Shira Hirschman Weiss: Why do Atheists Even Care?

On Huffington Post, Shira Hirschman Weiss writes . . .well, an interesting article on atheists, wondering aloud why atheists pay so close attention to the goings-on of the religious.  She starts off well enough, saying that atheists are "some of the most interesting people I've met," and that "Atheists want to be well-informed."

However, she also gives voice to others who espouse common myths about atheists, like that some atheists may be secret agnostics who read the religious sections of news sites because they are struggling with internal doubts.

She quotes several atheists, many of them comedians, who joke about monitoring the religious for self-protection or for the humor aspect.  But then Weiss, for some reason, asks theologians why atheists pay attention to them.  Unsurprisingly, they get it all wrong.  A rabbi somehow knows that "deep down within every person is a yearning for belief in God."  No, Rabbi, it's called a yearning for the truth.  A pastor wonders why atheists responded so strongly to her religious assertions when she lets believers in astrology alone.  Perhaps that's because astrologers don't work to force their wacky beliefs on the rest of us via legislation and public education, that's why.