FatherJackal wrote

Hey there!

I was wondering; why do you think it is that atheism is sometimes seen as exclusively anti-christian? It seems to be a common theme among atheist sites and forums I've been to, that the biggest debate is between Christianity and Atheism, and sometimes it can look like atheists are specifically not Christian, as opposed to not believing in any religion at all.

There's even an example at the top of this forum; the tagline is "only sheep need a shepherd". That's fair enough, and a good point, but isn't the shepherd metaphor exclusively Christian? And if so, doesn't it seem unnecessarily confrontational, specifically to Christians?

I know many people of many faiths, and I've always found the groups to get on worst are atheists and Christians. Does anyone have any insights into why?

Note: I don't want to come across as crazy here; this is my first post, and I'd like a civilised discussion rather than a shouting match, so if I've given offense to anyone please just say and I'll edit.