God Might Love Anti-Theists More Than Some Christians

Arrogance, belligerence, aggression, judgementalism, opposition, accusation, zealotry…

All of these descriptions can be applied to both devout Christians and antitheists alike. An antitheist, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a phrase used to describe extremely militant and dogmatic atheists who oppose all forms of faith or religion.

Though antitheists have a tendency to be aggressive, insulting, and unpleasant in their conduct toward those who believe in God, and that such behaviour toward individuals is certainly not something to be appraised, no matter who is expressing it and for what belief they express it in the name of, may it be possible that God might love these individuals at times, even more than some who profess to be Christian?

To extend an olive branch of understanding out toward the antithiests, I would draw attention, not merely to their belief system (or lack of), nor their actions, but instead, the heart and core of their actions and attitudes, their intentions and motivations.

I have found many hyper-aggressive antithiests often are found in the front lines of protests, online forums, comment sections, and debate rooms, with their first and foremost attacks on Christians being on the subject of the characterisation of God and those who have professed to be his worshippers. Their anger and disgust often motivated not by the mere belief of a deity, but by the hypocritical actions and atrocities seen both historically and in modern times, done in the name of God or religion.

Many of these individuals will be quick to point to intolerance, homophobia, religious warfare, and acts of genocide, even as described in the Bible. It is these things which spark so much anger in these people, and indeed, I say, who can really blame them?

But why do I suggest that God may love these people, more than some Christians? The heart. In this respect, I feel a perfect parable to refer to is the “Good Samaritan”.

• “‘A man was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was jumped by some robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and left him for dead. Well, it so happened that a Priest was travelling along the same road. But when he saw [the injured man], he passed on the opposite side. In the same way, when a Levite reached that place and saw him, he too passed on the opposite side. However, when a Samaritan came along and saw him, he felt pity for him. So he got down and poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he mounted the man on his own animal and carried him to an inn, where he cared for him. And the next day, he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, and told him; ‘Attend to this man, and I’ll repay you for all that you spend beyond this when I return.‘ Now, which of the three men seems to have made himself a neighbour to the person who had been jumped by the robbers?’ And the [young man] answered; ‘The one who showed mercy to him’”. – Luke 10:30-37

The clear principle here, is that Yeshua was showing that the so-called “holy men” in this story, the priest and the Levite, men who worked in God’s temple and were considered the cleanest most righteous men in Israel, were hypocrites for walking past a man in need, and were put to shame when a Samaritan man came by to aid the injured person.

The key detail of this story, is that we must remember Samaritans were considered apostates, traitors, unclean, if not devil worshippers, by Israel. But because the Samaritan shown heart by actually aiding the man in a practical way, he was more holy and in line with God’s principles than the men who only “portrayed themselves” holy, and saw themselves as better than everyone else.

But how does this apply to antithiests in this case? Well, if are to understand that some of them are motivated because their hearts may propel them to be standing up against what they deem to be cruelty and tyranny against their fellow man, they may in fact be closer to God in that respect, than many of the so-called Christians we see today, who so often have a “holier than thou” self-righteous judgemental attitude toward others. The Christians who go about telling people they will burn in hell, those who “bible-bash” others who don’t agree with their view points, and so on.

In this respect, we might redesign this parable to fit our modern day antitheist scenario:

“A Christian one day read in the Bible that homosexuality was a sin, so he went out and beat a homosexual man, and told him he would burn in hell if he didn’t change his ways. However, an antithiest who was of the opinion that was religion was cruel and evil, stopped by to aid the man and tended to his wounds. Which one of these men did the good deed?”.

In this respect, we can view some antitheists as being like the good Samaritan, and some Christians as being like the arrogant Pharisees.

Richard Dawkins in “Atheists for Jesus” t-shirt

Whilst of course, I am not condoning belligerent militant antitheistic attitudes or behaviours, as many such with this mentality can be just as ignorant and judgemental as some Christians. Nor am I saying that we have the freedom to disobey God’s commands. What I am saying is that we should seek to look beyond the surface, to truly understand people’s hearts and motives, and what it actually means to be a follower of Yeshua. We need to truly understand his teachings of mercy and patience and to bring about the core of his teachings into the 21st century and apply it to our modern experiences and culture, and to grasp the true “principles”.

Many atheists opposed to religion, are motivated because they genuinely think religion is a bane upon society that has done more harm to the human family than good. Whether right or wrong, their “motive” is what is to be respected and given due attention here, as they are not far off from the Gospel of the Anointed One in many respects. Their anger at the root is motivated by disgust, and disgust is often motivated by love.

Is it any surprise, then, that God so often looks into our hearts, and makes the sun rise and the rain fall upon both the righteous and the wicked in this world, who often both are ignorant of their ways?

• “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” – Matthew 5:44-45

It is a sad reality, that many atheists, who though may be opposed to religion and may not fully understand the Bible, may in their hearts often be “more Christian”, than many out there who call themselves such. Indeed, perhaps this is what Yeshua meant by “the first being last and the last first” (Matthew 19:30).

Often there is cause for friction when it comes to antitheism, and in turn, many Christians bite back in exchange and pour fuel onto the fire, rather than seeking to understand, contain and heap coals onto it (Proverbs 25:21-22). But when we understand that righteousness is not merely “acting holy”, or “looking clean”, or “believing in God”, or “teaching his commands”, but rather, is about understanding the persona, the expression of love, empathy, compassion, justice and humanity, ‘then’ we are close to the Son of God and the Father.

This is a deep teaching of Yeshua we must all mediate upon, both for our own sakes, and for the sakes of those who would observe, judge and listen to us. Perhaps then, we shall be able to better heal the chasm of polarisation between believers and non-believers, and be true children of our God in Heaven.