Quiet Atheist vs Militant Atheist

[AFTT47]

I grew up exposed to several religions and also found Charles Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Sam Harris (End of Faith). There are many atheists that don't speak up around their religious friends so they don't offend them. After all, there is freedom OF religion and freedom FROM religion in the USA. I am somewhat torn because some of the nicest people I know are Christians that volunteer, help the homeless, etc. However, most of the smartest people I know are atheists. I think it is the radical people in any religion or political group that are harmful. Ultra conservative Republicans, ultra liberal democrats, radical Islam, etc. But I wonder if militant atheists are bad or religion is worse. It seems as though young people are more secular than previous generations and atheists are on the rise. It will be interesting to see how things progress with the Vatican, Radical Islam, and Israel in this century.

Are you a quiet, respectful atheist, or a militant atheist out to show people how wrong and harmful religion is?

Both positions are valid. You don't say where you are from although you allude it is from the USA. We are both free to vent our opinions here.

I personally live in the USA and am not shy about my atheism. I don't feel a need to push it on anyone else but I DO feel a need to make my viewpoint known. How else is a free society to grow unless everyone speaks their mind?

You speak of quiet, respectful atheists. What about quiet, respectful Christians? Should one of us be more 'quiet and respectful' than the other? If so, why?