I would agree that whether one holds personal religious beliefs does not make or break a person per se. The part that leads me to doubt the intentions of atheists is when they live in a country of people who are predominantly religious, yet they want all public references to faith eliminated simply because they don't personally believe. A truly good and compassionate person would not behave so selfishly and vindictively as to push to deprive others of open displays of their faith.
In another context, say cultural displays, I think my point could be more easily seen. If there was a mural in a public space that depicted blacks and Hispanics in ethnic dress and engaged in ethnic-oriented activities (say, playing a musical instrument from their home country or the home country of their ancestors . . what would people think if I objected to that because it did not represent the dress, traditions or culture of my own group or the home countries of my ancestors? Would anyone give my complaints any credence? More likely, I would be told to shut up, don't look if I didn't want to see the murals, and maybe that I should go educate myself so that I'm not so "bigoted". And the majority of Americans would likely cheer that response.
But when companies' employees are now trained not to say "Merry Christmas" but instead "Happy Holidays" . . when Christmas trees become "holiday trees" . . when school programs in December celebrate a "holiday" instead of being the Christmas play that most of us grew up with . . . to object to that is now labeled "intolerance" and "forcing your religion on us.". And not only can't students hold their own prayer groups in public school grounds, even a "moment of silence for thoughtful meditation" is not permitted because, heaven forbid, somebody might pray! WTF??!!!
I think a very apropos question is: "Why can't our children pray in school, but they can in prison?" (Maybe if they were taught faith as children they wouldn't have committed the crimes that landed them in prison).
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