I'm an Atheist. Don't stop reading yet. I was raised Baptist and then converted to Judaism (and later found out I had Jewish ancestry). I consider myself culturally Jewish, but I don't believe in God.

That being said, I'm not smug about it. There are tons of brilliant and educated believers out there. As much as I don't want them preaching to me, they don't want me lecturing them. It's a matter of respect , simple as that. Respect for an individual's personal system of ethics and spirituality.

There are days I wish I could get there. I can't. I've read the Bible, the Tanakh and the Quran as well as many texts by theologians, philosophers and the like. When my kids decided Christianity wasn't for them, I exposed them to every faith I had access to, let them learn about them and allowed them to choose their own path. Faith, at least to me, or rather, spirituality, is a personal matter.

I'm sorry you're being judged, to me that's not how those of us who claim to be rational and objective thinkers should be treating people.