Antitheist Bigotry

Prejudice and discrimination against religious or spiritual individuals driven by a belief that religion itself is evil and that believers are therefore morally defective or dangerous. Antitheist bigotry goes beyond atheist bigotry in its intensity and its moral absolutism: it is not enough to disbelieve; religion must be actively destroyed. It manifests in calls to ban religious practices, to strip believers of rights, and to treat religious expression as a form of abuse. It is a form of secular fundamentalism, as dogmatic and intolerant as any religious extremism.

Example: “He argued that parents should be legally prohibited from raising children in any faith, calling it ‘child abuse.’ Antitheist bigotry: treating belief itself as a crime.”

Antitheist Prejudice

A reflexive, often unexamined hostility toward religious or spiritual people, based on the assumption that religion is always harmful and that believers are therefore suspect. Antitheist prejudice shows up as automatic distrust, the assumption that any religious person is a bigot or a conspiracy theorist, and the dismissal of religious perspectives as worthless. Unlike antitheist bigotry, it may not involve active calls for suppression, but it still poisons dialogue and reinforces stereotypes. It is common in secular academic circles where religion is studied only as pathology.

Example: “When the new colleague mentioned she volunteered at her synagogue, he assumed she was a Zionist hawk. Antitheist prejudice: projecting political extremes onto all believers.”

Antitheist Bigotry by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 16, 2026