As an antitheist, I find myself daydreaming about what the world would be like if nobody loved God.

I don’t want to do away with love altogether, obviously. I’d just like to live in a world where more people loved and respected other people as much as they seem to love and respect God.

Maybe one of the reasons why is that God seems to take up a lot space in our hearts that could be overflowing with love for the world around us. It’s a shame.

What if the adage “it’s not about religion, it’s about relationship” were true? What if it’s not about a relationship with Christ, nor one that tries to see Christ in others or needs to save them from sin? What if it’s one that, instead, tries to understand actual people. One where we were dedicated to each other like the most devout religious people dedicate themselves to God.

I have heard it’s impossible; that some people are too evil to love. Maybe. But then again, I have seen Christians worship a God who has the history of the Old Testament…

…and most of us have not committed genocides…

It might be possible.

I do think it might make for a beautiful world if it happened.

Maybe part of the reason I get sentimental about this kind of thing is that I’ve been told by people close to me, through tears, that they will always love God more than me.

It’s tough to be told by someone close to you that they’ll love someone who doesn’t even exist more than they love you, and it’s hard to see the pain in their eyes of them wanting to love you, but unable to because the block of childhood fears or the weekly drumming of their pastor has locked their heart.

Some of them think I’m going to hell for eternity and still love this God more than they love me. Some of them think they can only love me THROUGH this God — me, by myself, am not good enough, so they need to see me through the eyes of someone who will judge me as possibly going to hell. And it’s so basic to the way they see the world that they’re confused about how I can love people without believing in God.

It wouldn’t matter to me if they were, like, random people on the internet. But these are people close to me.

For many of these people, it’s not really their fault they believed in God — at least, not just. They were at a low time once and desperate, or they were taught it as children, or it was beat into them and they are bound to carry it their entire lives.

That’s really sad. It reminds me why I’m an antitheist — someone who doesn’t want to perpetuate the cycle.

I mean…It just seems to me like a bit of a waste to dedicate your entire life to loving something that doesn’t exist.

Especially when the entire universe is in front of you, waiting….

It would be a shame to miss it.

Isn’t it?

Photo taken from Epsos under Creative Commons License