I do not care if a particular person believe or not. My main concern is that they do not try to push what they believe down my throat. I cannot stand people who know what is best for me without knowing anything about me, or themselves, for that matter. We are in the midst of a real problem in that there is supposed to be a separation of Religion and State. Thus we are to become a Nation ruled by religious law, which has no real place in the world of today.

I think if they need religion, they should embrace it, as long as they do not try to convert me or make laws based on their religion (which we already have too many of). I don't have a problem with them. One of my dearest friends is a pastor..... he is an amazing person, he invited me to his Christmas eve service, I was honored to attend. He knows I am an atheist, he respects that, I respect him as a person that truly embodies the truth of being a REAL Christian.

Announce to your friends, family, coworkers, boss and customers that you are an atheist or secularist, then let your education begin!!!

The hostility is a natural reaction to what you are about to experience.

I do not hate without a good reason. Typically, the faithful disparage and demean us both legally and politically, not the other way around. Christian evangelical conservative movements in America want to punish people who don't follow their narrow minded ideology which they attempt to shove down kids throats. They also hurt kids and abuse them by scaring them to death with graphic descriptions of torment in hell if they do not conform to the standards they set as a means of social control. Not to mention, religious zealots retard scientific progress.

I can ignore them forever as long as they keep to themselves. I guess I am one of the ones who has a problem with them. They believe it is their right/duty/obligation to say how others must live. They are intolerant. All this anti-gay BS is just the tip of the iceberg, and we mostly consider Christians when we say "religious" what about Muslims? Nit what one would call tolerant with sharia and such, even the Buddhists have been in on it in Myanmar.
Given that to me it is merely a superstition, fable, fairy tale, all of it, I can't accept people using it to affect others.

I agree with you. The hatred and demeaning is more of a knee jerk reaction I think. It's not completely unjustified. The people who are angry are likely hypersensitive because they've been mistreated, constantly condescend to, and feel that religion had lied to them if they used to believe. Live and let live is the best way to go but I understand why someone would feel upset and have some prejudice.

Religion is the number one destroyer of critical thinking. This is where most people learn that "wishful thinking" is a valid means of belief.

Without religion in America, what are the odds we'd have Trump today? I'd say damn near zero.

That one reason among thousands, if not millions, should be enough.

The problem is, silly beliefs don't stay in their box. They spill over into the real world. I really don't care how pure their motives when they're fucking with LGBT folks or rewriting history or denying me my civil rights. So, in general, the religious community gets my scorn.

On a one on one level, I treat people with the respect that the deserve. I will treat them fine until the moment they're doing something stupid or mean-spirited due to their evidence-free beliefs. Then I will ruin their day.

It's that demeaning part, and their belief that we have to be brought into the fold no matter what the cost. Also being religious makes you pretty much a hypocrite.

I have no issues with religious people. Everybody has their crutches that they use to get by in life.

It's more the ones that force things on you that people hate.