WHY ARE YOU ATHEISTS SO ANGRY?
99 Things That Piss Off the Godless
Greta Christina
For Ingrid.
“The supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.”
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson: to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmitted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmitted into a power that can move the world.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE: Why Are You Atheists So Angry?
CHAPTER TWO: Some Answers to the Questions I Know I’ll Get Asked
CHAPTER THREE: Why This Really Is Religion’s Fault
CHAPTER FOUR: Yes, This Means You: Moderate and Progressive Religion
CHAPTER FIVE: Yes, This Means You: New Age Religion
CHAPTER SIX: Yes, This Means You: “Spiritual but Not Religious”
CHAPTER SEVEN: Yes, This Means You: Ecumenicalism and Interfaith
CHAPTER EIGHT: The Top Ten Reasons I Don’t Believe In God
CHAPTER NINE: Why “Religion Is Useful” Is a Terrible Argument — The Santa Delusion
CHAPTER TEN: What Do You Want, Anyway? One Atheist’s Mission Statement
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Is Atheist Activism Valid?
CHAPTER TWELVE: Is Atheist Activism Effective?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: On Other People’s Behalf: Anger and Compassion
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: What Now?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Resources
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT GRETA CHRISTINA
Copyright
INTRODUCTION
“Why are you atheists so angry?”
This is a question on a lot of people’s minds these days. In the last few years, the atheist movement has moved into overdrive. It’s become more visible, more vocal, more activist, better organized, and much less apologetic. And this increased visibility is putting atheist anger into the spotlight. A lot of non-atheists are baffled and disconcerted — to say the least — at what they see as a sudden torrent of atheist anger from apparently out of nowhere.
But like a lot of atheists, I get tired of hearing believers ask, “Why are you so angry?” To me — and to many atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, brights, and other godless people — the answer seems obvious.
I wanted to answer this question once and for all… so I wouldn’t have to answer it anymore.
So I wrote this book.
I wrote it for other atheists — to give a voice to thoughts and feelings they haven’t been able to put into words. I wrote it for religious believers — to give a sincere, thoughtful answer to this question, and to explain this phenomenon of outspoken, often angry atheism that’s been exploding in the last few years. And I wrote it for atheists who are constantly getting asked, “Why are you so angry?” by their religious family and friends. I wrote it so they’d have an easy way to answer it. “You want to know why I’m angry? Here — read this book!”
The heart of the book is what I’ve been calling “The Litany of Rage.” It’s Chapter One. In it, I spell out — exactly and extensively — why so many atheists are so angry. Be sure to take your blood pressure medication first. If you don’t get mad when you read it, you’re not paying attention.
I know from experience the kinds of reactions that the Litany of Rage is likely to provoke. “You’re not being fair!” “You’re lumping all religions together!” “You’re just as intolerant as the religious extremists you’re angry at!” “All that anger is just hurting your cause!” Etc. In Chapter 2, I look at these questions, and patiently take them apart.
And a lot of people are going to say, “But that’s not religion’s fault! People do bad things to each other for all sorts of reasons! You can’t blame religion for all the terrible things done in its name!” In Chapter 3, I explain why I passionately disagree. Religion is unique — and the things that make religion unique are what make it uniquely capable of causing terrible harm.
A lot of religious believers will read the Litany of Rage, and nod their heads in vigorous agreement. “Yes, that’s terrible! It’s dreadful to see the horrors committed in God’s name!” And then they’ll turn right around and say, “But surely you don’t mean me!” Moderate and progressive believers; New Age believers; “spiritual but not religious” believers; ecumenical and interfaith believers… when they see atheists’ anger about religion, they often think their version is exempt. Or that it should be. So in Chapters 4 through 7, I break the bad news: Yes, this means you. I’m not as angry about your variety of religion as I am about hateful and intolerant religious extremism — but I’m still mad about it. And I’m going to tell you why.
But even if religion does significantly more harm than good — even if the unique nature of religion means it’s inherently prone to doing more harm than good — that doesn’t mean it’s wrong, does it? No, it doesn’t. And I care about what is and isn’t true. In fact, one of the things that makes me angriest about religion is the way it makes people trivialize reality in favor of their wishful thinking. So in Chapter 8, I explain the Top Ten Reasons I Don’t Believe In God. That’s not the main question this book is trying to answer — but it’s an important question, and it deserves an answer.
And lots of people defend religion by saying that it’s useful: it makes people behave better, it gives people comfort, it makes people happy. You know — the way believing in Santa makes little kids behave better and makes them happy. So in Chapter 9, I explain what’s wrong with the argument from utility… or, as I call it, “the Santa delusion.”
A manifesto isn’t much good unless it has a goal, and an action plan. Without that, it’s just pointless venting. So in Chapter 10, I talk about what, exactly, I hope to accomplish with my atheist writing and activism — and what I hope the atheist movement is going to accomplish. Chapter 11 defends the very idea of atheist activism — more precisely, the idea of trying to persuade people out of religion. And Chapter 12 points out that resistance is not futile, and that atheist activism can be effective.
You may notice, when you read the Litany of Rage, that much of what makes atheists angry isn’t the bad things religious believers do to atheists. A huge amount of our anger is about the bad things believers do to other believers. That’s the gist of Chapter 13. Atheists’ anger doesn’t prove that we’re selfish, or joyless, or miserable. It shows that we have compassion, and a sense of justice. We’re angry because we see terrible harm all around us, and we feel desperately motivated to stop it.
So now what? Now that you’re all riled up about religion — what are you going to do about it? That’s how I wind things up. Chapter 14 outlines some broad principles for atheist activism — most importantly, the principle that you should do what you think is fun. And Chapter 15 concludes with an extensive resource guide of organizations, support networks, forums, and places you can go for more information and inspiration.
The book is meant to inform, of course. It’s meant to let religious believers — as well as my fellow godless heathens — know about some of the more enraging abuses and injustices caused by religion, or committed in its name. It’s meant to answer the question, “Why are you atheists so angry?” — by showing that we have valid reasons for our anger.
But this book is also meant to inspire. I hope other godless people read it and are inspired to take action: to speak out, to join organizations, to start organizations, t
o take part in atheist communities, to write to their newspapers and their Congresspeople, to become a voting bloc.
And most of all, I hope atheists are inspired to come out of the closet. That’s how we combat the stupid stereotypes people have about us. That’s how we become a political force to be reckoned with. That’s the single most important and effective political action that a godless person can take. If this book inspires anything, I hope it inspires people to tell their friends, their families, their co-workers, everyone, that they are godless.
CHAPTER ONE
Why Are You Atheists So Angry?
I’m an atheist. I’m an angry atheist. And I’m proud to be one. I think angry atheists are right to be angry.
There are serious, deep-rooted problems with the way religion plays out, in the United States and around the world. There are ways that religion plays out — extremely common ways — that lead to abuse, injustice, mistreatment, misery, disempowerment, even violence and death. It makes perfect sense to be angry about them. In fact, when people aren’t angry about them, I’m baffled.
I’m a happy person most of the time. In fact, I find it hilarious when people hear about this book and tell me, with either concern or contempt, “Boy, you’re an angry person. How can you live like that?” I mean, it’s not like I’m running around smashing plates and going “Rrrr! Rrrr! Rrrr!” all the time. (I hardly ever do that.)
But far too many people ask, “Why are you atheists so angry?” — without even considering the possibility that we’re angry because we have legitimate things to be angry about.
So I want to try to answer this question: “Why are you atheists so angry?” Or rather, since I don’t presume to speak for all atheists: Why am I so angry?
1. I’m angry that according to a recent Gallup poll, 53 percent of Americans would not vote for an atheist for President — even for a qualified candidate from the voters’ own party — solely because of their atheism.
2. I’m angry that atheists in the United States are often denied custody of their children, explicitly because of their atheism.
3. I’m angry that it took until 1961 for atheists to be guaranteed the right to serve on juries, testify in court, or hold public office in every state in the country.
4. I’m angry that atheist soldiers — in the U.S. armed forces — have had atheist meetings broken up by Christian superior officers, in direct violation of the First Amendment. I’m angry that evangelical Christian groups are being given exclusive access to proselytize on military bases — again in the U.S. armed forces, again in direct violation of the First Amendment. I’m angry that atheist soldiers who complain about this are being harassed and are even getting death threats, from Christian soldiers and superior officers — yet again, in the U.S. armed forces. And I’m angry that Christians still say smug, sanctimonious things like, “there are no atheists in foxholes.” You know why you aren’t seeing many atheists in foxholes? Because Christians are threatening to shoot them if they come out.
5. I’m angry at preachers who tell women in their flock to submit to their husbands because it’s the will of God, even when their husbands are beating them within an inch of their lives.
6. I’m angry that so many parents and religious leaders terrorize children with vivid, traumatizing stories of eternal burning and torture, to ensure that they’ll be too frightened to even question religion. And I’m angry that religious leaders explicitly tell children — and adults, for that matter — that the very questioning of religion and the existence of Hell is a dreadful sin, one that will guarantee that Hell is where they’ll end up.
7. I’m angry that children get taught by religion to hate and fear their bodies and their sexuality. And I’m especially angry that female children get taught by religion to hate and fear their femaleness, and that queer children get taught by religion to hate and fear their queerness.
8. I’m angry about the girl from the Muslim family in Delaware who was told — by her public-school, taxpayer-paid teacher — that the red stripes on Christmas candy canes represented Christ’s blood, that she had to believe in and be saved by Jesus Christ or she’d be condemned to Hell, and that if she didn’t, there was no place for her in his classroom.
9. I’m angry at priests who rape children and tell them it’s God’s will. No, angry isn’t a strong enough word. I am enraged. I am revolted. I am trembling with fury at the very thought of it.
10. And I’m enraged that the Catholic Church consciously, deliberately, repeatedly, for years, acted to protect priests who raped children, and deliberately acted to keep it a secret, placing the Church’s reputation as a higher priority than, for fuck’s sake, children not being raped. I’m enraged that they shuttled child-raping priests from town to town, failed to inform law enforcement officers and in many cases flat-out stonewalled them, deliberately dumped the child rapists in remote, impoverished villages… and then, when the horror finally came to light, responded with defensive entrenchment, and equated the accusations with either anti-Semitic bigotry or petty gossip. And I’m enraged that the Church actually argued, in court, that protecting child-molesting priests from prosecution, and shuffling those priests from diocese to diocese so they could molest kids in a whole new community that didn’t yet suspect them, was a Constitutionally protected form of free religious expression, and that the Church should therefore be immune from prosecution for it.
11. And I’m angry that so many Catholics are so willing to defend the Catholic Church’s behavior in the child rape scandal. I’m angry that they’re letting their fear of eternal punishment in Hell, their desire for eternal reward in Heaven, or simply the comfort they take from the soothing rituals and traditions of the Church, take priority over taking the most obvious moral position a person could take — namely, that people and institutions should not protect child rapists. I’m angry that if their softball league, their charity group, their children’s school, did what the Catholic Church did and continues to do, they’d almost certainly quit in outrage… but because it’s their church, they stay in it, and defend the blatantly indefensible.
12. I’m angry about 9/11.
13. And I’m angry that, after 9/11 happened, people of Middle Eastern descent were attacked and their businesses vandalized, because they were Muslims, or because people assumed they were Muslims even if they weren’t, and they blamed all Muslims for the attacks.
14. And I’m angry that Jerry Falwell blamed 9/11 on pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbians, the ACLU, and the People For the American Way. I’m angry that this theology of a wrathful god exacting revenge against pagans and abortionists by sending radical Muslims to blow up a building full of secretaries and investment bankers… this was not some fringe theology held by a handful of weirdos picketing funerals. This was a theology held by a powerful, wealthy, widely-respected religious leader with millions of followers.
15. I’m angry that the Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan — magnificent, monumental works of art over fifteen hundred years old — were dynamited by the Taliban, because they were idols, and were believed to be an affront to God’s law.
16. I’m angry about circumcision. I’m angry that, in the United States in the 21st century, millions of people are still cutting off part of their sons’ genitals, for no good medical reason and against all good medical advice, because Bronze-age goat-herders thousands of years ago thought their god demanded it.
17. I’m angry that little girls are getting their clitorises cut off because their parents’ religion teaches that it’s necessary.
18. And I’m angry that so many people defend religion against the charge of female genital mutilation by saying, “Oh, but that’s not what the religion really teaches, if you look at the original text, blah blah blah…” The fact is that the Islamic religion as it is widely believed and practiced — as well as other religions as they are widely believed and practiced (this practice is not limited to Islam) — teaches that little girls need to have the
ir clitorises cut off… and it enrages me that so many people react to this fact by defending the religion and not the children.
19. I’m angry about the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I’m angry that a forged document claiming to be a Jewish plot for global domination — not just a fraud, but a pathetically obvious fraud — was taken seriously and widely disseminated as fact. I’m angry that this forgery was used for decades, by individuals and governments, from Russia to Nazi Germany to Egypt to the United States, to justify hatred and fear of Jews… even to the point of justifying their systematic extermination. I’m angry that this continued to happen for decades after the document was conclusively shown to be a fraud, and that it continues to be taken seriously by many to this day.
20. I’m angry about honor killings. I’m angry that in Islamic theocracies, women who have sex outside marriage, women who date outside their religion, women who spend time with male friends, women who disobey their male relatives, are routinely executed. I’m angry that in these theocracies, even women who have been raped get executed for the crime of adultery. I’m angry that the ones who are only beaten and imprisoned are the ones who get off lucky.
21. I’m angry that, in Islamic theocracies, girls as young as nine years old can be married against their will.
22. I’m angry that, when a nine- year- old girl in Brazil was raped, the doctors who performed an abortion on her, and her family who approved the abortion, were excommunicated by the Catholic Church. And I’m angry that there was no excommunication for her stepfather who raped her.
23. I’m angry that seriously ill children needlessly suffer and die because their parents believe in faith healing or believe that medical treatment will anger their god. And I’m angry that, in thirty-nine states in the United States, these parents are protected from prosecution for child neglect.
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