There’s a horribly prevalent idea out there that atheists are just angry at God. This is based on one of the most sick and twisted sayings attributed to Jesus:
Whoever is not with me is against me… (Matt 12:30a ESV)
Satan is not only against God, but he hates him. Atheists are not for God, so they must be against him, and like Satan they must hate him too, right?
No.
It was a cloudy day in November or December 1989 in the family’s 1973 Plymouth Valarie in Ontario, OR when one of my siblings told me there was no Santa (a few years later they all denied it). I was not angry with Santa Claus for not existing, even to the 5 year old me that would have been absurd. Heck, I wasn’t even angry with my parents or anyone else who had supported (whether actively or passively) that belief.
I don’t remember when I figured out the Tooth Fairy wasn’t real, but it was probably a few years later* when some of my classmates had finally started losing their teeth (I started at 5 and was done by 8 or 9) and we compared how much the tooth fairy was giving us. One was getting a dollar under her pillow and another was getting five dollars under his. All I got was a quarter or two. My young mind was able to comprehend that each tooth should be worth the same amount (equal pay for equal work, am I right?) and there seemed to be a strong correlation between socioeconomic standing and the amount each of us received under our pillows. It seemed obvious that it must be our parents, not the Tooth Fairy at work. I was not angry with her for jipping me or not existing, but I did have a chat with my mom about how much I got for each tooth.
Kids aren’t angry at mythical characters like Santa or the Tooth Fairy for not existing, after all, that would be completely absurd. Why would an adult who no longer believes in your mythical god respond any differently?
*Losing my faith in the Tooth Fairy wasn’t very memorable, so it easily could have happened around the same time I find out Santa wasn’t real. I do remember having those conversations and am exercising some literary license to tie it all together.