The term Village Atheist has many different meanings, from one who simply lumps all religious views together, with no thought of accurately considering the contents of specific doctrine, or from one who judges all believers to be foolish, and simply a product of indoctrination in their youth. To be honest, I find myself often in the latter definition, so do not think I am pointing the finger, with no attempt at introspection on my part.

But both of these practices are in them selves, rather unfair if we are to be honest. As it assumes that all believers gave no genuine thought or consideration towards their beliefs. Most often, the Village Atheist will create a dichotomy of intellectuals, being anyone who is a skeptic or non-believer, and fools, being anyone who holds to some religious affiliation, or belief outside of the sphere of what they deem skeptical inquiry. A few examples of the behavior of a Village Atheist follows:

Rash assumptions towards the motive of the believer.

A demand for evidence, but offers no explanation of what constitutes evidence.

Out-of-hand dismissal of any reason offerd as to why one holds belief in their respective holy texts.

Ad hominem attacks in reaponse to criticism.

A limited understanding of the specific religion they are arguing against.

Reading only what other Atheists have to say concerning criticism of religion and never bother reading what believers have written in defense of religion.

A blatant disregard of the terms used by the believer and a refusal to consider proper definitions of those terms.

These are just a few examples, the reason why I wrote this is because there are many Village Atheists within the community at large. These types treat Atheism itself as some dogma based religious movement, and actively seek out any such sign of heresy among the group. And they for the most part do far more harm to any progress that could be made, and they gain a lot of support from other Atheists because of the notion of gaining 'points' against the faithful with quick retorts and vitriolic responses, which is more entertaining than even handed open discussion.

We all can be guilty of these practices, myself included. So we as a community should try and avoid these, and call each other out when we see them.

Thank you for your time.