The law is a fragile thing. It’s easily broken, and thus is frequently broken. From a Christian perspective, there are such things as legitimate and illegitimate authority. A great example is the prison service. If the law is broken (e.g. bank robbery), Christians believe the government can, and should, imprison the perpetrators. The bank clerk, by contrast, has no such authority. If a bank clerk imprisons a robber, that is called kidnapping. Christians also believe there is a limit on government authority. The government does not, for example, have the right to just randomly hunt down minorities and shoot them.
Christians have a solid foundation for these beliefs. The Bible says we are to obey the government, and as long as we only do good things, they ought to leave us alone. If we do bad things, the Bible says the government “does not bear the sword in vain” (see Romans 13). But of course, we’re also told to please God, not men, so if the government passes a bad law or gives us a bad command, it is our right and responsibility to disobey. This isn’t a flimsy opinion. It’s written in ink, unchanging, and ultimately based on the authority of God.
By contrast, an atheist has no reason to believe in the authority of the government. When asked to explain why theft is wrong, they may appeal to the power of government, however they will eventually be forced to admit that government strength and the legitimacy thereof are two separate issues. Ultimately, if there is no God, the government are simply a group of human beings with no more authority than the homeless man on the street. A law is simply an opinion that law enforcement officers are likely to follow.
This leaves atheists with a problem. In their minds, they know there’s a standard of right and wrong, and it is one that even the government must abide by. But they can’t justify this belief. Christians have a stronger basis for the morality every human being intrinsically knows exists than atheists will ever have. This leaves atheists with a serious dilemma. Do they continue living with contradictory views, or do they discard one?