Jesus wept.(if you'll forgive the expression)

[LEDO]

Australia has one National newspaper,'The Australian'. I buy the special week end edition for the column by their token atheist lefty, Philip Adams,the reviews and the TV guide. Sometimes there are some entertaining American bashing articles.
I always begin with the letters section. Today there were three attacks on a letter by David Nicholls,president of the Australian Atheist Foundation.
The first attacked atheists for their lack of reason and refusal to accept that some things are 'beyond nature' (huh?)
The next declared atheism is a religion.
The last letter was apoplectic about "brutal atheist regimes"
All I can say in response is that it is letters such as those which reinforce my misanthropy.
PS I'm tempted to write a rebuttal, including "Hitler was a Catholic", but they never publish my letters.

I wonder why they don't publish your letters?

As someone who has written hundreds of letters to various newspapers, let me give you some advice. First, the shorter the letter, the easier it is to get published. The second thing that helps is a lack of personal attacks. You might not even mention the other letter.

Short and sweet and to the point. Science knows of nothing beyond nature, there is no frame of reference in Quantum Physics for such a thing. Atheism is derived from the greek a-theism. The prefix "A" means "not" or "no." By definition and construction of the very word atheism precludes it from being a religion, but is a lack of religion. However, atheists are not dumb. They conduct themselves as a relligion to enjoy the same tax free status. Only by a legal definition are they a "religion." Also consider using "em dash" to connect thoughts. It is typically considered bad writing style, but it saves space. Editorial writers are in love with it.

Atheists had Stalin and Mao. Christians had Hitler and Nixon. Which is worse? You wouldn't stop using light bulbs because they were invented by an atheist (Edison) would you? Would you stop reading Mark Twain because he was an atheist? Would you stop voting for conservatives becasue Ayn Rand was an atheist?

Keep the letter short, factual, and a bit humerous. People will want to read your letters if they entertain as well as inform. And try to do it in about 200 words or less. If you go beyond 300 words, trash it and start over. (Also good advice for long winded forum posters.)