So, is it possible for us to be more friendly?

[TIL: Atheists don't have to be nice because they are atheists! Also, I should go fuck myself because I am a hypocrite and trying to force my ideas on everyone.]

It seems there is a rash, nay, an epidemic, of unpleasantness in this sub. lately it seems to be full of anti christian memes and all sorts of general nastiness that has no place in a forum like this at all.

BUT FREE SPEECH BLAG BLOOG!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I get it. the interwebz is a bastion of freedom and all that, but lets get real about this. Try to be mature if possible. This is r/atheism and is self described as a place for discussing atheism, agnosticism and secular living. This isn't r/anti-christianity, nor r/sexistbullshit.

This should be a place of open discussion and should be as inviting as possible. Atheism is not a belief system, it is not a structure, there is no requirement that you must despise religion to be an atheist. So why are we allowing such demoralizing content to persist instead of trying to engage in a dialogue to promote life without religious belief?

If we are ever going to realize a world in which people can truly cast off the shackles of organized religion, we need to be as inviting and as accessible as possible.

Instead we are fostering an elitist system where anyone who may be questioning their faith will feel unwelcome and possibly even those who have already shed their religious beliefs will feel unwilling to contribute for fear of being marginalized because of their gender, ethnicity or what have you.

This is important to understand because if r/atheism continues to harbor such hateful nonsense, which does not have a place here, then it will simply become irrelevant to its intended purpose. I really would like to see it become a safe place to discuss and debate ideas for atheist and believer alike, rather than the circlejerking cesspool I see forming.