Exploring how atheism and feminism are compatible may seem tricky to some at first, simply because the two ideologies might appear to be dealing with two different sets of issues that do not intersect. However, as any Christian can attest, God is so ‘big’ that his Word and his plan for humanity include an answer for all aspects of life, even the philosophical and sociological. Since believers are called to include God as a central part of their everyday existence, it only follows that every element would naturally be included. Christians believe that God is Lord of all, not just Lord of a tiny bit of stuff here and there. Atheism and feminism, then, are certainly compatible, once a few of their commonalities are examined.
Rejection of God
Atheism obviously rejects God on an ideological level, since the very term “atheist” refers to a person who does not believe in the existence of any gods or other divine beings. Feminism may not seem to have any standing on existence or non-existence of God, but the beliefs of feminism are incompatible with the statutes of the Bible and inconsistent with Christian beliefs. The secular view of marriage, whether from an atheist and/or feminist, is not going to match the Christian view of marriage.
Rejection of Gender Roles
One telling example of how atheism and feminism are compatible is that both allegiances reject the idea that men and women have differences and should express those differences. The idea that a woman could be happy as a housewife is outright appalling, even offensive, to secular culture, although to be fair the Bible does not quite go so far as to exclusively restrict women to the kitchen or something as ludicrous as that, far from it. In fact, God’s Word provides rich examples and precedent for female leaders in military, government, evangelism, church assignments, and other professional and educational aspirations. But where a feminist would find contention, for one case, is the idea that only males should be pastors. Since feminism rejects this idea, among others, and atheism already rejects any God to provide such ordinances to begin with, the two are quite compatible.
Rejection of Family Structure
Linda Gordon, a feminist author, once said that “The nuclear family must be destroyed, and people must find better ways of living together.” Even aside from the blatant hypocrisy inherent in a statement that implies a low-quality result in every single traditional family despite the obvious and natural spectrum of experiences that would occur all while secular ‘intellectuals’ enjoy universally ridiculing conservative Christians for supposedly purporting generalizations themselves, the basic point being made by the feminist movement is that the family structure of a loving husband, wife, and their children is an inferior model.
The feminist ideal does not value children, despite their obvious necessity and their prior experience as one themselves, as opposed to Christianity which places a tremendous value on children. The feminist structure denies the value of having a man as the spiritual head of a household, which the Bible proposes. Feminist opinions defer to abortion, homosexuality, and other positions that hardly leave room for a family structure at all. These thoughts oppose valuing life, and valuing men and women, thus opposing the Christian view. Since opposing the view of Christianity is the point of atheism, feminism is very compatible.
Rejection of Sin
But perhaps the most significant and obvious way that atheism and feminism are compatible, and the largest sense in which they oppose God, is that both belief systems believe that humanity is good. Both feminism and atheism prop human beings up on a pedestal, believing people to be the source of all goodness in the world, and capable of having profound good in them, and having wonderful causes to champion, such as the aforementioned goals of destroying the traditional family structure and opposing the existence of God. This is in stark contradiction to the Christian take, which is that human beings are responsible for evil, and are imperfect; furthermore, God is good, and righteousness comes from Jesus Christ, not from devaluing life, families, and faith.
To summarize: Atheism and feminism are compatible because both reject the truth of God. Further: Atheism and feminism are compatible because both reject the value of life, family, and gender. Atheism and feminism are compatible because the two adhere to thinking that there is not an eternity, and all of life is a meaningless thing that ends, thus removing the need for such concepts as morality, values, and other structures. The two are quite compatible, indeed.
