Granted, a large percentage of the Christians I know come from one big extended family that has a temper and generally don't resolve issues very well, so that may skew things a bit.

I would say that atheists would generally not be as angry. They are more likely to view the world as indifferent and view other people as natural, instinctive beings, kind of like animals. You can't get mad at a rock, nor can you get mad at a raccoon that eats your garbage; they are just raccoons doing what raccoons do. Likewise with humans, therefore it's difficult to get very angry. Well, it can still be damned annoying, but it's harder to take personally.

BTW, Adam, about your essays…did the phrase "Into the Clear Air" originate with you (your essay is the first link Google turns up, and one of the only full phrase matches)...

Yes, it's original to me, as far as I know. It's a term that arose in an e-mail conversation I was having with a person who had recently deconverted.

and do you have any objections for it being used as a title for a hypothetical rock opera/concept album by a hypothetical band?

Not at all. :)

And why is God supposed to be a Father and not a Mother? Does it reflect dislike of one's (human) mother?

My inference has always been that it's because (insecure) men wrote the books.

And I note that pagan religions have typically featured female as well as male deities, which makes a bit more sense than a single male god.

The connection has timed out

The server at http://www.ebonmusings.org is taking too long to respond.

.

Also - still can't get onto the new Ebon Musings website! I am feeling most distressed about it. Could someone kind soul copy it into an email and send it to me at rowankohll@hotmail.com, please?

Thanks!

On a related matter, are you familiar with psychological explanations for atheism based on the notion that we atheists had "defective fathers" when we were children? For example, Paul C. Vitz proposes that in "The Psychology of Atheism" where he argues that

once a child or youth is disappointed in and loses his or her respect for their earthly father, then belief in their heavenly Father becomes impossible. There are, of course, many ways that a father can lose his authority and seriously disappoint a child. Some of these ways-for which clinical evidence is given below-are:

1. He can be present but obviously weak, cowardly, and unworthy of respect - even if otherwise pleasant or "nice."
2. He can be present but physically, sexually, or psychologically abusive.
3. He can be absent through death or by abandoning or leaving the family.

Vitz adds that

it was in reading the biographies of atheists that this hypothesis first struck me

and goes on to point out a number of prominent atheists who apparently had "defective" fathers: Freud, Marx, Feuerbach, d'Holbach, Nietzche, Russell, Sartre, even Madalyn Murray O'Hair.

To be fair, I think Vitz goal is simply to counter & neutralize psychological explanations for belief. Nevertheless, the idea of atheism being due to defective fathers has gained some traction among theists. Perhaps it should be addressed along with the "angry atheist" claim.

Especially because I'd like to read this article. It might be useful for me. I've just started posting on Christian Forums. It's so easy to get angry at them! Especially when they say stupid ("Well, you know, if I'm wrong I lose nothing, but...") things. It's also very tempting to be sarcastic.

But the best atheists and agnostics I've seen on the forums are the ones who keep their cool. When arguing, all they do is point out the logical fallacies again and again. It doesn't look so much fun, to be honest, but it may be more effective in changing people's attitudes towards atheists.