[Marguerite]

To just throw my two cents in (without getting into the argument going on) I'm an Atheist who doesn't hate religion.

I understand hating religion as an institution/institutions because I can see it's done a lot of harm. It's just my opinion though that religion has been a fairly handy tool throughout history. Greed, control, power... they're the real motivators. I think religion provides a nice framework for those in power to take what they want for a 'righteous cause'. I strongly believe that if it hadn't been religion it would have been something else (communism for example).

One thing that annoys me though about some Atheists is they say they hate 'all religion equally' but more or less it comes down to hating Christians and Christianity. The same people who would hack off your head if you dare say something negative Islam. The general consensus is that you can't blame all of Islam for something a minority of people have done. Oh, but that doesn't go for Christianity... It is liable for everything any extremist has done in the present, hundreds of years ago and probably future misteps too.

Also people that say they hate religion because people try to push it down your throats, but will take any opportunity to convince someone they're wrong for being religious. Not to mention how intolerent to other beliefs those stupid, ridiculous Christians are.

Hey, Christians can certainly be accused of being hypocritical too, it just seems like in recent times being an Atheist has become the trendy thing to do. There also seems to be an air of moral superiority that comes with calling yourself an Atheist (and can I say I spent a lot of time making fun of Christians when I was younger). All I'm saying is that religion doesn't determine whether you are a dick or not.