying he doesn't exist.

I think this comes up in discussions with Christians who are confused about the fact that fictional characters in stories can lead to having real emotional responses, as well as confusing anger at something else (e.g., a particular religious institution, particular Christians, etc.) with anger at god.  In other words, I think it is yet another example of Christians getting things muddled and confused, and so some imagine that atheists really believe in god because they are sometimes thought to be angry at god.