Why are anti-atheist stereotypes socially acceptable?

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Hi all. I'm making this thread because I'm angry at the society around me and I need an outlet.

Here's something that I've noticed: Anti-atheist stereotypes are very common in our world. It's perfectly fine for people to say "Atheists are a bunch of fat losers who live in their basements and don't know anything about the real world!" I've heard that sort of rhetoric a million times. The "neckbearded atheist brony" archetype is pretty much everywhere nowadays and everyone just accepts it.

… and yet it is considered "hate speech" if any religion (or any group of people in general) is stereotyped with the same harshness. Why?

There are some extreme fundamentalists who literally isolate themselves from the real world in order to avoid temptation. How come the "basement dwelling neckbeard" stereotype is never applied to them?

… and why do so many people stereotype atheists as misogynistic? I've noticed that, nowadays, it is politically incorrect to stereotype any religion as being misogynistic … but accusing the atheist community, as a whole, of misogyny is still totally acceptable.

In the past, I was afraid to ask all of these questions because I knew that people would accuse me of "hypersensitive whining" … but I'm not afraid anymore. I don't care if I sound whiny. I need answers.

I think its just an American thing, I think it was during the cold war the US played up the atheism of the soviets because people are more willing to go to war and die for religion than freedom.

Never heard ANY of those stereotypes before.

I think that you spend too much time on U Tube (coming from UTube junkie like me that's saying something! lol!).

Basically EVERYONE on the Net is certain that EVERYONE on the Net who disagrees with them has to be a "fat neckbearded loser who lives in their parents' basement and has nothing better to do than troll me on the web!".

Back in the pre internet 80's a friend quipped that "atheists are stern, and have no sense of humor". That's about the only stereotype I have ever run across about atheists. Not saying its true. Just that one person thought that.

They are? I don't know but if they are it's probably because of the "you're attacking my beliefs" fallacy. Since religion represents a belief in something wheras atheism is just a lack of belief in a god or gods, the prescence of this fallacy could make it socially unacceptable to criticize religion while criticizing atheism is fine.

The biggest stereotype is that atheists have no morals.

The assumption that "holy" beliefs automatically cancel out character and moral faults is a very popular one with religious people. There is super abundant evidence to the contrary.

If there is a just, judgmental supreme being who weeds out the holier than thou pharisees, then some people are in for a big and possibly quite warm surprise.

APOM observed the stereotype which is a false depiction by holy rollers that athiests have no morals. The companion to that is the fatuous idea that saying "I am saved, I believe!! !" confers morality on a believers. Both are ridiculous assumptions blindfolded toward inconvenient evidence to the contrary.

I’ve seen the opposite more. Atheists claiming all Christians(cause it’s not political correct to attack Jews or Muslims) are just backwoods toothless idiot bigots.

Have you never noticed any of these stereotypes on Christians?

The racist/homophobic christian
The blowhard stalker like christian trying to get people to convert
the idiot romantic that knows nothing about the world
The fearful person that is to scared of death to accept the "truth"

I've been stereotyped as all four personally.

People just hate each other over everything. It isn't just one side trying to kill the other, it's a toned down civil war.

Atheists aren't really a marginalized group. That doesn't make it right to discriminate against them though.

Good news, less people are religious today than they were 50 years ago.

I've seen stereotypes on religious groups like Christians, Muslims, Catholics, Jevoha's Witness and I have seen stereotypes on athiesm. I don't know why it's more socially acceptable to bash athiesm than it is to bash religion.