Atheists hate god

The phrase "atheists hate god(s)" (AHG) is a fallacious anti-atheist PRATT argument which attempts to label atheism as a mere emotional opposition to god(s), rather than a reasoned denial of the existence of said god(s). Atheists do not deny the existence of god(s) because they "hate god(s)" or "want to live in sin", because atheists don't believe in these things, any more than Christians hate, say, the gods of Hinduism. If they're mad, generally they're pissed at something a religious person or group has done.And there's no doubt that religious people exist. (Maybe they even came to the atheist fold via the route of anticlericalism.) After claiming that atheists hate god, many writers go on to attack "militant" atheism and New Atheism. 
In line with the varied specific beliefs of atheists in the world, some atheists may actually wish a god did exist (but can't reconcile this with what they observe, such as the problem of evil), some would very much dislike the god portrayed in the Bible/Qur'an (etc.) and don't believe such a being could exist (or would be worthy of admiration if it did), some simply do not care, and many will fall somewhere in between.
The AHG argument crops up extremely commonly and shows no signs of going away: see the #Theist quotes section. A common retort to atheist arguments goes along the lines of "if you don't believe in god(s), why do you talk about [it/him/her/them] so much?"
==Conceptual flaws==
AHG relies on several flawed concepts.
===Correct target===
As shown in the counterexample section below, nonexistent characters can clearly be hated. But beyond that, there are several legitimate reasons that atheists may dislike "God":http://www.atheistfaq.com/2007/08/why-do-atheists-hate-god.html
*Atheists may dislike people who use religion to justify their actions (especially when those actions are repugnant). (And the existence of religious people is not a controversy.) By extension, atheists may dislike the idea of the god(s) for giving this justification, despite being fictional.
*Atheists may consider that, if the god(s) did actually exist, but made this world as it is, then that god would be evil. Thus, they think that asserting the existence of god(s) is morally offensive — for surely a loving creator would not make such a flawed world.
*Atheists may not hate god per se, but they may think that truth matters, and that getting rid of false beliefs — such as the existence of a deityThis statement is only assuming that a deity does not exist because it is expressing an atheist's point of view. If a deity does exist, then a belief in the existence of a deity would not actually be false. But nobody has been able to prove it one way or the other, which is why this debate happens. — is therefore important. Beyond this, atheists may think that believing in the existence of a deity makes people more prone to accept other falsehoods — such as faith healing — which do tangibly harm people.
===Bulverism===
AHG uses the logical fallacy of Bulverism. Rather than engaging the atheist's non-emotional reasons against belief in gods, the theist asserts that the atheist's ideas come from emotion. This avoids honest argument and back-and-forth and lets the theist shut off discussion.
===Atheists, who believe in god===
Similar to Bulverism, AHG is often used to assert (fallaciously) that there is actually no question about the existence of god(s), because everybody believes in God, even atheists! The idea is that atheists secretly believe in God, but pretend not to believe due to hate.
This is a terrible straw man of atheist positions.
If this were so, then there would be no reason to argue about a universally accepted truth, and so the only disagreement would be whether we should love god(s) (theist) or hate god(s) (atheist). This, in turn, offers an easy opportunity for the theist to point out all the nice things that their god(s) has supposedly done. This is much easier than logically examining the plausibility of the theist's doctrine.
This is also an abuse of terminology because even someone who believes in secret still believes, and misotheism would be the correct term for a believer who hates the god they believe in. An "atheist" who hated god would just be an angry believer, not a non-believer. It is absurd to suggest otherwise.
Hilariously, this would mean that believers would not be able to tell "atheists" that they are going to hell for "not believing in God" (even if according to those theists, they believe in God), because if belief was the only standard needed to go to heaven, these "atheists" who are angry at God would be going straight to heaven. If "everyone believed in God" as some theists posit, then they could not tell anybody they're going to hell, unless their religion requires more than faith to go to heaven.
==Counterexamples==
The idea that "atheists hate god" has several obvious counterexamples.
===Actual-religions counterexample===
First and foremost, if this argument is true, then Christians must hate every single one of the gods Christians don't believe in by merely failing to believe in them, and by arguing that YHWH is superior. (Exchange "Christian" and "YHWH" as needed.)
To be fair, some do, because they believe that the gods of other religions are literally demons. For example, many Vedic deities became demons in Zoroastrianism.
===Fictional counterexample===
Temporarily assume that there exists a being, Zylgrp, the Gibbering Unknown Terror. Thus sayeth the Book of Zylgrp: 
The vast majority of people (with the possible exception of VHEMT) would dislike Zylgrp, the Gibbering Unknown Terror. They might even hate him. Yet Zylgrp does not exist. Rather than hating Zylgrp, they hate what Zylgrp stands for — omnicide. In the same way, atheists may "hate" gods because they disagree with the morals that that god represents.
And for Jews/Christians/Muslims who would protest that their god is less slaughter-happy, consider the Great Flood and examples of God personally killing people.
To summarize, James Kirk Wall writes:http://www.chicagonow.com/an-agnostic-in-wheaton/2013/10/atheists-dont-hate-god-they-hate-your-god/
===Gross counterexample===
The " is everything you don't want:
The puppy-monkey-baby is a fiction invented by advertisers, now (hopefully) unemployed. It doesn't exist. Yet humans have a universal reaction: unbounded, frothing, seething hatred for the mere possibility that it might. How? Because it is possible to hate something, even a nonexisting something, for what it represents — in this case, horrifying CGI for a horrifying product.
To atheists, a "god" is merely a fiction invented by another flawed human. Hating that fictional character is not difficult, and does not require believing that said god exists.
==Scientific view==
Exline et. al 2011 summarized several studies on religion and attitudes towards God, and found:Anger toward God: Social-cognitive predictors, prevalence, and links with adjustment to bereavement and cancer. Exline, Julie J.; Park, Crystal L.; Smyth, Joshua M.; Carey, Michael P. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 100(1), Jan 2011, 129-148.
These are two interesting findings:
#More religious people were less likely to hate God. So religious people don't hate God. Phew!
#Yes, atheists do have hate — in two distinct ways, neither of which requires that they believe that god exists. The first is hate against a hypothetical idea — ie, if God did exist, as described by the Bible or Qur'an, then they would hate that god. The second is hate against a historical idea — e.g., they had political views or a sexuality that opposed what their former religion was, and so left that religion (see chart) and lost belief in that deity.
==Theist quotes==
Multiple examples of this outstandingly weird reasoning exist. Some are showcased below for your amusement.
==See also==
*Misotheism: God exists, and we hate him!
*Richard Dawkins - God Hater
==External links==
*Can atheists hate God?, Hemant Mehta
*Do Atheists Hate God?, DarkMatter2525
*The Nay-Theist, TV Tropes
*Atheism and hatred of God, Conservapedia
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Clichéed sayings