I have those discussions with Christians all the time. When I talk about how awful Christians tend to be, they say something to the effect, “You have little understanding what a Christian is…”

So I remind them: “Christians are ubiquitous. Fox "news," Franklin Graham, Brian Fischer, Focus on the Family, Ted Cruz, Michelle Bachmann, John Boehner, Joe Scarborough, Megyn Kelly, Pat Robertson, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Paul Ryan… Their lives are public, their beliefs are public, and they speak openly.”

Then they try to tell me that there’s a difference in Christian… (sort of like white meat/dark meat I guess)

So again, I tell them: “You’re having this conversation with the wrong person. I’m not a Christian. I’m never going to be a Christian. I will never surrender my soul. You should be having this conversation with your fellow Christians and discussing who and what you want to be as human beings who call themselves Christians. I don’t need you to tell me what a Christian is, I need you to tell yourself—and your fellow Christians what a Christian is; because I’m observing the exact opposite of what you’re saying to me.”

Yes, they in fact need to learn to be open-minded. I was when I found out god wasn't real. I was told at age 10. I just had to follow my parent's religion. I was a closeted atheist until 1 year ago.

God may not exist as an entity, but the idea of god clearly exists and sucks

It's religion that is dangerous. Brainwashing people to dispence with reasoning and embracing "faith". The belief in something without rational basis. Teaching children that they are the cause of sin, thus the monthly curse. Teaching children that they are born evil and sinful. That there is an enity that can read their minds, and that even a thought can be evil,or sinful. Damn them. No wonder people are so messed up in their heads. And I think the horrible part is, some of them know what they are doing. Control through fear and guilt. A monsterous philosophy.

I don't know a concept is useful even if it is false. It is a good concept obviously for some of his followers. My contention is that they should keep him or her confined to ones own personal life.

Some absolutely do suck, and not in the good way. lol I agree with Annaleda, though, that we can't or shouldn't over-generalize the statement to all religious individuals. True, though, that surely the ones who grab our attention the most are the sucky ones! To your first point, though, I agree again, someone who doesn't exist doesn't "DO" anything. Many Christians have accused us of hating God, or rebelling against God, etc. That is just revealing their self-centered wish for a divine stamp of authority for their fantasy.

There are followers of many higher powers. Not all of them suck, even if their reasoning centers do.