Is Atheism a Disease? 

While it may be inappropriate (shall we say, “intolerant”?) to refer to belief systems as “diseases,” I must note that all of the criteria Richard uses to establish that Christianity is a virus are at least as applicable to atheism. Atheists believe that their system is right, just as Christians do. Atheists also seek to spread their religion across the globe. The only thing that has stopped them is the fact that humanity isn’t quite gullible enough to fall for it. Further, we must ask ourselves, “What could be so destructive that it causes an intelligent, educated man to rest his mind on fallacies and contradictions, and to proclaim his illogical view like a banshee?” It seems that atheism takes intelligent people and reduces them to absurdity. It also inspires delusions in its adherents. Richard actually believes that there will come a day when the world will completely throw off reason and will adopt Metaphysical Naturalism, and that a utopia will immediately result, and that we will then go out and colonize the universe, and that we will conclude our stay by transferring our minds to computer programs. He even thinks that his description of the “Secular Humanist’s Heaven” is what everyone has been dreaming of, for after his description of computer consciousness and space voyages he adds, “If it sounds like your dream of heaven, this is no accident.”[i] Has anyone been dreaming of spending eternity inside a computer program? 

The fact that Richard’s view results in such delusional thinking matches up perfectly with his description of viral memes: 

As a virus impairs or kills its host, a viral meme impairs or kills your mind, your power of reason. Even those whose minds survive it act as carriers.[ii] 

Hence, there are those whose minds have been killed by atheism, and there are carriers of the disease. Ironically, this book was written by a man named “Carrier.” 

In addition to this deluded thinking, viral atheism causes people to ignore any true opportunities to fulfill their desires.  For instance, we can see from Richard’s writings that he desires an explanation for the origin of the universe, and for the fine-tuning of the cosmos. He wants a worldview that accounts for life and consciousness. He also wants a philosophy that provides a foundation for meaning and morality. The fulfillment of all these desires is Christianity, yet Richard continues to turn to his placebo.  

Of course, I’m being facetious. Richard isn’t an atheist because he’s been infected by a disease; he’s an atheist because he’s angry at God. His mind has been poisoned by rage, and this rage has led to his irrational war against Christianity. Richard even endorses the view that our reason obeys emotions such as anger: 

[W]ithout emotions, reason would be a dead letter. For reason is the slave of emotion. Reason is not a motivator. Reason is a tool, a process. But for that tool to be applied, you must be motivated to apply it, and what you apply it to depends on your goals, which are in turn the result of motives, and motives are the product of desires, and desires are the outcome of emotions.[iii] 

After reading Richard’s book, I am convinced that this last statement is autobiographical. He says that reason is the “slave of emotion.” If we have seen anything from Richard’s book, we have seen that he hates Christianity, the Bible, and the idea of God. His reasoning ability has become the slave of this anger, this hatred. Anyone who looks at the life of Jesus and sees nothing but cruelty, violence, and evil has got a serious problem. It is a sign that atheism may be pathological for some after all. Jesus died on the cross for our sins because he loves us and wants us to experience all the joys of knowing him. To focus all our aggression on such a sacrifice is a sure sign that there is such a thing as spiritual rebellion. So, as it turns out, Sense and Goodness Without God provides outstanding evidence for the spiritual truth of Christianity, since people don’t become quite this angry at beings they don’t believe exist. For Richard to become so illogical and impassioned in his war against God strongly implies that he doesn’t consider God to be a nonsensical character in a fairytale. It also implies that his book probably isn’t meant to convince the world that atheism is true. It’s most likely meant to convince himself.