As an aside, the impression I get is that the majority of Atheists are not so much anti-God as anti-Religion, or anti-religous institutions. Would you agree? (or am I totally off-beam?)
I can't separate a believer from his God. I mean, honestly, when was the last time you gave a moment's thought to Thor or Kukulcan?
The principle objection a lot - most, maybe - of atheists have is the use of the State by believers to coerce non-believers in various ways.
It's an exaggeration, but many atheists feel like Dhimmis in America.
There are a lot of things that reinforce this perceived 'Dhimmi status' of atheists in America, but the first that comes to mind is President George H. W. Bush's (alleged) comment at a 1988 news conference in Chicago:
"I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots."[1]
Then there's the forcing of children, by law or through coercion, to acknowledge a God during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Having In God We Trust on our money - money that even the atheist must use to engage in commerce - is a perpetual reminder of the Dhimmi status.
I can imagine it would be difficult for most FReepers, who are proudly Christian, to grasp what I just said. Absolutely understandable.
This scenario may help to illuminate the previous statements:
Imagine you were born and raised in an Islamic country, but you are a Christian. All throughout your life, in spite of the fact that you are a Christian, you are:
Your initial reaction may be to escape the country of your birth and seek refuge somewhere else. Yet, you love your country and you are proud of its history, its future.
That's the situation for most atheists in America.
The atheist community can be largely divided into two camps, based on how each camp wants to address the situation. There is, occasionally, overlap among the two camps.
The Legalistic Camp, populated with people like Michael Newdow[2], seek to force religion (specifically) and supernaturalism (generally) out of the government-supported public sphere. They are intensely focused on ridding the Western world of religion through legal machinations, yet are largely silent - or give lip service to - to the threat of Islam and Islamic terrorism or the War on Terror.
The Cultural Camp is more focused on the promotion of science and skepticism. They largely believe that with increased rationality and skepticism, the last vestiges of faith will wither away. Regarding Islamic terrorism and the War on Terror, this camp is surprisingly hawkish. This due to the fact Islamic terrorists are beyond rational dialogue. The only thing an Islamic terrorist understands is a bullet or a bomb.
The Pledge of Allegiance issue best illustrates how these two camps view the battle. The Legalistic Camp wants to force the courts to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge, while the Cultural Camp would support a voucher system - to enable them to send their children to an "atheistic" school - or choose to homeschool their children.
To build on my earlier scenario: If you were a Christian raising a child in an Islamic country and leaving wasn't an option, which would you choose?
The faithful and faithless communities only are at war with each other when the coercive power of government is involved.
I have no desire to disturb a man's faith nor do I care what he does in his church.
If he's right, I'm burning in hell. If I'm right, we're both worm food.
1. SourceWatch.
2. Wikipedia: Michael Newdow