I like to think atheists are simply more likely to take matters into their own hands because we know it's our responsibility to care for our fellow man, not something to leave to some god.
One of my biggest gripes about religion is that it has such a future-oriented approach. "It's all going to turn out all right if you just believe and make sure everyone else just believes because that's what matters in the end." No, what matters is what we do TODAY to give ourselves, our families, our friends, and our communities a better life. And that knowledge and acting on it is to me the kind of compassion that religion downplays or ignores entirely.
One of my biggest gripes about religion is that it has such a future-oriented approach. "It's all going to turn out all right if you just believe and make sure everyone else just believes because that's what matters in the end." No, what matters is what we do TODAY to give ourselves, our families, our friends, and our communities a better life. And that knowledge and acting on it is to me the kind of compassion that religion downplays or ignores entirely.
