Slade23703 :

>People hate on others who have different beliefs or are just plain different.
>Ex... The Holocaust
I didn't say that it was exclusive to Jews. 

Since I'm an homosexual atheist anarchist (whew!) and I openly express my opinions, I get a lot of schlock from the crappy society around me, so I think I can get into the discussion...

"Atheism" is a hard word to understand due to its firm roots in Latin language. The prefix "a", as simple as it is, can mean several things, from "without" to "opposite to", "Theo" means God and "ism" can be translated to "a manner/way of being", so many people interpret it as "a way of being opposite to God", even though its principles are closer to a manner of being WITHOUT God. As the former has some rather... unfortunate... implications, many (especially the older generation) tend to think that we're anti-religious terrorists, although most of us obviously aren't. In fact, atheists tend to be the most calm/pacific people I know

And the really weird thing is that most of the people of my age I know who call themselves religious are actually closer to being atheists, since they live a rather crazy life and don't (or rarely) go to church. They probably only consider themselves as such due to pressure from their parents, and even their religious practices seem to be few... General Brazilian society is another thing entirely, though.