Reply #3: "Radical atheists issue blanket condemnations of those who hold to religious beliefs."

[Deep13]

False. Many of us condemn the belief systems themselves, not necessarily those who believe in them. This is the great libel being perpetrated against atheists. Religious activists deliberately confuse the matter to demonize us.

It takes a pretty selective reading of the Bible or Christian dogma generally to come to the conclusion that it is about compassion. This is the same book that lists 613 capital "crimes" and protects if not advocates genocide, subjegation of women, rape, incest, blood sacrifice and religious oppression. I'm willing to bet the other holy books and dogma are no better. The fact is that compassion is experienced by all kinds of people. This is because it is a human emotion that was only later attributed to divinity. In fact, some of the most compassionate people I know don't believe in god.

"the truth" cannot be ascertained by holy books, ritual or belief. It can only be discerned from investigation of the evidence. Apparently the greatest "sin" of atheism is that it dares ask for sufficient evidence for any claims of the divine (or anything else). For disbelieving those who claim to know about god without any proof, somehow we are the ones being arrogant. And let's be clear about something. Either Jesus Christ is the divine savior of humanity or else he isn't. Either the deniers or the believers must be wrong.

The most basic truth to be ascertained here is whether any of the divine assertions about religion are true. On that subject, I must point out yet again that nothing in this article is an argument for, let alone proof of, the existence of the divine.