I Don't Hate God; I Don't Believe In Her

I can't believe in something or someone who doesn't exist

TO HATE SOMETHING, I MUST FIRST ACCEPT ITS EXISTENCE

I love it when Christians tell me I hate God because He exists. First of all, I don’t hate God; that requires me to acknowledge His existence, which I don’t. Second, how can anyone insist that God exists without proof? The only basis for claiming He exists is faith, which is belief based on one’s intuition. I can’t accept that.

There’s no empirical proof that God exists. If a person believes in God, that’s a personal decision. I certainly don’t begrudge a person their right to believe as they see fit, but I’ve always wondered why so many Christians consider my lack of belief a threat to their faith.

People like Ray Comfort spend WAY too much time worrying about what people like me believe (or don’t). It’s as if they view atheism as a personal affront that imperils their belief in an almighty and all-powerful God.

My atheism is a product of my decision to view the world in terms of what I can see and what is demonstrably provable. So why would I choose to live every aspect of my life that way, save for believing in a Supreme Being that I can’t see, feel, or experience?

I don’t begrudge others their right to believe as they choose- as long as they treat me with the same respect. When I first met my wife’s family, they were legitimately taken aback by my atheism. A couple of them told me they’d pray for me. I was okay with that if it made them feel better, but it did take some time before they accepted my lack of belief in their God.

When we pray at family get-togethers, I’ll sit with them, even though I don’t pray. I respect their beliefs even if I don’t share them. I don’t feel judged by them, and I don’t judge them, which is how it should be. After more than a decade, my lack of faith is more of a curiosity because they know I’m a good person.

Still, there are places in Idaho, Montana, and eastern Washington and Oregon where I still feel I have to be very careful about how I discuss my atheism. It’s not that I feel unsafe, but I do feel that the fact that I don’t share the majority faith wouldn’t be well-received.

Yes, I’m one of “them.”

Religion shouldn’t be divisive, and yet it is. Millions have died throughout human history for professing the “wrong” faith or refusing to convert to the “correct” or majority belief system. Even today, religion is still the reason for mass murder worldwide- which runs directly counter to the reason for religion.

More people have been murdered in the name of religion than for any other reason. That’s hardly a ringing endorsement of the concept of worshiping a Supreme Being.

I refuse to accept the majority religion- Christianity- as legitimate. I refuse to believe in a faith tradition that judges others and finds them wanting for not believing as they do. I can’t be comfortable in a religion that judges non-believers to be threats to the dominant culture.

In some cultures, I could be executed for not believing in the majority religion. Here in America, some would happily see my head on a guillotine. These members of the American Taliban think that they and ONLY they are the true heirs to political power and that once they seize control, all non-believers will at the very least be considered “less than.”

I believe some are sincere in their beliefs and legitimately seek to live them. I know people like this, and my respect for them is genuine. They understand that any religion, at its most basic, is about making the world a kinder, gentler, and more peaceful place- and who couldn’t get behind that?

Unfortunately, some are “Christians” in name only. These are the people who use their “faith” as a bludgeon and a means to pursue their true goal- political power. They may believe they’re doing the Lord’s work, but they know nothing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ- things like love, tolerance, understanding, and acceptance. Instead, these hypocrites are fueled by hatred, intolerance, exclusion, and dogmatic imperiousness.

I think it was Mae West who once said that religion is like a penis. There’s nothing wrong with being proud that you have one, but the problems begin when you whip it out and wave it in my face.

Religion should be a private concern. Believe what you will, whatever it may be, but don’t hold others to your beliefs. Allow others to adhere to their own moral/religious code. None of us can see God, so how can we know which flavor of God is “correct?”

Making matters even sillier is the idea that the answers to the problems of life today can be found in a more than 2000-year-old book that’s been translated and re-translated countless times. Of course, many of those who translated the Bible had their own private agendas, so to assume that the Holy Book is the inerrant Word of God is laughable. Nothing about the Bible could have come directly from God, not with all of the numerous translations and revisions it’s gone through. It’s like a historical game of “telephone.”

Jon Cooper @joncoopertweets

This!!!!

So go ahead and believe that God exists. That’s your right in a free society. What you don’t have the right to do is to judge me because I don’t share your beliefs. I reject the reality of God because I can neither see, hear, or experience your concept of a Supreme Being.

For me, there is no God, and I can’t hate something that doesn’t exist. So don’t imply that I must feel a certain way because you can’t understand someone who doesn’t accept your flavor of God.

No, I don’t hate God. I simply refuse to accept His/Her existence. Make of that what you will; it’s not my problem.