Many people get confused between small ‘a’ atheism and Atheism.
atheists (small a) do not believe in the divine. Even as a non-christian, I may have an opinion that believes they are being willfully blind, but that’s okay. Turn it around 180 degrees, and they think I’m hallucinating – seeing things that don’t exist. The vast majority have developed an ethos that may differ from mine, but deals with what is and is not ethical behavior in a manner consistent with civilized behavior. I have several atheist friends and acquaintances. They’re willing to live and let live. We don’t have religious quarrels.
Atheists with a capital A believe with all their heart and mind (no soul, by definition) in a particular religion. According to their beliefs, followers of other religions are weak minded superstitious fools, if not actively Evil and Subversive, and they are bound and determined to bring us all to See The Truth Of Their Way. In all ways, including the presence of a deity, these people are practicing a religion of intolerance. To them, those of other religions are Infidel, and must be converted, or if that fail despite best efforts, be prevented at all costs from passing our weak-minded foolishness and Evil to the next generation. Because they are often able to camouflage their agenda behind the aegis of a country and society that is constitutionally neutral on religion, capital-A Atheists do a lot of damage. In many circumstances, they can be hard to distinguish from “small a atheists” and those of other religions who have learned to live and let live. There are only a few ways to reliably reveal capital A Atheists, and you know, until they start in on how everyone has to follow their preaching, usually no need. This is a matter of faith, and if anyone could prove their faith to be the Truth it would no longer be faith; instead it would be science and the opposite would be denial. Mostly, I consider Capital A Atheists to be weak in their faith, as they seem to be incapable of following it unless everyone else does, as well. Do not mistake them for small ‘a’ atheists, either. A small ‘a’ atheist is willing to live and let live – their faith is strong. Capital A Atheists do more damage to the religiously neutral cohesion of our society than any fundamentalist bible thumper or Islamic extremist, because their religion teaches that there must be no restraint in the pursuit of removing that Evil superstition called religion from the face of the earth. That they do not realize they do it in the name of an intolerant religion of their own is one of the supreme ironies of life I have thus far encountered.