Religion
In reply to the discussion: The Latest Mass Shooter Was Apparently an Anti-Religious Zealot Who Sought Companionship Online [View all]Heddi
(18,312 posts)I have known several people who label themselves Atheist - not because they don't believe in God, but because they see themselves as God, or the highest power. These folks are true Nihilists who "believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy." To worship something would mean that something was above them, greater than them, smarter than them. That's not possible.
These folks tend to be extreme Libertarian/fascist types as well. It would not surprise me if these folks I knew (many years ago, in a different life) did some spree murder because of a perceived slight. I suppose the only redemption is that they're now all 40 or just beyond, have mellowed in their old age and have quasi-respectable jobs and splintered family, and have become less nihilists and more libertarian/extreme right wing politically.
Their brand of Atheism is different from mine in that i don't see myself as the highest power. If there were evidence of a God/Gods/Etc I would be open to examining that evidence for myself. But I don't believe in God because I don't believe there is a God to believe in.
Their brand of Atheism is that there is no God because they are God. It's akin to the "atheism" of North Korea and Stalin - it's not so much Anti-God, but Anti-Any-God-But-Stalin-or Kim-il-Sung. North Korea and 1940's Communist Russia were anything but Atheist societies - they were/are quite theocratic but the Gods that must be worshiped are the heads of state.