Is that "hope" I just stepped in?

Call me crazy but I don't find the whiny petty ramblings of an ignorant self-righteous asshole to be a good example of hope. Reverend Richard L. Shaw could let an atheist express their views on personal beliefs without going on the offensive. It doesn't matter that all his assertions are completely unsupported. Not once does he actually explain how "Christianity promises hope; atheism has empty message" is any thing other than a pathetic rehashed bout of mudslinging. It really is just a series of schoolyard style taunts.

Just because an atheist had the nerve to write in a newspaper that they find positive messages/purpose within their own beliefs the good reverend found the need to pen such ridiculous complaints as; "Thinking it a virtue that atheists don’t leave copies of Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s book in hotel and motel rooms, and that atheists don’t proselytize door to door, actually underscores the emptiness of that position. Of course they don’t!"
Or, maybe we don't find the need to peddle our views door-to-door or otherwise hound people when they want to be left alone. Not finding the need to get in peoples faces when it isn't necessary does not say anything about a persons beliefs/belief system. Oh, wait, it does. It says we are not the rude arrogant assholes that some theists like to project.

Shaw keeps going in the same direction with other little gems including;
"Whoever was saved from a contemplated suicide by reading O’Hair’s book, or was freed from a life of addiction, or whose marriage was rescued from failure, or at last found a life of meaning and purpose after wandering in ennui for years?"
and
"It’s not surprising that atheists don’t proselytize — or leave empty books for others to read. That itself speaks volumes for an inane philosophy, compared to the irrefutable proof for Christianity."

Umm, I wasn't aware that implied anecdotes were so easily converted into proof? This dipshit can't even take the time to jot down a few specific anecdotes. Perhaps deep down he realizes that he is full of crap. he certainly wouldn't be able to explain why suicide rates are far higher among theists than non-theists or why it is that atheists and the "nones" have the lowest rates of domestic abuse and divorce. I haven't met any atheists who lack meaning or purpose. Not yet anyway. As for Christianity being irrefutable, I pretty sure there are little over 5 billion people who would dispute that claim. You know, all those non-Christians currently drawing breath all over the world.

All of this spewed nonsense because an atheist wanted to share their views the same way countless theists do on a regular basis. What a fucking dick.