Ask the Atheist - Part the first, "Atheists Hate God"

This is the first in a new series of posts to address some common questions and misconceptions believers seem to have about atheists.  I'm no philosopher or great thinker, but I have seen many of these arguments laid out as I've made my journey to non-belief and I think I'm reasonably qualified to answer some of these ideas.

This first one is an often-heard assertion made when believers are discussing atheists.

Atheists hate God.

This is one of those statements I find silly.  If you're a believer, I would ask you:

Do you hate Darth Vader?  

Do you hate Hannibal Lecter?  

Do you hate Sauron?  

After all, these are evil beings who have tortured and killed many people.

Of course no one really hates Vader, Hannibal and Sauron, because it's irrational to hate fictional characters.  You might not like the stories with these characters and you might not aesthetically enjoy the characters, but it doesn't make any sense to hate something that doesn't exist.  Well, that's how atheists feel about hating God; hating a fictional character makes no sense.

Of course, many believers just can't get their mind around the fact that atheists don't believe in God.  They think we're lying or fooling ourselves; that deep down we really do believe God exists and so we must hate him.

And of course that's completely untrue.  I take Christians' word for it when they say they believe in the virgin birth, Jesus' miracles, original sin and the coming Armageddon, despite my utter disdain for these concepts.  I ask the same from them, that they take my word that I don't believe in God.  Any god.

And since I don't believe any god exists, I don't hate any god.