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

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

“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, to 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.

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.