I know some of you will answer, "because religions turn people into dicks", I paraphrase and boil it down to a general colloquial type response.
Richard Dawkins is the poster boy for the angry atheist. Why? Probably because he is like most of us and has discovered with compounded evidence that it is stupid to believe in a crazy god, in the case of the Old Testament's JEHOVAH and the whacked GOD THE FATHER who killed his own SON. To be honest, I don't believe Jesus ever existed.
I'm not looking to bother Christians and they've learned, in short order, not to evangelize me, therefore, I am not angry at them except when they VOTE, otherwise, we get along royal because they know I am a righteous "pagan" and consigned to the First Circle of Dante's Hell.
No anger is always appreciated by everyone. If a Christian is angry at you, don't feed them. If we get angry, we are just like the anger thrown at us. In this, I am a "better" Christian than a Christian asshole.
And, who says that Atheists are "angry", the Theists do, not the Atheists that I know and I know literally Thousands, if not, Millions of them.
Theists make a point of throwing false accusations at Atheists, they make a point of insulting, deriding, debasing and threatening Atheists, as I have had done to me personally innumerable times, with absolute impunity.
Atheists just simply try to get their ideas/thoughts, etc, across to the Theists and it is the Theists who become irascible, angry and threatening, not the Atheists.
If you click on his name you get
"Rabbibubba is not active or does not exist"
I think he was a troll. Or maybe worse - a religious person!
I AM angry at religion and the BS which its followers espouse, but not at its followers per se. Reason is simple - I wasted a large chunk of my life devoted to this folly, which is not only a huge waste of time, effort, and money, but also, more insidiously, creates the habit of irrationality and being an unquestioning sheep. It's this terrible habit of irrationality (necessary to swallow the thousands of inconsistencies in the bible and the canonical beliefs generally) which rots the brains of the theists collectively - which is in turn horrible for society - this utter inability by the general public to think critically and logically about all subjects, especially political ones.
The only source of anger would be when the religious attempt to force their fantasies on us - as they have done for 2,000 years, except then, they killed you unless you confessed to love their god. It still happens in other counties. I get angry when a little girl is forced to have genital mutilation, when legislators make and enforce laws that are based of their religious belief which they are sworn and baptized to hold above all laws of the land, when god is used to harm people and the environment, when people, who do not want to be helpful give you 'thoughts and prayers' though they never pray - though sometimes beg their fantasy saints.
And the muslims still DO kill you.
Why don't you go directly to the angry atheists, and ask them?
Why ask dogs "how do cats feel?" when they don't know?
I can't speak for all, but I know religion is still negatively affecting me even though I've left the church. As you mentioned at the legal level which is annoying as hell. However it also has a major negative effect on my personal life.
Nearly every friend I had as a child is no longer my friend because I became an atheist.
My mother disowned me when I had just lost my job and my apartment and was a week away from being on the street. I begged her to let me stay with her for a month or two while I got back on my feet. Her exact words to me were "letting you into my house would be like letting Satan into my house."
I just found out through the grapevine that my little sister is pregnant with her first kid. It's bitter sweet news for me. I'm happy for her but sad because I know she will allow little to no contact between her child and me.
That said, none of my sisters speak to me. Ever. Because I disagree with their religious views I'm "bad association".
The direct effect on me aside, my sisters are super intelligent and far more motivated than I am. They Could do amazing things with their minds and their lives if they weren't chained down by some imaginary friend and the fucking cult that worships it. They have one life, and are wasting it on nothing.
That's why I'm angry. That's why I hate religion and fight against it every chance I get.
And where, might I ask, would they get the idea that these actions are ok if not from their religious doctrine?
I'm not angry a at the word religion. I'm angry at the ideologies in this world that promote such disgusting actions.
Further, I know first hand that those who are indoctrinated truely believe they are doing what's right. That's not to say it makes it ok but there's an obvious difference between someone being a dick for the fuck of it And someone who believes they are risking their immortal souls by associating with someone. It's manipulation through fear. They are victims of religion just as much as those outside of the church.
Of course there are many who use that fear to manipulate people for their own gain and those people I do hate.
Because when humans go to war... they have a tendency to end up similar to their enemy. There are some here and out of here at war with god and religion. It does consume them, really. Not Saying Right or Wrong. I just don't have the time to battle beliefs I rather do something else.
If a Christian expresses anger toward me, depending on my patience level at that moment, I may try to understand where their anger is coming from and speak to that. Maybe. It seldom has the desired effect, though, at least in the immediate present. If they are disrespectful to me with their anger, forget it. They get what's coming to them in that case, and I make no apologies. ..of course, when they're nasty, I am tempted to taunt them with: "You're just SPREADIN' the love of Jesus, aren't you?"
It's stupid to believe in a crazy God? The only kind I can possibly believe has any influence on the world as it stands is a spiteful and malevolent one. A benevolent God? Utter nonsense. When children are born with terminal cancer, that isn't 'moving in mysterious ways', that's having no influence, not caring, or not existing in the first place.
I have a lot of anger directed at Catholicism, because my mother's Catholic bigotry towards people like me is something I've had to grow up with. I know it's by no means the worst of the Christian faiths in this respect, but I take Catholicism's behaviour very, very personally. Especially when I've watched friends of family discover their child is gay, ban him from having a computer or Internet access, and then 6 months later, he's mysteriously found the devotion to join a seminary. How convenient.
For centuries, Catholicism has taken its gay men (and women) dressed them in black, told them they can't have sex ever, ever, EVER, and then put them in charge of choirs and orphanages. I'm not linking homosexuality to paedophilia (as a lot of people assume when I'm saying this.) What I am saying is that if you deny someone (gay, straight or bisexual) a healthy sexual outlet, you gamble with the possibility of them finding an unhealthy one. Furthermore, Catholicism's understanding of sin makes it no worse to molest a youngster against their will than it does to have consensual gay sex with an adult. And then it wonders why it's plagued by child abuse scandals.
Fundamental to modern religion should be to do no harm. Those religions (and religious factions) that continue to harm people, intentionally or through lack of consideration of consequences, will get no respect from me.
It's the credulity that most of the time gets many of us to shake our heads in disgust.
When it comes to accurately using the gray matter one has, religionists are the zenith of duncedom since they 'come from' the emotional part of the brain exclusively.
They wouldn't know a logically based stance if it come up and bit 'em in the ass...literally.
My man, the frustration that comes from dealing with one of these people is enough to start one to drink. It's not anger at the gawd head. We don't believe he exists, so how could we be angry at him.
Einstein quote on the subject seems relevant..."Only two things are infinite, the universe and stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
As long as you can't fix stupid, (or so it seems), then we as a species are in deep shit because we'll be, and are repeating the same variant type of idiocy over, and over, and over, and over.
It's how they're depicted, but it's not true. I know a lot of atheists, and they are very kind, reasonable, fun people. I know far more religious people who are angry. They're angry because of someone getting an abortion, or being Muslim, or saying "Happy Holidays" instead of Merry Xmas or not wanting baby Jesus dolls displayed in the courthouse. It seems they are angry at everything.
Now picture Dawkins as a female!!! I see it in the political arena also, too many out there still hold with that idea women need to be quiet. A self assured woman is not liked by many conservative religious men. Too bad.
I think is more frustration than anger..he present facts and gets plain stupidity as an answer...
Well, I deconverted during my adolescence, which probably made me seem pretty angry. But, there's also the realization that you've been lied to by just about everyone around you, and that so few of them are even capable of recognizing it. It's just a tad frustrating.
As a New Thought Church board president, I've noticed many former Traditional Christians come to our Church after a bad experience at their former church. This doesn't explain everyone's resentment toward Traditional Christians , however. I've only recently dealt with this resentment myself and I've never been a Traditional Christian. I came to realize my resentment came from my resentment toward all liars and that's how I viewed them, at least their ministers. On the cross (in one of the Gospels, Luke I think) Jesus says "forgive them fore they know not what they do". That's the attitude I am trying to adopt. I think if we try not to judge them, many will evolve.
I DONT KNOW...i will say this... it adds adrenalin. There's been times that anger was my friend and other times it threw me off guard.
Dawkins would be equally angry with an atheist who claimed to know everything about history as he would be with Ken Ham as president. Some people don't need religion to "turn into a dick." That "down the nose" view that condescending people have generally sparks anger in atheists and the "Christians" have been taught to defer to condescending people. It's odd that someone so wise doesn't understand this.