Why is atheist a dirty word?

[airbefore]

I get more side eyes and shocked gasps when I say I'm an atheist than I do when I say I'm a lesbian. Look, I get that there are some real asshole atheists out there who will bellow at the top of their lungs about how religion is the opiate of the masses and how god is dead and we should all just stop pretending otherwise. I am not one of those people. And, let's be honest, those assholes exist in every corner of every belief system. There is always going to be the outspoken zealot who tries to convert the world to their way of thinking. But, again, I am not one of those people.

Do I personally believe in any god? No, I don't. But that doesn't mean that I begrudge anyone else their right to do so. My "lack" of belief in no way diminishes or negates anyone else's conviction in their belief. I am not an intellectual elitist who thinks that all believers are indoctrinated cattle who have never had the strength to think on their own. I do not automatically associate religious conviction with intellectual inferiority. I know a hell of a lot of people who are a hundred times smarter than me that believe in one form of God or another. I don't make assumptions about you based on your belief system so why is it considered ok to make assumptions about me based on mine?

Open hearts and open minds are the way to peace. That is an idea that anyone, no matter their religious beliefs, should be able to embrace.