if the bible states that god is love and light, then is the godless darkness and loveless?
1 John 1:5
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 John 4:8
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
It's not to say atheists don't have families, and relationships, and romances. They do on occasion. Let me put it this way. What do an atheist do on Sunday? Well some spend time with their families being humanists in an actual sense. But I wouldn't consider these people godless. Why?
"...Whenever two or three are gathered together, thou are in the midst of them."
It's not about faith but relationships. If we're looking at a true godless person we need someone who not only spits on the church but doesn't really care about family and friends. Who has a family, but doesn't really love them. We're looking at a certain sort of person.
What do this person do on Sundays? Work, or shop. Making stores that would otherwise close stay open. Or fish. Or golf. But those two would be a love of nature, so let's strike them unless they do so just to be alone.
A godless person does everything to be alone. But then wonders why they feel so messed up. They have a family, but don't love their wife, so they think having an affair might spice things up. They're searching for something they should already have. They participate in political rallies using words like "love trumps hate" but they not only have no love for the crowd they are with, but so loathe their political opponents that they throw milkshakes, rocks, or bricks at their opponents. Smash cars, loot, and destroy whatever they can't have, as happens in a full riot.
This is in fact the essence of a godless person. They're lost. Their home is a wreck, their job is either all the time or not at all, they're seeking other people to fill their life and a sense of something beyond themselves but they can't even recognize this need, so they turn to gurus and self-help and addictions, and their first instinct when reacting to others is to take and if they can't take they wreck.
There isn't any joy in the lives of the godless, so they go out of their way to ruin other people's lives, kinda like the Grinch who thinks by taking all the stuff of others they can make them just as bitter. This is what we mean by loveless darkness.
No, ChristineM we are not saying this. As I have tried to tell you repeatedly, any of a number of real religions brings connection, purpose, and a sense of love. It is NOT about club membership esp not Bible club membership, but it is very much about being in a legit religion and not a cult, and I declare the sort of humanism that truly values human company a legit religion. What is not, is the sort of angry at the world atheism that tries to belittle theists or talk others out of their faiths. There are plenty of agnostics that manage to live decent lives, who manage to have a sense of purpose from the people in their life. But people at war with others are the definition of godless. It feels like you're trying to pick a fight here.