right now, there's nothing on the front page of /r/atheism but mockery and hatred.

Let's examine this statement.

http://i.imgur.com/hRYwjn4.png

I will allow that there is some mild mockery. Most of it is on the level of zombie Jesus gags and the like. I occasionally cross-post this kind of thing to /r/sidehugs without any issues.

As to the second part. Which of these posts exactly would you qualify as "hatred"? As I am looking at it I'm not seeing any hatred on the part of the /r/atheism posters. That is my take on it, what's yours?

Now, don't get me wrong there are snide comments, horrible bits of theology and even some really bad interpretations of how the law works. That's how it works over there, you don't get comments deleted if you tell someone you think there an asshole, so that sometimes happens. Hell I've told people that they are idiots over there occasionally. In my own defence it really was when they were idiots. I like to say that if reddit was real life /r/Christianity would be a garden party and /r/atheism would be a kegger in a frat house. If you hang around garden parties, you'll possibly be uncomfortable at a kegger.

A lot of the people posting there live in religious families, in religious small towns and go to religious schools and work in religious businesses. They spend their entire day being polite and respectful to religion and biting their tongues when religious people do and say some really insulting things. /r/atheism for better or worse is a place where they don't need to be polite. For some redditors it's one of the few outlets they have.

If you go in there thinking that everyone hates you and is just there to bash you and persecute your beliefs that's what you're going to see. Try to keep an open mind. I come here to /r/Christianity knowing that I'm talking to mainly Christians, small segments of other faiths and a particular kind of atheist. I know that people will have misconceptions about me and what I believe, may have entirely opposing view of separation of church and state, current events, family, etc. However, if someone tells me I am wrong or they are basing their opinion on information that isn't factual I provide what I feel to be correct information. I know that this may change some people's opinions about some things, may make them better understand how the constitution frames church-state separation issues for example. Or it may not and they might think I'm just some atheist idiot here telling them how to not be Christian. I can live with either result. I've had some really interesting discussions and learned a lot over the years I've been browsing (this is my 3rd account).

For a couple of years I was one of the people watching /new in /r/atheism. Let me tell you some of the most insightful discussions there I had were in /new with some of the knights of /new. I know there's a lot of teens on there and sometimes some drama and idiocy.

I have a proposal for you. Try browsing /r/atheism /new from time to time. Don't say things like "as a Christian" when making a post. Just say what you think and if someone is saying something that is wrong tell them why and provide references. Not to sound prejudiced but I find that atheists like referenced arguments. Don't take it personally. They are talking about their own experiences, not you and what you believe; that's between you and God, not between you and /u/some_dude_on_reddit.

I'll wager that you might be pleasantly surprised as I was pleasantly surprised when I started coming here years ago.