Occasionally I still see posts online by believers asking the question; Why do Atheists Hate God? After all these years as an atheist, having come from being a believer myself, look at those and just shake my head.

Why does this disinformation still seem to permeate the consciousness of believers? I can’t count the number of times I’ve been that that question and no matter how simply I respond, I don’t think that the questioner ever understands, if they’re even listening to the response.

First of all, I object to the the word hate, whether used as a verb or a noun. I never use it. It evokes for me an extreme, negative, emotional response. That word, no matter the context, is something that is not allowed in my home. Ever. There are certainly people I dislike, and others that I do not respect, but I do not hate those people.  And I do not hate God.

The answer to the question above is simply put: I cannot hate something that doesn’t exist. I have never understood how that answer is not understood by believers. There’s no equivocation in the answer; it’s a simple, direct answer to a question that is not offensive to me, but one I find ridiculous.

None of those that continue to ask that question understand that atheists don’t think any god exists whether it’s the Christian God, or Muslim, Jewish, Hindu pantheon, etc.  We come to that decision independently. No one tells us God doesn’t exist and we suddenly come to that conclusion. For me as I’ve written before, it was a process; a long process.

An early memory is walking through a small village of maybe 250 people in Central America as a young man where, everyone unable to escape, were killed. Yes: men, women and children. At that time I asked how God could allow this atrocity? I was a believer and the more evil I witnessed, the more I became unable to believe that this loving, caring God, that I had believed in for so many years, actually existed.

I had doubts before then, but seeing these atrocities against innocents crystalized my thoughts. Still, it was a few years after that when I realized I could no longer believe what I had been taught and expected to believe for so many years. I didn’t hate God, in fact I was told on more than one occasion that I just didn’t understand his plan for us.

If there was a god then he(it?) didn’t care what happened to what I was always told was his(its) creation. I came to the realization after all those years that no, there is no god, of any religion.

So it’s not hard for me to tell people that I’m an atheist and that no, I do not think there are any gods that divine how our lives are lead. There is no god and as an atheist after more than 30 years, I’m still waiting on that one believer to be able to show me that I’m wrong.

No one can, yet they still ask the question. No believer wants to understand that we atheists don’t hate God, we just don’t believe there is any supernatural force guiding us along our lives.  Look at the world today and tell me with all honesty that we’re better off with religious belief. I’ll tell you you’re a fool.