Why are so many Christians so obnoxiously strident about their beliefs?
Although other religions besides Christianity have their share of fanatical followers, the Fundamentalist Christians in this country seem to be particularly obnoxious. Besides the fact that the Bible promotes proselytizing, perhaps their pushiness derives from the fact that biblical tales are untenable even to them, and so they might question their own beliefs on a regular basis. By thinking there are many others who share their views, however, they somehow validate their own, i.e. there is safety in numbers. Another reason, which explains why Atheists are demonized by the same people who ought to be loving their neighbors, is that happy, decent nonbelievers who do things out of the goodness of their heartsrather than with an eye toward heaven or under threat of roasting in helldirectly contradict the preachings of religious conservatives, and so they are threatening. Still another reason is that despite their holier-than-thou attitudes, some “Bible thumpers” really do mean well. They
