I think I see the point of this
nodeshell. The way I interpret it, the author of this shell,
nanosecond, has the opinion that
atheists are not basing their so-called "beliefs" on theological musings and rationalisations, but rather in strict
defiance. In broader terms, he feels that if atheists would only read the
book they're railing against, maybe they'd be convinced that it's not all that bad.
Even if it turns out this is not nanosecond's opinion, I am going to rant about it anyway.
Firstly, I am an atheist and I have read the bible. I do not reject the teachings of the bible completely - in fact, the many passages that preaches tolerance and selflessness are exemplary to my existence.
The ones that in the same vein glorifies incest, genocide, and - ironically enough - intolerance to people of different cultures and convictions, however, are not. And it is on the basis of this - that I do not wish to follow the ways of a jealous, insensitive bastard of a celestial deity - that I reject Christianity and its teachings.
There is some truth in nanosecond's postulate. There are atheists that, when it all comes down, fall squarely into the two "semi-atheist" category. Unfortunately, these are not only the majority of supposedly "free thinkers", but are also the ones making the most noise.
The two categories of semi-atheism are:
And then there's people like us. People who have read the bible, understood it, and still don't feel the "glory of god" that was promised unto us. We still don't feel the pulling of divinity, and this Jesus Christ character is meaningless to us. We don't relentlessly advertise this fact, spout garbage or rant endlessly unless provoked (which I feel I was with this nodeshell).
We simply do not wish to follow.
This is something to consider the next time you broadly generalize about a large spectrum of people.