How atheists became the most colossally smug and annoying people on the planet

The Telegraph ^ | 8/14/2013 | Brendan O'Neill

[Heartlander]

How atheists became the most colossally smug and annoying people on the planet

When did atheists become so teeth-gratingly annoying? Surely non-believers in God weren't always the colossal pains in the collective backside that they are today? Surely there was a time when you could say to someone "I am an atheist" without them instantly assuming you were a smug, self-righteous loather of dumb hicks given to making pseudo-clever statements like, "Well, Leviticus also frowns upon having unkempt hair, did you know that?" Things are now so bad that I tend to keep my atheism to myself, and instead mumble something about being a very lapsed Catholic if I'm put on the spot, for fear that uttering the A-word will make people think I'm a Dawkins drone with a mammoth superiority complex and a hives-like allergy to nurses wearing crucifixes.

[freedomlover]

Smug Alert!

[SoFloFreeper]

I don't know where I heard it first, but a few years ago I heard someone describe atheist's motto this way:

"There is no God, and I hate Him."

[Billthedrill]

I will risk decapitation by quoting Noam Chomsky on FR - when asked by an atheist if he was one he replied, “Tell me exactly what it is I’m not supposed to believe in and I’ll let you know.”