Yes Some atheists are over the top, and some appear to mirror their counterparts. but the world is mostly religious, so Atheists are seriously outnumbered. I used to also think that they were no better or worse than their religious opposition (as you pointed out) But I think their agenda/motivation is quite different. I also think the balance is clearly on the side of religion. so what a lot of people think might be harsh criticism. is in my book absolutely necessary to bring back some balance in the argument. when people say that Atheism is a religion, that's just nonsense.
when I was little I visited a farm, and there was a mother hen with all her chickens following in a line, right at the end was a duckling. probably got lost and latched onto the mother hen. But to the duckling, the hen was its mother.
I believe that people are like this in many ways, and come to their religion through attrition. And in the more fundamental and austere religions the indoctrination is often that strong that it robs people of the freedom to interpret this world as they see it. Not by the antiquated and questionable writings of a book of stories.
Now we have advanced scientific disciplines which weren't part of the superstitious world that the Bible/Koran came out of. The bible bashers are under threat and under attack in some cases, and that’s good, so if you're serious about freedom, and the value of the freedom (relative) we have in this society, then this banter is healthy and necessary.
I'll admit my remark was a little too off hand and dismissive. I apologize.
