Some of you may have already read Charlotte Allen’s pharisaical tirade against atheists in the Los Angeles Times, Atheists: No God, just whining. I don’t necessarily suggest reading the article in its entirety. Allen, or an editor, provides a high-school-esque thesis statement abbreviating her entire argument:

Superstar atheists are motivated by anger — and boohoo victimhood.

Really? Allen can’t possibly expect a happy, let’s-be-friends kind of reaction to an article that accuses atheists, especially ones on the internet, of anger and all sorts of other character flaws. The consequence, of course, will reinforce Allen’s ad hominem opinion of atheists. For this reason, I can’t decide whether Allen is brilliant, or completely ignorant.

According to the Guardian, she seems as though she might just be bigoted on this issue.

Charlotte Allen is the author of The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus and a contributing editor to the Minding the Campus website of the Manhattan Institute.

While I am pointing a finger at Allen for her stereotyping and blatant hypocrisy, I have to pin the larger “shame on you” badge to the Los Angeles Times for allowing such hatemongering into publication. Since when is it acceptable to bastardize an entire group of people? Why is it acceptable to print a hate-filled article against atheists, but not against racial minority groups or persons of different sexes, or age groups, or even other theistic believers?

Allen is undoubtedly entitled to her opinion, and I think it has its place in certain niches of the internet like the blogs she refers to in her article; but rarely, if ever, do I read openly hateful attacks on Christians or religious people in general from atheists in news sources like the LA Times. Does this mean news sources refuse to print them? Or do atheists fail to seek major publication for them?

In this case, this atheist really is motivated by anger. I’m angry about hatred. I’m angry about the pervasive acceptance of this hatred against atheists or any other group of people. The lesson in Allen’s article seems to be that any marginalized, unrepresented, or repressed group of minorities should not speak out and be angry over their marginalization, non-representation, or repression. Change nothing, America.

I am angry that it is, apparently, a-OK to hate, generalize, and disregard me just because of something I don’t believe.

You can hate, stereotype, and slander me all you want, but it won’t make me a believer, and it will never stop me from seeking social equality.