My definition of atheism is a willing practiced disbelief in God. A willing rejection of the concept of God.
I see no reason for this at all, why reject God when you don't even believe in God? Why accept any concept of God by another that you feel you have to prove them wrong in their belief?
Is it not enough to just enjoy non God?
So I see atheism, which is a practice, not merely as someone who simply has faith in non God, but someone who is actively trying to convince others that their belief in God is wrong. They are the flip side of the evangelicals.
Do you really see the live and let live atheists in these threads?
Or do you see the mentally ill type who have to try and convince others that their beliefs are wrong?
I don't recall ever saying the atheist are wrong in their beliefs or their religion, I am in no position to evaluate their personal beliefs.
I have my beliefs, they are free to have theirs, and as long as they don't prevent me from my beliefs, what is the problem?
Quote from sjfan:
Those are probably the ones you don't hear about. By definition, these are the ones who won't argue with you about god or admonish you for believing in it. I personally know quite a few of those (and especially in my travels to former communist countries, where there they literally didn't think god existed since their births).
The militant ones of any ideology are the ones you hear about all the time. Just like we try not to pass judgements on all blacks based on the Nation of Islam, or on all christians based on evangelical rants, might you show the same respect for atheists in general and not categorically refer to their belief system as a mental illness?