So what is, in your opinion, the real reason people hate atheists, spike?
RPGPundit
Obviously those with a vested interest in religion (including worshippers, by the way) dislike, even hate those who can get along without. Hate may be a strong word. It's groupthink, and Atheists are outside that group.
Let me see if I can refine this a bit, clarify the sentiment.
Cultures are really nothing more than collections of behavior and rules. Many of those behaviors and rules will have beliefs. Atheists, by rejecting established beliefs, go against the norms and actually fray the fibers of the culture. They are an irritant, a disruption. Normally this isn't a problem. Many people 'don't believe' but continue to observe the behavioral patterns of the people around them. However, as the article did point out, many of the brightest, rational minds, the shining lights of our culture, reject God and 'irrational beliefs', and by being prominant and successful become a threat to the status quo.
Other religions are not nearly the threat that atheism is, because while they may not share the same exact belief, they share common forms, common thought processes, that atheists do not. If one rejects all supernaturalism, including God, as irrational one is much further from 'comfort' than someone who believes in a different supernatural paradigm.
FORMER atheists are popular, the most common recruiting tactic for churches to take now days is to publish the stories of unhappy 'non-believers' who found faith, and with it happiness. This reinforces the collective ideal in a powerful way, though overexposure to outsiders tends to suggest a somewhat hollow symbolism... that is to say the cynical tendency to view such stories as hookum, or manufactured treacle.
Clear enough? :confused: