Atheism (or as some of the militants ironically refer to it, "freethought") is easily the most dogmatic religion that exists. It requires more faith than most any other religion.
In short, it's perfect for the average person with a serious God complex.
Well, if you're an atheist (and I say this as a Christian) this life right here is all you get for all eternity and hence you might as well expend your energy on making it as free from these people that you think are harming things as possible.
Agnosticism is an intellectually defensible position.
Atheism is not.
I personally have never met one I really thought they deep down inside believed there really was not a God. They remind me of children throwing temper fits against mommy, "I hate you Mommy".
Of course the real answer is that deep down, everybody knows (or at least suspects) that God exists. Le coeur á ses raisons que la raison ne connait point — Pascal
"I've always laughed at how militant many atheists are.. if there is no God, what's the point?"
They want to destroy God for the rest of us believers. In doing so, they will, not only "kill" God, but also the Western Culture that Christianity gave rise to.
The ultimate goal of atheist and humanist is the corruption and moral decay of Western European Culture and its people.
I'm curious how science and reason can make the value judgement that religion is harmful. so much for cultural diversity.
Some religious people use their religion to justify attacking, controlling or subjugating others. The current batch of Islamists for example. The new atheists consider this as disruptive.
Simple really. It's not an attack on someone's god, it's an attack on the actions some use their faith to justify.
Atheists must defend their positions, so it is necessary for them to create a certain type of "religion" around the fact that they have no religion as it is commonly understood.
Bafflin' ain't it?