Bad Argument: Atheists Hate God
This is something that Christians claim regularly, that atheists hate god, or atheists wish god didn't exist.
It is impossible to hate something that you don't believe exists. It is illogical to wish away something you don't believe exists.
It is strange but even though the term atheist is clear -- no belief in god -- Christians still get this mixed up and someone think that atheist do believe in god.
You Can't Hate Something that Does Not Exist
Nonexistence: An atheist does not believe that God exists. Certainly not the God of the bible. Many atheists are agnostic (about 50%) meaning they don't claim to know one way or the other whether God does or does not exist. A God might exist, but in any case there is no evidence for it nor is there any evidence for what the qualities of God might be. The atheist accepts that all religions are made up; none of them based on fact.
Christian Projection: Christians start with their belief in God, and they project that on to everyone else. They think that atheists believe in Gods, but somehow dislike God. These Christians seem completely unable to understand that atheists really have no belief in God. These Christians need to understand that to an atheist there really is no God, just like there is no tooth fairy.
Hate: If you have no belief in God, you can not hate God. You can not hate something that simply does not exist.
Analogy: Atheists try to explain this by asking: do you hate the tooth fairy? They try to give Christians an example of something we all agree is a myth, and then try to show how impossible it is to hate something you just don't believe exists.
I say all this with that caveat that all atheists are different. There is no belief or creed tying all atheists into a consistent view of the world. Atheists are just anyone who rejects all religions, but otherwise there is no consistency. So there might be an atheist somewhere who claims to hate God, I am just saying among the hundreds of atheists I have interviewed, every single one of them thought the idea of hating a non-existing thing was just nonsense.
Atheists don't Hate the Idea of God
Here we have an argument that is at least logically coherent. It is possible to dislike something imaginary. For example, I would really hate the idea of space aliens taking over the world and turning us into slaves.
It would be possible for atheists to express antipathy for a hypothetical God, but I have not heard that. First and foremost every time I ask the question, is that the atheist says there is no evidence for God. I have never head them say that if they found evidence they would ignore it. Most atheists honestly would like the evidence, and if the evidence is good there is no reason not to believe it. I have never heard an atheist say they don't need evidence, or that if there was evidence they would ignore it.
The atheists I have met would welcome evidence for God, because then they would know more about the world. They want to understand the truth about the world, and if God is true, they would like to know that. The problem is there simply is no evidence. This is a fact.
I would go so far as to way that the atheists that I know would LOVE to have evidence for God, because they want to believe in the things that are true. The problem is that when they ask to see evidence of god, the Christians supply the most pathetic non-reproducible non-believable citings. They say things like "I just know it is true" and "I have a good feeling" and "God just makes untuitive sense." After hearing hundreds of "pretend" evidence atheists have come to the conclusion that if nobody can demonstrate that god exists, that there must not be a god.
This is a completely different thing than not wanting a god to exist.
Why would a Christian say such a thing? It gives a simple reason to put down the atheist. To look down on them. Instead of addressing the real problem, they can blame the attitude of the atheist. Instead of providing evidence, they jump over that, and claim that atheists ignore good evidence. But the fact is that there is no evidence, the Christians just like to believe there is. If there was evidence you would not need faith.
Conclusions
I want to encourage Christians to avoid lying about atheists, if you can.
- Atheists really do not believe God exists, or at the least is completely hidden.
- You simply can not hate something that does not exist, and you have no reason to hate something that is completely hidden.
- Atheists don't hate the idea of god at all, most would welcome evidence of the truth whatever it is.
The thing the atheists really dislike is Christians who make unfounded claims and fail to provide evidence for their beliefs.