“The idea of the angry atheist is a myth.”

[mr blur]

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#deedfc; color:#00000 0; margin-left:1em; border:1px dashed #7a7b7d ; border-radius:1em; box-shadow:4px 4px 4px #999999;"] Why are atheists so angry? The question – regularly flung around in debates about religion – is a self-fulfilling one, since atheists get pretty irritated whenever they’re asked it. But it’s revealing, too, because it pinpoints a surprising zone of agreement between believers and non-believers: many on both sides accept the premise that atheists are angrier than average.

Naturally, their reasoning differs. Evangelical Christians sometimes assert that atheists secretly believe in God and fear he’s judging them; atheists retort that religion gives them plenty of things to be angry about. Either way, it’s difficult to examine Richard Dawkins’s Twitter feed (to pick the most unfairly obvious example) and fail to conclude that tetchiness and faithlessness go hand in hand.

Here’s the thing, though: apparently they don’t.

<snip>

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/oliver-burkeman-column/2015/mar/03/are-atheists-all-angry

Some good comments:
"Why are atheists so angry?

One might as well ask why religious people are such credulous, intolerant, bloodthirsty, sexual hypocrites."

[mountain grammy]

1. I love this comment from the comment section:

"We don't proselytize. We don't hold giant, weekly, bell-clanging, carpark-clogging get-togethers. We don't dangle "lucky charms" from ourselves or our cars. We don't cover ourselves in big, black sacks.

The only time you know we are there is when the religious decide that secularity comes behind whatever they think their sky-fairy wants - whether it's an obsession with reproduction, tax evasion, enforced "belief" or making excuses for their criminal followers.

Then we get a little tetchy. Otherwise, we really don't care what anyone else believes."

[trotsky]

2. That's a fantastic comment. n/t

[Warpy]

5. That really says it all

but I've known a lot of newly minted atheists who are very angry, mostly at themselves for allowing so much of their lives to be wasted on something that doesn't exist.

Eventually they get over it and see the religious with a small amount of pity and a large amount of weariness and complete agreement with the above sentiment.

[Lordquinton]

7. the onky time atheists are noticed is when they are angry

It's a causation=/=correlation situation.

That and creating a label so they can easily dismiss what they want. Smart too, hard to say "don't call me angry" without seeming angry, we get hit hard with the whole delusion angle.

[AlbertCat]

3. Atheists sure don't seem any more angry than religionists.

I mean, we don't get so mad, we cut people's heads off.

There's a difference between "angry" and "frustrated you bozos are STILL bringing up that long defunct thing....again!"

[RussBLib]

4. atheists are simply becoming more outspoken

...and more scientists are stepping forward and speaking out about the silliness of belief. Thank you, internet.

And the faithiests don't like it at all, so they complain we're angry. It's a way to change the subject.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. That is the way I see it too.

When I see how angry these people are who want the US to declare itself a "Christian nation", I have to wonder how they measure anger. Outspoken is not angry. We are just not as afraid as we were in the past.

[Arugula Latte]

10. I agree.

It's similar to the way rightwingers try to control women: "There, there. Don't get yourself so worked up. It just isn't becoming, dear."

[Brainstormy]

8. This makes me angry

I don't know Jerry Coyne, but I'm particularly annoyed by the line, citing him, Maher, Dawkins and Harris, that goes, "Don't tell me these aren't strikingly angry men." Horse puckey! Maher is just funny, and Dawkins and Harris, especially Harris are strikingly calm, remarkably reasonable men. What claptrap.

[mr blur]

9. ^^This^^ (nt)