Are atheists afraid of God?

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Paul of Tarsus
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Are atheists afraid of God?

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Post by Paul of Tarsus »

In response to Stephen Hawking's quip, "Religion is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark," apologist John Lennox said, "And atheism is a fairy story for those afraid of the light."

Do atheists fear that light aka God? I would answer no assuming I knew atheists to be completely sensible and rational in their rejection of theism, but they very often aren't sensible and rational in their unbelief. In this forum, for example, an atheist said he lost his belief in God when he realized that there are different religions. When I tried to explain to him that those conflicting faiths can be explained as some of them getting a real God wrong, well, it did me no good! It's simply illogical to conclude that God doesn't exist because some people disagree about him. His atheism is obviously based on faulty logic. What's odd about these cases involving atheists using poor reasoning to reject God is that those atheists seem quite reasonable otherwise. My guess is that they fear God and wish that he doesn't exist. Atheism is for them a sanctuary from theism and a hope that reality harbors no scary God.

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Re: Are atheists afraid of God?

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Post by Tcg »

Paul of Tarsus wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:33 pm My guess is that they fear God and wish that he doesn't exist.
Guessing games aren't of much value in a debate forum. Verifiable evidence is what carries weight, or at least should.


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Re: Are atheists afraid of God?

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Post by Miles »

.


Afraid?



Hell, we're terrified!



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Re: Are atheists afraid of God?

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Post by Paul of Tarsus »

Tcg wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:48 pm
Paul of Tarsus wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:33 pm My guess is that they fear God and wish that he doesn't exist.
Guessing games aren't of much value in a debate forum. Verifiable evidence is what carries weight, or at least should.
Well, if you don't want me to guess, then you can tell us if you're afraid of God and if you wish that he doesn't exist.

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Re: Are atheists afraid of God?

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Post by Paul of Tarsus »

Miles wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:00 pm .


Afraid?



Hell, we're terrified!



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Why are you terrified of God?

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Re: Are atheists afraid of God?

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Post by benchwarmer »

[Replying to Paul of Tarsus in post #1]

This question is akin to asking if Christians are afraid of pixies.

How can one be afraid of something they hold no belief in? If someone is actually afraid of the Christian god, then they are not truly an atheist because they believe this god to exist.

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Re: Are atheists afraid of God?

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Post by brunumb »

Paul of Tarsus wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:33 pm My guess is that they fear God and wish that he doesn't exist. Atheism is for them a sanctuary from theism and a hope that reality harbors no scary God.
Oh dear Zeus! Not that old furphy again. The idea of a loving and caring God that offers an eternity of happiness and bliss is actually very appealing. With that in mind I do not wish that God doesn't exist. Atheism is not some sort of sanctuary to escape from theism. It is simply a lack of belief in the existence of any gods, scary or otherwise. Also, it isn't a matter of choice. My brain is not convinced that gods exist, hence I do not believe. There was an attempt to indoctrinate me in my childhood, but that failed to take. For me now, religion is just a collection of fanciful tales for those wishing to believe that they are important enough to continue existence after this brief sojourn through life. It is a security blanket for the insecure.
George Orwell:: “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.”
Voltaire: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
Gender ideology is anti-science, anti truth.

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Re: Are atheists afraid of God?

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Post by Miles »

Paul of Tarsus wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:38 pm
Miles wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 7:00 pm .


Afraid?



Hell, we're terrified!



Image



.
Why are you terrified of God?
WHY??? Assuming you're talking about the god of Abraham, there's darn good reason to be terrified. Here's a guy who creates evil (Isaiah 45:7), kills innocent children and infants (1 Samuel 15:2-3), sent bears to kill 42 kids whose only offense was to make fun of a bald man (2 Kings 2:23-24), turned a woman into a block of salt for disobeying him (Genesis 19:26), killed a guy for refusing to knock-up his sister-in-law (Genesis 38:9-10), and allows slave owners to kill their slaves without retribution (Exodus 21:20-21). So, because he obviously lacks any moral compass, of course I'm terrified. Why aren't you?


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Re: Are atheists afraid of God?

Post #9

Post by Overcomer »

From my observations of and interactions with atheists as well as the studies I have read on this topic, I have discovered that there are a variety of reasons why some people don't believe in God.

Some are sincerely looking for rational evidence and will seriously consider rational evidence when given it. They simply want to be convinced. I say good for them. I wouldn't believe something unless I was convinced of it with strong evidence so why would I expect somebody else to believe without good reason?

Some reject God for purely emotional reasons. These are people who have been hurt by the Church and by people wearing the Christian label and who blame God for the tragedy and suffering in their lives. It isn't so much that these people don't believe that God exists. They are just so wounded that their pain and their anger and their bitterness prevent them from entering into a relationship with the Lord. I understand that. The presence of evil in the world is indeed a stumbling block for many.

Still others hate the very idea of God and want to run their own lives independent of a higher moral power. I can remember reading work by one of the Huxleys (can't remember whether it was T. E. or Aldous) in which he said he didn't want God to exist because he loved his sins too much to give them up, something he'd have to do it God were real and held him to a higher moral standard than the one he followed at that point. I appreciate that kind of honesty from someone. And that's Biblical as John writes, "Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).

I have found that some of the people in the last two categories will hide behind what they call "intellectual" reasons, but you can tell from what they say and write and believe that isn't really the case because, as you point out, PofT, their logic may be good when it comes to many things, but they lose it when it comes to the issue of God.

There's an excellent book entitled Why People Don't Believe by Paul Chamberlain in which he looks at the objections to God that some people give including the issues of Biblical morality, religion and violence, and science and Christianity. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to study the topic of unbelief.

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Re: Are atheists afraid of God?

Post #10

Post by William »

Paul of Tarsus wrote: Sun Mar 28, 2021 6:33 pm In response to Stephen Hawking's quip, "Religion is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark," apologist John Lennox said, "And atheism is a fairy story for those afraid of the light."

Do atheists fear that light aka God?


Is 'light' 'god'? (What about the source of light?)
I would answer no assuming I knew atheists to be completely sensible and rational in their rejection of theism, but they very often aren't sensible and rational in their unbelief. In this forum, for example, an atheist said he lost his belief in God when he realized that there are different religions. When I tried to explain to him that those conflicting faiths can be explained as some of them getting a real God wrong, well, it did me no good! It's simply illogical to conclude that God doesn't exist because some people disagree about him. His atheism is obviously based on faulty logic. What's odd about these cases involving atheists using poor reasoning to reject God is that those atheists seem quite reasonable otherwise. My guess is that they fear God and wish that he doesn't exist. Atheism is for them a sanctuary from theism and a hope that reality harbors no scary God.
What is this 'scary god' you refer to?

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