Angry Atheists

I am an Atheist, and am not shy to say it. I do not believe in the existence of a higher power, god, or spiritual force. I don't believe in ghosts, ESP, psychics, or any book written by a man who believed the words in his head were god. Now what I don't often talk about is how I, when first coming to confirmation of my beliefs, did not want to associate myself as an Atheist. The reason for this is that I didn't really think that a non-belief could be labeled and that most Atheists generally got a bad rap for being loud and boisterous. The reason I bring this up is because I was reading an article written by a Minister who, quite correctly, called out a lot of Atheists for being hypocrites.

The closest thing Atheists have to a figurehead is Richard Dawkins, a brilliant man who I tend to find myself agreeing with many times. He's often seen arguing against any and all organized religion, and believes the abolishment of it would be beneficial to humanity as a whole. He's well spoken, puts reason behind his arguments, and generally seems like a well rounded guy when it comes to his belief. He's not some raging lunatic spewing out half truths he read on some disreputable news source, so whats the problem with him? Well, he's loud. He's very loud, and him shouting how he knows that God cannot exist comes about as well received as the Pope saying condoms should not be used to prevent HIV in Africa because he knows God disapproves. It's two people who know something that cannot truly be known, and while I may side with Dawkins, I'm not about to refute that he does the same thing that any other zealots do.

That was my original problem with Atheism, the zealousy I hated in organized religion being thrown out from the very people I was supposed to identify with. Another came from the people I call the Angry Atheists... These are the people that aren't truly Atheist, they're not people who came to the very personal belief that God doesn't exist through personal exploration and study of the world around them, they came to it because they are angry for some reason. A personal travesty, the atrocities that happen by man or nature, the glaring conflicts from scripture to practice. In essence, these are people who do believe in god, but are upset with him and reject him out of spite. And these are the people who are truly damaging to other non-believers. These are the ones who hoot and howl out at anything even remotely religious, and a reason for a lot of people to just not confirm their beliefs as Atheist, like me.

But I did come around, and realized that a spade is a spade, and I am an Atheist. I'm a man of logic before faith, I need to know there's evidence of something before simply accepting it. And I am not a zealot, I have many times stated that if true proof of the existence of a higher power were to emerge, I'd accept it. When an issue of religion comes up in the news in America, like God in the Pledge or the Ten Commandment's in front of a court house, I don't argue against religion, I argue for the Constitution stating that the Government will show no preference to any faith. I don't hate religious people, I hate zealots, even when they're part of my own group.

But sometimes, and this is only sometimes, I can't blame them. A study from the University of Minnesota found that Atheists are the least trusted minority in America, and adult Atheists make up only 2% of the population in America and is on a steady rise. This is a fairly new phenomena as more people flock to a group that is not truly understood by the majority. When the loudmouthed Atheist flies off the handle after being told he's going to hell for the fiftieth time, can you blame him? I don't condone it, but this is a group of people united by a lack of something trying to get their message out just like anyone else. And with any group of people the loudest and most controversial are the ones who get the spot light, and we level headed many have to shake our head at it. All in all, some people's fist reaction to being poked is to poke back.

“No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God.” George H. W. Bush