Steve, your very defensive reaction to my statement that "there are many types of atheists, just like there are many types of religious people" indicates that you don't get the drift of my statement.

I wasn't necessarily applying it to you. I'm not saying anything about you. I'm saying that there are many different types of atheists in the world, period. That doesn't necessarily say anything about you.

Here are several types of atheist, for example:

1. Someone who casually thinks there is probably no God, but he doesn't worry about it much.

2. Someone who only believes in material things, not in spiritual things.

3. Someone who is actively hostile to the very idea of religion, and attacks it at every opportunity.

4. Someone who doesn't believe in a God but has no particular hostility toward religion.

5. Someone who doesn't believe there's a God because his Daddy and Mommy and science teacher told him there isn't a God.

6. Someone who doesn't believe in God because the idea conflicts with his understanding of science.

7. Someone who wants to convert everyone else to atheism.

8. Someone who doesn't care one way or the other.

Etc...ad infinitum. There are probably enough different kinds of atheists that I could type all day and never get to the end of it, just like I could about different types of religious people.

So instead of taking it as a personal attack of some kind on YOU, which it was not, just look at it in a reasonable and rational fashion. I was being tolerant and positive, not attacking, when I said there are many different kinds of atheists. I was not indicating an EQUIVALENCY between them all. I'm sure some of them are quite reasonable and lovely people, while others are bloody unreasonable fanatics. The former are good people to know, the latter are a pain in the neck, because all they want to do is fight about it and convert the rest of the world to their own opinion. (Just like the bloody religious fanatics do.)

I try to avoid the bloody fanatics of either persusasion if I can. I don't mind a bit if people have a different belief from me. I only mind if they try to dominate and convert the rest of the world to accepting their belief.