Atheism as a way of coping with cruelty of theists
If theists would be nice and harmless people, there'd be no problem. One could let them be, despite their extraordinary claims.
But this is not the case. Horrible atrocities have been committed in the name of God, by people who claim to believe in God, by people who claim to know God. And these horrible acts continue to this day. Anything from the Crusades to parents beating their children in the name of God.
This is not to say that everything theists do is cruel.
But when a theist performs a cruel act, this is egregious in ways that it wouldn't be were that same act performed by a non-theist. Theists are, after all, claiming to be those people who supposedly know better than everyone else - theists are the ones who supposedly know God, the Source of All, the Creator, Ruler and Maintainer of the Universe and everyone and everything in it.
It is difficult to understand why God (if He exists) allows cruelty to happen in His name, in His infinite wisdom and goodness.
It is difficult to understand why the theists, God's chosen people, resort to behavior that is ungodly, to say the least.
If the theists are so special, so qualified, so advanced, so above the ordinary run-of-the-mill people, then why is it that theists need to behave like them?
One way of understanding the lowly behavior of theists is to relativize the instance that theists refer to as the source of their justification, namely, God. This is done in various forms of atheism.
If there is no God, then there is noone and nothing special to know, no special qualification to have, there is just an old myth.
And so from that perspective, theists can be seen as merely human, as humans among humans. This way, the behavior of theists can be understood and forgiven.
This is how for some people, atheism can be a way of coping with the cruelty of theists.
If theists would be nice and harmless people, there'd be no problem. One could let them be, despite their extraordinary claims.
But this is not the case. Horrible atrocities have been committed in the name of God, by people who claim to believe in God, by people who claim to know God. And these horrible acts continue to this day. Anything from the Crusades to parents beating their children in the name of God.
This is not to say that everything theists do is cruel.
But when a theist performs a cruel act, this is egregious in ways that it wouldn't be were that same act performed by a non-theist. Theists are, after all, claiming to be those people who supposedly know better than everyone else - theists are the ones who supposedly know God, the Source of All, the Creator, Ruler and Maintainer of the Universe and everyone and everything in it.
It is difficult to understand why God (if He exists) allows cruelty to happen in His name, in His infinite wisdom and goodness.
It is difficult to understand why the theists, God's chosen people, resort to behavior that is ungodly, to say the least.
If the theists are so special, so qualified, so advanced, so above the ordinary run-of-the-mill people, then why is it that theists need to behave like them?
One way of understanding the lowly behavior of theists is to relativize the instance that theists refer to as the source of their justification, namely, God. This is done in various forms of atheism.
If there is no God, then there is noone and nothing special to know, no special qualification to have, there is just an old myth.
And so from that perspective, theists can be seen as merely human, as humans among humans. This way, the behavior of theists can be understood and forgiven.
This is how for some people, atheism can be a way of coping with the cruelty of theists.
