Why are you mad at God?
I used to be a born-again Christian. When I’m discussing religion with a Christian and tell them that I was once one of them and am now an atheist, the most common assumption I’ve encountered is that I must have “turned my back” on God because something bad happened to me, or a prayer wasn’t answered, or someone I loved died. Nope. Not even close.
Actually, all that happened was that I thought about it. Eventually I was able to overcome the fear of hell drilled into me since childhood enough that I was actually able to consider what I knew honestly. The only possible outcome was to stop believing in one more fairy tale.
It’s funny how that argument (anger at God) seems so convincing to Christians — so much so that they repeat it at every opportunity. Think about it in smaller terms. I get angry at someone I know, so I just stop believing in them. Makes no sense, right? I hate mosquitoes, so I just stop believing in them. Doesn’t work for a second. How weak do these Christians think their God is if any pitiful atheist can completely remove him from their life on a whim?
Think about it from the Christian’s perspective. If they can accept (if not agree with) not believing in God just because you are displeased with him, then they must really know that there’s no legitimate reason to believe in him in the first place. Otherwise, you’d hear them saying that you can’t stop believing, because of some obvious fact. The problem is that no such fact exists.
The real question to ask a theist is “How come life not believing in a god is completely indistinguishable from life believing in one?”
