God says an unbeliever is a fool. You don’t have to know a man’s heart to know he is an unbeliever. The atheist clearly declares he does not believe in God; therefore, in accordance with God’s Word, he can be labeled a “fool.” “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” Therefore, if you declare yourself to be an unbeliever, I am a liberty to quote the Word of God and define you as a “fool.” God is the one who says you are a fool, I’m simply agreeing with His Word, and have the boldness to speak it.
We need lots more like you!
Please read Matt 5:22 over again. Think hard about this. Violating a clear, direct command of Jesus Christ is no light matter.
“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”
Just a couple of further thoughts. There have been quite a few high profile atheists who subsequently came to Christ. I’m thinking specifically of C. S. Lewis and Josh McDowell. I don’t know about McDowell, but I have read any number of books by and about Lewis. Nowhere is it mentioned that Christians were in the habit of saying to him, ‘You fool’ while he was still an atheist.
I have a twofold question on this issue. First, if Christians *had* done that, would it have made it more or less likely that Lewis would come to faith in Christ? I cannot speak for Lewis, but I can speak for myself. When people insult me, they put distance between me and whatever they represent. In short, I don’t like being insulted to my face. If, for example, a person is pushing a certain political candidate, and they call me a fool for not being on that bandwagon, it doesn’t entice me to hop on; it incentivizes me to stay off.
The second point is related to the first. Namely, how does saying to a person, ‘You fool’ harmonize with the Golden Rule? If saying to people, ‘You fool’ were a tried and true method of winning them to Christ, that would be one thing. But it seems off-putting at best. So how could it possibly be in keeping with the Golden Rule? Since most of us don’t appreciate broad, sweeping insults, should we really be in the habit of applying such insults to others?
[Note: yes, indeed God does say, ‘The fool has said in his heart there is no God.’ No question about it; it’s in Scripture. Otoh, it’s nowhere in Scripture recommended as an evangelical approach. Rather, Paul said he became all things to all men, that he might win more. Of course, he never became an atheist to win atheists. But the context implies he would approach them on a level they could understand, rather than simply insulting them to their face.]