easel wrote on Jul 29
th, 2008 at 7:35pm:
I don't know what you mean, but what I meant was that widespread atheism isn't thousands of years old like organised religion, thus mainstream atheism is a relatively new thing.
Oh yeah and I believe in God. I also think you should be able to bash religion freely.
And my post wasn't in reply to you.
I know that your post wasn't meant in reply to me

Don't take offense in any way. I'm just contributing to the discussion

If you mean by atheism, absence of belief in an exclusive monotheistic God of the Abrahamic tradition then that's a relatively modern phenomenon (well post 6th century BC).
Prior to about the 6th century BC, the Jews themselves were Polytheistic. There is plenty of evidence for that, and the Bible itself is one source of evidence. Archaeological evidence is another. I have a personal interest in Ancient history which frequently leads me to receiving some very interesting emails from the ethereal heights of academia

As far as the Muslim and Christian Gods being the same, we get a very muddled assortment of answers from the faithful. Jehovah and Allah certainly have a lot of history in common.
I agree that you should be able to bash religion freely. I just choose not to out of respect. If I sound like I am bashing religion, please tell me. Some people often try to follow their religions, but come across as being hypocritical. I have every respect for religion, but little respect for hypocrisy.
Again, I don't mean you personally, but that must be as obvious to you as it is to me.