In Defense Of Atheism

By now, you have heard or read about the shootings of 3 Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Since the guy was an outspoken atheist, there is much talk of this being a hate crime. And I have no doubt that it was, in a sense (his hate of religion was definitely a factor). His wife (she is allegedly filing for divorce) claimed it was over a long-standing parking dispute. And that he had disputes with other neighbors. Having living in condo and townhouse communities, I can understand both the parking and neighbor disputes. That the victims were Muslim probably aggravated the dispute and made it more intolerable to the killer.

So I find myself trying to understand this purported atheist. Because, as you know, I am atheist. This guy was angry, troubled, and hateful. I do not understand why. A someone commented on an op/ed article, he came across as an "anti-theist." An anti-theist is someone who simply hates, and possibly, fears religion. I cannot comprehend that. The atheists who try to get "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance or "in God we trust" from our money are really anti-theist; they want to prevent others from believing and delete all reference to religion from public view, to drive religion underground, so to speak. I oppose those efforts. What others believe is unimportant to me unless they want to force me to believe and I have never met anyone who did that. Urge, yes. Proselytize, yes. But force? No. I  was even made to sit through recitations of The Lord's Prayer for a number of years in school but I was never forced to pray. I was only asked not to speak or move about while others prayed. And I complied... because it was the right thing to do. It was respectful.


There are many atheists who choose not to be respectful of those who believe yet demand that the believers respect them. That is certainly illogical, as Spock might say, but quite understandable when you look at human nature. I wonder if many of these anti-theists get as upset by stories about things like "Friday the Thirteenth" or someone refusing to walk under a ladder? I wonder if they fret over spilled salt or broken mirrors?

But parking disputes? That is something I can relate to.