I'm not so surprised that you came to such a conclusion. I see you're from America, a country with a pretty low atheist population. When you have a comparatively small population to base a judgement on, naturally the most vocal people within that population gets all your attention, and then you'd use them as a standard. And the most vocal atheists do tend to be the most asshole-ish of atheists. The most vocal people for any idea are usually the most asshole-ish, because they believe so strongly in their cause that they can't comprehend why other people would disagree with them. So you hear the really vocal atheists, and a lot of them sound like assholes, and you form the conclusion that a lot of atheists are assholes.

But if you went to a country where most people (or at least a large minority of people) are non-religious, it'll be easier to get away from the vocal subgroup and look at atheists as a whole. And then you'll see all sorts of atheists, including plenty who are just normal friendly people.

Another thing is that non-asshole atheists are more likely to keep quiet about their religious stance unless you deliberately ask them about it, so you don't even realise that they're atheist. They don't go around trying to force their beliefs down everyone's throat. You've probably met a lot of nice atheists and never knew it.

It really just depends on how you see a jerk.

Atheists can be really into themselves. Hell, some of them think they're enlightened just by being an Atheist (see Bill Maher).

To me, Atheism is about not believing in something just because a bunch of people tell you it's true. Basically, we look for credibility and evidence. As well, we're seekers of knowledge and information.

The problem here, though, is that as Atheism becomes more accepted, the dumb majority is going to start infecting it (see Bill Maher). It's sort of like when teengirls from Gaia discovered 4chan... the problem isn't 4chan, it's the exposure.

But unlike the Newfags, I don't mind more people being Atheist (even though that means more dumb atheists). I just hope that people will look to the great Philosophers and Scientists who are Atheist, and see it's about the seeking of truth, and not just the bashing of others for their personal beliefs.

The irony in this debate is that there has been no name calling from Atheists, look at the opposition arguments from the Christians. I think that answers your question.

Some people perceive Atheists to be 'jerks' because they argue the rationality of religion. But I see a mass affair of double standards in this debate. Atheists that voice their opinion are merely stating their beliefs. Isn't that what Christians do on a daily basis? The majority of Christians I know have in some way tried to 'preach' or 'convert me' without any ammunition. Atheists that I know will debate religion when brought up for discussion but in no way just start hurling reasoning at people of religion.

How about looking at it from a different angle?

The three biggest groups of jerks I can think of in America would probably be: gang members, racists, and right-wing extremists. And these groups are largely Christian, whereas atheists are underrepresented in each category.

Now I'm not saying that there aren't jerky atheists out there. There certainly are. But behavioral patterns are more discernible within groups that have more of a structured set of beliefs. Atheists only really have one belief, and so it is more difficult to find broad commonality amongst them.

Besides, lots of people are jerks, regardless of their approach to religion.

I have a different experience. The atheists I have known have respected the religious believes and preferred not to have faith. And I have also met Atheists who take pleasure in insulting one's faith considering one's own ideas superior.

I think the former have the right to be cynical. But have no right to mock. Some of them forget that excess faith when questioned in the form of abuses is hurtful.

But, I do know the other half of those who are respectful and nice. I'm going to conclude that not all are jerks for the sake of the better half who know how exactly to propagate or at least to let be.

Personally I would say that no Atheists are NOT as "jerkish" as they are stereotyped to be, I myself am an atheist by my own beliefs. I do not feel that how I act toward others religious or not has to do with my beliefs on the subject of religion. My choice to not believe in any God monotheistic or polytheistic in nature has nothing to do with my choice of how to interact with people.

However, if someone tries to cram ANY idea down my throat because they believe deeply in it, I would react to such vocally and not in actions. I believe that if you have people around you who turn out to be "jerks" this is not influenced by their beliefs; Ones disposition or mannerisms are specific to that person, not their religious status.

No, not at all. Most of my friends are atheists. Some are though.It depends on WHY they're an atheist I suppose.

Really it depends upon the person. A person of faith can be equally as much a punk as the stereotypical atheist.

I am a Christian and I a friend who is an atheist. We both respect each others positions as both are based on something more than a simple "that's just what I believe".

This is poor topic because there is really no definitive answer as it is dependent upon each individual's personality.

From an atheists standpoint, Christians are the ones who are 'jerkish'. Jerkish in the sense that they're almost always unaccepting of an opposing view. And of course the same can be said of atheists. Because atheists have decided to give up their faith in that particular belief, whatever it was. But almost always for good reason, or at least some reason, which can again, be said of Christians and Christianity. It usually is picked up for certain reasons. So both both sides are guilty of being 'jerkish' in my opinion. The culprit is stubbornness. Let's be more accepting and more open and willing to converse on these kinds of things.

There are jerks in every group. Jerks are not limited to one ideology. :D

Stereotypes do not determine how all individuals act. Also, the non-jerk type of Atheist are likely to be less vocal about their Atheism that those people are underrepresented.

At a personal level, I'm an Atheist, but you don't see me going around and acting all superior to others just because I think differently than my religious counterparts.

No, they aren't. Perhaps I come from a very different background, being from South-east Asia, but the majority of the atheists I know personally (i.e. excluding the ones I've read about) are perfectly happy to not interfere with the lives and faith of religious people. Personally, I think that it is only right to allow people to practice their faith as long as they do not attempt to impose their views on others.

I think I can see how those who think that atheists are "jerkish" get their impression from. Perhaps, those who stereotype atheists as such have met too many outspoken atheists like Christopher Hitchens in their communities. However, it is such stereotypes and hasty generalisations that cause people to not understand and respect the different views of people in society, leading to the lack of tolerance and empathy towards theists by atheists and vice versa. I think that whether or not atheists are "jerkish" stems not from their philosophical viewpoint or world view, but from each person's character. Thus, the first and most important step towards more tolerance and understanding between the theists and atheists is first to understand the character of the person and then to understand their viewpoint.