I think that most people would agree that religious extremism is a problem. We have suicide bombers, people killing doctors who perform abortions, we've had the crusades and plenty of examples of extreme religious devotion to prove this fact. This extremism is a factor in my "conversion" to atheism and I'm glad I'm not longer affiliated with it. It makes me nauseous to see what extreme acts people will commit under the banner of religion. We've seen it time and time again and we'll probably be seeing it for a long time to come. But for me, religious extremism is only outranked by something that makes me physically sick - atheist extremism.

Atheist extremism is something I've noticed since I began investigating atheism. It's something that really grinds my axe. I came across this FaceBook group today, which sparking me to write my down my thoughts on the subject. I won't repeat the name of the site, but it's worth going along and taking a look. You might feel pity for the idiot(s?) that created it.

The blurb from the FaceBook group is

The Quran contains many lies and threats. Islam is false, no god exists, and someone should say that loud and clear. Heaven and hell are fables, prayer is a waste of time, and angels and jinn are obviously mythology.
This is not a group against Muslims. They have it bad enough. If you doubt that go to Palestine. If you hate Muslims or are here to harrass them or promote your religion, go away. Muslims can be and usually are peaceful and respectful.
The best thing for the whole world is a rejection of all religions and a renewed discovery of the love for humanity and naturalism.
*** Christianity and Judaism as well. These religions are just as false and have a variety of disadvantages. There are other groups devoted to each of these false ideologies. Here is one devoted to religion in general: http://unm.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2225572075 and here is one for Christianity: http://unm.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6202817159

I love this part....

I mean, come on guys! I agree that the world would be a much better place without religion, but do you have to behave like total morons? Where is your "love of humanity"? Isn't the respect of other people's beliefs part of being humane? By saying that rejection of all religions is a good thing, I assume they are atheists. In my book atheists are supposed to be enlightened, intelligent people who makes decisions based on evidence, not people who just put the F word in to make themselves sound cool. It might work for Gordon Ramsey, but we're supposed to be better than that...right? You and I might be, but the owners of that group sure don't look like they are.

Atheists don't get taken very seriously in a world where most people are religious and religious types are always skeptical of atheists. I myself admit to be surprised when I discovered a friend of mine didn't believe in the after-life. "I'm an atheist" he said. I was immediately dubious of him (years of Catholic training I suppose). But as I questioned him on his atheism, he was honest, laid out his lack of belief in terms I could understand and was very reasonable overall. He didn't label me an idiot for my beliefs (I considered myself spiritual - what the hell was I thinking?), nor did he criticize me or try to make me abandon them. I respected him a lot for that. But I've been on both sides of the fence now and web sites like the one I've just pointed out, only harm the credibility of the atheist community.

I guess in many ways, this atheist extremism is worse than religious extremism. At least religious extremists can quote passages from the Koran or the Bible to show where they got their "orders" or motivation from. What has an atheist got? Nothing. The only reason an atheist extremist can give is stupidity I guess.

If you are a FaceBook user you might consider joining this group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5315112302. I won't be joining it because I don't respect religion enough to quit FaceBook. I just don't want to see atheism tarnished by loud mouth idiots acting under the atheist banner.