If I were an Atheist

[Nope]

"belief in God with belief in Santa Claus how is it they’re not gaining any traction"

This is the reason why atheism is not growing. Because of meme's like "the spagetti monster in the sky". Pretty much its like arguing with a 5yr old atheist child and therefore a theist will not be amused and will continue to think all atheists are just a bunch of angry people who are "mad at god" for their misfortunes in life.

One problem theists have is that they try to transfer their feelings about their beliefs onto atheists. It doesn't work. While some atheists might very well want to gain more people to their side, I don't give a flying rat's ass what anyone believes.Life can be very hard and some people need a crutch. That doesn't make them stupid, it is just something that they need that I don't.

I do not remember which religion the OP said that they followed but I am most familiar with American Christianity so I will use that as a reference. Christianity is an evangelical faith. It's adherents believe and tell other faiths that their way of doing things is wrong and the deities they worship are false. That is considered a loving actions by Christians. Perhaps other faiths also practice this type of evangelism. Yet, some Christians express anger or say they are persecuted when atheists do the same thing back to them. Non Christians are supposed to have a very high acceptance of which behaviors by Christians are considered rude and yet Christians set a very low bar as to what is considered rude behavior toward them by nonChristians.

The reason that atheists use Santa Claus as an analogy is that theists often don't seem to understand that atheists do not accept their god as real. Theists have become so used to being the ones in power for so long that they honestly can not put themselves in a nonbelievers place.

A lot of Christians sound like angry people who smile outwardly but are inwardly very pissed. For example, why else would they be pissed that some poor store clerk acknowledges that other faiths exist during Christmas or that their religion's opinion isn't followed in deciding what is a legitimate marriage

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Well, I was once an atheist...and the beautiful atheists I've met along my journey in faith, is an experience I'd never trade. Not everyone can emotionally handle atheism. I was one such person. No one can prove that a deity exists, but it brings me some sense of comfort to know one just might exist. Deism resonates with me now, more than theism.

Everyone has to find their own way.

I understand your point of view. Not everyone is cut out to be an atheists and as long as someone doesn't expect special treatment for their beliefs or hurt anyone, I think that their beliefs should be tolerated