What It Means To Be An Atheist on Good Friday

It is Good Friday. Today is the day Jesus was executed by men. Unconscious and fear driven men. And as Jesus' life slowly faded away, he asked God for love and forgiveness for the very men carrying out that atrocious act. The message was unconditional love even for unconscious murderers.

Atheists have a hard time with that. Good Friday means nothing to them. There is a perfectly rational explanation for all of that. A loving explanation.

You see, I love atheists. That is made possible because I don't fear them. I love murderers, sex offenders, thieves. I can do this because I don't fear them. You cannot love what you fear. All negative emotion begins with fear. And that is an absolute. Think about that for a moment.

You see Christians and Atheists each have an opinion. A belief. Each adamantly believes they are right. And just as Christians fear Atheists, Atheists fear Christians. Consumed with their beliefs and fervently believing that they are right, Christians absolutely refuse to consider the possibility that Atheists might be right. Atheists refuse to consider that Christians might be right. And so in the insanity that is this planet, both sides fear each other and thus flows ill will and hatred.

It is the Christians who have lost their way. Many Christians fear. Because they fear, they cannot love. If you cannot love you cannot unconditionally love. Had Christians been walking the fearless, unconditional and loving path all these years, they might very well have set an example for the Atheists. The Atheists might have scratched their head and said something like...

"Man- we have been hating on those idiot Christians all these years and yet they love us in return. That doesn't make sense. Aren't they supposed to hate us back? Don't they fear us?" Maybe they know something....

A few months back, I got in a back and forth with Dudley Sharp over the death penalty in the Sister Prejean piece on this blog. Dudley is a huge proponent of the death penalty. You see, Dudley fears murderers. Because he fears them, he has no capacity to love them. He practices hate and then colors it, justifies it, and rationalizes it- just as Christians and Atheists do when trying to sell their beliefs. The same hatred and animosity, all borne in fear, occur everywhere. People arguing, fighting, and hating. Abortion, death penalty, terrorists, child molesters, religions, ethnicity, war. Righteous fear we think, justifies our positions.

All I can do with a guy like Dudley is respect him and love him. I can do this because I don't fear him. It is ok to be Dudley Sharp and have his beliefs. I am fine with that.

The message that day, that Good Friday so many years ago, was unconditional love. Jesus did not fear death therefore he could embrace it. Instead of pity, self will, anger, and hatred...he was busy loving the guys that were killing him. Completely conscious, completely rational, and certainly not of this world. And so dying was not something to be feared. It was kind of God's moment of "show and tell."

The most fearless man to ever walk this planet, died today. He came here to teach us something. Love is letting go of fear. Unconditional love is removing all fear. That's why Good Friday doesn't mean too much to an Atheist and I am perfectly fine with that. I accept and I understand.