It is nothing new that atheists are a feared minority group. IME people are accepting of almost ANY deity one chooses to worship. It is not believing in a deity that seems to make people so uneasy. Many people mistakenly believe that morals and ethics come from religious dogma or a deity. This is not the case. In study after study it has been shown that atheists are at least as moral and ethical, and in most cases more so, than their religious counterparts. It seems that being moral and ethical for its own sake is more noble than one doing moral/ethical acts for some eternal reward, or more disgustingly, to avoid some eternal punishment. I believe that faith, and the warm and fuzzy feelings that accompanies it, works best when everyone is participating, and when someone is not participating, it makes the others self-conscious. Like Tinkerbell, EVERYONE needs to believe in her or she ceases to exist. It's as if adult theists are playing a game of pretend, and get angry when the atheist kids decline the offer to play along. This denial seems to accentuate any doubt in the faith of the theist, and they are compelled to take it out their unease on the atheist instead of addressing the doubt or dogma itself...