All too often, atheists are confronted with stupid questions. One of the most common is "Why do you hate God?"

Many atheists claim that they can't hate something that doesn't exist. This isn't quite true, however. Hate is a simple emotion and can easily be directed toward fictional characters. Back in the old days, audiences would boo and hiss when the cowboy in the black hat appeared on screen. Certainly it's possible to become so engrossed in a story or film to the point that one actually feels the emotion of hate toward the villain.

So, yes, it is possible to hate the character of God in the Christian Bible. But why?

The question is usually posed by someone who believes the Christian God is a loving father/creator, that this God loves the atheist and desperately wants a "relationship" with him; God wants the atheists to be saved. Why, the Christian asks, won't the atheist love him back?

The problem is that when a Christian asks the question from this perspective, the atheist has no recourse. He can quote the Bible all day and not phase this person. From the old testament, horrors such as rape, incest, fathers willing to sacrifice their sons, fathers offering up their daughters to be raped and murdered, outright torture and murder, including wholesale slaughter of enemy tribes, either condoned by or perpetrated by God can be pointed to.

But the Christian who believes God is love itself can't read these verses objectively. Such a Christian will rationalize the character God's behavior. 

For example, the murder of the Midianites in Numbers 31 was a good thing. For one, the Midianites were horrible people. The murder of all the noncombatant married women, boys, and elderly, they say, was a merciful act, because without the men (just slaughtered by the Israelites), they'd have died of starvation and exposure. And of course, it was a good thing that they kept the young girls. You'll never convince a devout believer that the girls were used as sex slaves--no, they were properly married to their conquerors. Who cares that they were children forced into marriage to grown men? Girls got married very young in those days. (An example of God's evolving morality.)

The atheist may hate the character of a barbaric God who orders the slaughter of an entire tribe of people (except the virgin girls). But the Christian can't understand this hatred because God is the author of good. If God did it, it is, by definition, good. It's the atheist's problem if he can't read the love in scripture.

Other Christians will point out that while God may have had a hand in some awful events in the Old Testament, it was necessary because of the times. But Jesus changed all that. And Jesus is all about love. Why do you hate Jesus?

Again, however, pointing out the vile things Jesus said and did gets the atheist no where. For example, Jesus called a Canaanite woman a dog, basically. But the Christian will say it was a term of endearment.

Elpidio Valdes sums up Jesus' family values nicely in his article, "A Repulsive Jesus?":
"Jesus tells us his mission is to make family members hate one another, so that they shall love him more than their kin (Matt. 10:35-37). He promises salvation to those who abandon their wives and children for him (Matt. 19:29, Mark 10:29-30, Luke 18:29-30). Disciples must hate their parents, siblings, wives, and children (Luke 14:26). The rod is not enough for children who curse their parents; they must be killed (Matt. 15:4-7, Mark 7:9-10, follow­ing Lev. 20:9)."

In Luke 19:27, Jesus offers a parable in which he himself is clearly the king who says, "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me."

"Context, context!" The Christian cries out. But they can not wipe away the words on the page for any objective observer to read. Oh no, the Christian who loves Jesus says, this is just a story, just a parable. If you read it in the right way, with the right frame of mind, you'll see. But what is that correct frame of mind? Let the Christian talk long enough and you will find that you have to believe before you can understand what the Bible really says.

The Christian who asks, "Why do you hate God?" does not view bad things as bad, when they involve the God he loves so desperately. Horror is no longer horror--it is love. (Either that, or it doesn't mean what it says.)

The atheist can't argue with Christian apologetics. Apologetics is a slippery, shape-shifting eel. Once you think you've caught it, it slithers into a dark hole through which you do not want to travel.

So what is the appropriate answer to the question, "Why do you hate God?"

The answer is: "Why do you not?"

Only a person whose moral sense has been so warped by indoctrination and fear would see the God of the Bible as an omnibenevolent being. The character is loathsome. He is the villain and mankind the innocent dupe. He clearly hates his own creation, lashes out in anger, regrets, and lashes out again. The character of Jesus is only mildly better. He still demands that everyone who doesn't believe in him is against him and goes to hell.

What sort of person loves a creature like that? A sheep. A slave. A coward. Someone who lacks the strength to stand up and question, to demand the fair treatment any sentient, feeling being deserves--simply by virtue of his existence.

So I ask you, why do you not hate God?