What is antitheism?

Response

Antitheism is a broad term that refers to active, intentional opposition to belief in God or religion in general. The term describes a person’s intent and approach more than their beliefs, as a person may adhere to an agnostic or atheistic worldview without being considered an antitheist. Antitheism asserts that theism is harmful and should be challenged. Like other political or social philosophies, there are different levels of antitheism and various applications.

As expected, the Bible does not speak positively about the attitude of antitheism. While simple ignorance is seen as a forgivable mistake (John 9:41;Luke 23:34), deliberate hatred towards God is not. Those who intentionally defy God (Romans 1:18-23) due to disbelief or hatred are referred to as “fools” (Psalm 10:4;Psalm 14:1) and warned of severe consequences (Proverbs 29:1;Romans 1:24-25).

The most prominent manifestation of antitheism in the contemporary world was the emergence of the New Atheists shortly after the beginning of the century. Triggered by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a more confrontational, hostile stance against religion gained popularity. This movement was led by figures such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens. These individuals openly and aggressively criticized belief in God as both false and detrimental to society. While most of these figures had expressed these ideas through their writings and speeches long before, their concepts gained more traction in the period following 9/11. Although the impact of New Atheism has persisted, its popularity has diminished as both religious and non-religious perspectives have evolved.- Religious figures have criticized it for shallow, divisive approaches.

From a historical perspective, there is nothing “new” about New Atheism or antitheism. The only truly novel aspects of New Atheism were an unusual level of social popularity and an extraordinary level of arrogance. Even fellow atheists frequently faulted the rhetoric of New Atheism for being more derogatory than reasoned and more snide than rational. The modern antitheists’ tendency to demean and belittle is seen in the titles of their books “The God Delusion” and “God Is Not Great” and the movie “Religulous.” In eras past, such attitudes have been described as misotheism (“hatred of God”) or maltheism (“belief in an evil God”).

The remnants of New Atheism continue in the public work of Lawrence Krauss, Jerry Coyne, Victor Stenger, and others. Actors and comedians such as Bill Maher, Ricky Gervais, and Penn Jillette could be fairly described as antitheists. In some cases, antitheists are former professing believers, such as Dan Barker and John Loftus.

Non-believers are not necessarily antitheists; a person who merely disbelieves in God but does not hold theism to be stupid or immoral would not be considered an antitheist. Nor is antitheism always identified with one political group. Some antitheists hold worldviews remarkably similar to pantheist or New Age systems. The common theme of antitheism is not necessarily political or social or even spiritual. Antitheism is primarily an attitude of aggressive hostility toward religion and, by extension, religious people and ideas. Unfortunately, antitheism tends to express itself in negative ways, with arrogance, derision, or outright bigotry.