The Atheist and The Confederate Flag.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote how I had found myself in agreement with "a guy that sports a tattoo on his neck" in our mutual dislike of Pat Robertson. As I wrote then, atheist Dan Arel isn't a fan of the televangelist and founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and neither am I - albeit for different reasons.

After coming upon a post Arel had published on patheos.com, I learned that he and I share a similar disgust for the Confederate flag currently flying in South Carolina's capital. Although his post contained a bit of snark, we both agree that the flag is a symbol of racism and does not deserve our respect.

However, I don't understand why he is opposed to the Confederate flag. As a Christian, I know why I oppose it and I have no trouble explaining my opposition.

Christianity teachings us that we are all children of God, that we are all created in His image. I listen when Christ says, "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me". I believe when we mistreat our brothers and sisters we are mistreating Jesus as well.

I realize that some will counter that some Christians have used their misunderstanding of the faith to justify their racist beliefs. That does not, however, address the question I have for the atheist.

If one does not believe in any God - whether we're talking about the Christian deity, or Allah or even Vishnu, for that matter - if you do not believe in the existence of any Supreme Being or Creator, the only alternative is the belief that we are the product of a random collection of material "stuff" that accidentally came together without any "purpose" behind it all. If we were not created by a "creative intelligence" then we are the end result of a cosmic mishmash.

If the atheist view is the correct one, why does it matter in the least how we treat other human beings?

I know why I believe racism is sinful. I just don't understand why the atheist thinks so.