Originally posted by Red Night
But all around me I see atheists preaching their dogma and seeking to proselytize. they are as bad as the jehovah's witnesses.
Hey, I know some jehovah's witnesses who are perfectly nice people.
Speaking as an atheist, I think what you mostly see from us is a reaction to an uppity religious movement that's actively trying to assert its own beliefs into our personal lives. When religious organizations try to force their dogma into public-school science classes where it clearly doesn't belong, or when they campaign to deny gay couples equal rights under the law, or when they try to enforce their beliefs on the bodies of women who don't belong to their religion we get really, really annoyed. Here in the US the Christian Right is involved in a decades-long campaign to control our national politics and force its way into our private lives, and they're meeting with strong reaction because people fundamentally hate it when religious groups do that.
As an atheist I feel I'm in a pretty comfortable position to live and let live, since it's clear to me from experience that people who disagree with me - who believe in God and follow a religion - can lead fulfilling and rewarding lives. I'm not burdened with the responsibility of saving their souls, and so I'm able to respect their position even if it happens to differ from mine. What I do not respect is their attempt to inflict their religious faith on me or on others.
I don't make excuses for atheists who behave like pricks on message boards, and they're out there, but I do think atheist proselytizing is mostly a reaction to religious proselytizing.