In general, a man with religion is better than an atheist.

[Angrboda]

Isurus, I have heard of plenty of atheists who admitted trolling on christian websites. They loved getting a rise out of them.

I'm relatively confident that there are as many atheist assholes, percentage-wise, as theist assholes. Neither theism nor atheism immunize one against the foibles of human nature. Actually, I rather suspect that there may even be more on the atheist side seeing that the majority are men, younger, and a large segment consider irreverence and shitting on theists to be a religious duty. There are factors which counter-balance that, since on average, theists are poorer and less well educated, I'm sure their choice in behavior reflects these facts. That being said, because of the vast imbalance in numbers, the asshole theists are going to outnumber the atheists by a large margin.

As for the 'same old, same old' problem; Maybe it's an idea to find a database where the most common questions are answered, and the next time someone comes rolling in, we just post a link in reply. Nothing else. Just a link. And if they go like 'yeah but...' we just say 'So you read the link? First try to refute that.' Saves us a heap of trouble, and we don't have to burn so many torches. Seriously, those things can be expansive

Even if you could find a cadre of atheists willing to compile the necessary resource or index, it misses a basic fact about forums. People visit forums for an interactive, social experience. Visitors are looking to interact with people, not get a homework assignment. And I think it would be somewhat disrespectful too; I can't emphasize too strongly how condescending it is when an atheist arguing with a theist is told, you need to read such and such apologetic work, or thus and so books of the bible, before you can talk to me/us about such and so. Reading a faq, a book, or watching a video is one way to learn; so is interacting with your peers. The forum visitor is implicitly requesting the latter.

Regards the ... dump and shitters, or whatever you called them, I'm sure that the sincere will stick around to see the matter through. I moderate a "chat room" on irc, and we get trolls there too. Sometimes it's obvious that a person is trolling. Sometimes it's not. (Depending on the skill of the troll.) It's up to the individual as to how to deal with the practical aspects of troll detection and handling, but I for my part have decided to play it straight in the absence of clear evidence, rather than make a pre-emptive strike based on a hunch or suspicion. In my mode, sure, I get burned more times than I would if I had an itchier trigger finger; that probably delights the trolls who've trolled me, but that's my option, and I'm satisfied with the cost/benefit ratio. Others make different choices. (I will confess to counter-trolling, so I don't always deal with impeccable integrity; I too am human.)