Your point that all progressives, religious and non-religious, should band together to defeat the Christian Right is well taken. It is for that very reason that I oppose the concept of a second DU forum for atheists. If atheists and believers are to work together, it is first essential that they understand each other well. There are many misconceptions about atheists out there, for example, they don't have any morals. In the same way, many atheists have misconceptions about believers: that they are dumb sheep, for example. Although I've rarely seen either stereotype actually voiced on DU in general and this forum in particular, I still believe it is essential for believers and non-believers to communicate on different issues, so they can understand each other better, so to work together better in defeating the religious right.

I am aware that many believers feel insulted by some atheist statements, and likewise, that some atheists feel insulted by some believers' statements. This is why DU has two great functions, Alert and Ignore. I would strongly recommend that anyone who feels insulted by a statement from someone on the "other side" of the debate use one or both of them. My theory is that we would have a lot fewer flamewars here if people learned to use those two functions.