Quite often, it appears to me, that just by stating you are an athiest people consider it a affront to their own religious beliefs. I have lost track of the times that I have had the response - " but you have morals so you really are a Christian/Believer - you just don't admit it". I could not imagine an athiest being allowed to wander down the street with a plachard that states - There is no God. I have weighed up the pros and cons and decided than on balance it is much more likely that God doesn't exist. Hence - Athiest.

Another reason people think that Athiests and the Athiest press are anti - religious is because some religious people can handle any critisms of their religion and more specifically any attemps to remove additional privledges that their religion has given them. (Please note I did say some - not all. You should see the feedback to the Secular web sites - among the you will fry in hell letters are well thought out and reasoned religious agruments). A good example of additional religious priveldge - is the maintaining of the places for bishops in the House of Lords.

This means that I have to live my life to my own design. I would now call myself a Secular Humanist. In that I think that I should live my life with utmost consideration for other people and secular in that I have come to the conclusion that there is no external spirutal input. Needless to say I never live up to my ideals. But if you are living up to your ideals - you are setting them too low.

Sorry if I sound a bit overbearing but I feel fairly strongly about this.

Julie