Why Are You Atheists So Angry: 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless

244 Pages·2012·0.81 MB·English

by  Greta Christina

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