Why Atheists Need God

There are two sources of “authority”, divine and government. Historically, when government was the source of authority even if they claimed that authority came from God, they ended up using their authority against those not in power.

In a “democracy”, the minority can be discriminated against, because majority rules. In a country where the minority rule (like South Africa under apartheid), the majority can be discriminated against. In an Islamic country the LGBTQ+ community can be discriminated against. The authority to discriminate comes from government, no matter who government tries to blame. Christian nations both Protestant and Catholic have discriminated again minorities, but those decisions were made by men, not God. Atheist nations like China have targeted Islamic minorities like the Uighurs.

So, understand when you vest “government” with power, you are vesting government with the power to discriminate and to coerce.

The other source of authority is divine authority. The Founding Fathers claimed God gave every human being three rights. The right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to pursue happiness. The Founding Fathers said any government that denies humans those rights is subject to being replaced by the people because those rights are unalienable. In other words, while government can use its authority to grant groups special privileges and persecute others.

Divine authority only exists to grant unalienable rights to individuals against those that exercise government authority.

So, if you are atheist in an otherwise Islamic, Christian, or Hindu society, your claim to human rights comes from God. If you are LBGTQ+ and you are being discriminated against, your claim to your rights to pursue happiness comes from God’s unalienable human rights.

So, we need to be careful, when people confuse the separation of church and state with the separation of God and state. We all need God’s authority to regulate the state from discriminating against people and denying them their rights.

We don’t need a state religion or even atheism. We need a divine authority that limits the authority of the state. God does not use his authority to coerce, but rather uses his authority to give each and every individual human rights. States use their authority (and in the past, sometimes “humans” presuming to speak for God) to deny other humans their rights.

God granted rights. Humans often act to deny them. Let’s not let anyone confuse us. Government has no authority to take what God has given.