When I first began this journey of dwindling faith towards the realm of atheism, I starting with a lot of reading. The first book I picked up was Dan Barker's Godless. I was moved by his story of completely leaving the world of religion and felt for the first time that maybe I didn't have to believe in this anymore. Naturally, the first thing I did when I got home from the bookstore (seeing as I was too cheap to actually buy the book) was google him. I found dozens of book titles and interviews, and when reading through the text of his discussion with Christians, he came across as sort of an ass. I had the same experience when listening to Christopher Hitchens debate a Christian and Jew; he was definitely an ass. The more atheist blogs I visit and comment conversations I eavesdrop on, it seems that there are plenty of angry athiests out there; people who are enraged or at least highly irritated by religious people and have no qualms about calling them idiots or speaking about them with condescention. I vowed to myself that I would never become one of these angry athiests; that I would always respect Christians because not so long ago I was one.
This week I had my eyes opened as to why a great number of athiests may be angry with Christians. I posted a comment on a christian blog that was discussing what to tell your friends when they say they have been searching for God and cannot find him. Most of the readers responding with either 'try harder' or 'just wait', and I felt the need to enter the discussion. I empathized with those who have searched and never found and I wondered why God would be this way if he loves us so much. In return, I was told that I must be ignoring God, that I am being selfish and self centered for desiring so much and that the work Jesus did on the cross should be enough for me if I would just quit putting demands on God. There are Christians out there who would not respond this way, and I hope I run into more of them in this journey. However, if this is the response that atheists are getting from trying to dialouge with Christians, I am beginning to understand why they are angry.
I share both your dislike of the "angry atheist" and your empathy with how it is they got there. For the most part, I find the voices of "New Atheism" too angry and destructive to resonate with me. I want to hear from atheists (like myself) who are joyous about life, who want to have productive dialogs with people from all viewpoints, who want to validate the human potential for good and work together to build a world where all of us feel safe, are loved, and have our basic needs met. We can't do that when we're screaming at each other! But it is hard to respond graciously to the same kind of arrogance from some Christians, who seemingly have no problem with condescension since, after all, they have God on their side. A little humility all around would be nice.
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