Reply #17: Atheists do not thrive on 'constant derision' of believers. They just don't believe.

[LeftishBrit]

Sometimes the hostility of some groups of believers to atheists, and the tendency of certain believers to support right-wing causes, causes the latter to snap, and reply with snark. It may not be admirable, but considering that atheists in America have only *one* open representative in Congress; that a president regarded as comparatively moderate stated explicitly that atheists cannot be regarded as full citizens of America; that in some parts of America the political pressures of right-wing churches make it impossible to elect a Democrat let alone an atheist to political office; that in some places atheists are ostracized and treated as immoral and as bad influences on society - I am not surprised that they sometimes get pissed off.

The encroachments of the religious right, and especially the political 'pro-life' movement, are getting bad enough in the UK, but probably still not one-tenth as bad as in many parts of the USA.

I have no problem with religion or religious people; I DO have problems with political anti-secularism and the religious right - of any religion.