@ Grim

I don't seek to tell others to give up their beliefs. I just want them to keep their beliefs out of my life. Current religious meddling in our society (see David Nicholls' essay) warrants a response, but I don't care what other people believe, so long as they don't try to use their beliefs as leverage to oppress others or gain advantage for themselves.
All I want is equality. Believers see this as threatening their right to free practice of religion, when all it really threatens is their privilege.

@ Runner

Atheism can't cause a person to do anything. It has no dogma, no catechism, and no men in funny hats telling people thou shalt and thou shalt not on pain of alleged eternal torment.
Atheism has been co-occurent with some dangerous dogmas, such as communism, but in such cases it has been a result and not a driver of those dogmas. Churches offered people an alternative source of guidance to the party, and so were quashed, except when it was convenient to bring them back for party purposes (see Russia in 1942).
To call atheists militant when the words strident or outspoken, or the phrase "sick of being trodden on" are available to you is to dabble in superlatives. Militant theists are armed with bombs and guns. The atheists gathering in Melbourne are armed with statistics and reasoned arguments. Is that really so scary? Perhaps only if your historical precedents for discrimination and tax breaks are under threat.
Believe what you like but kindly keep you ghosts off my lawn and out of our government.

Diver Matt

'Believe what you like but kindly keep you ghosts off my lawn and out of our government.'

That is a little hard considering at the end of the day God is the one that appoints and brings down Governments. Do you really think Pilate could of had the Messiah killed had not God allowed it or for that matter you have air to breathe had not God allowed you such? You are being very presumptous for someone who claims 'reason'.

@ Runner

You are the one presuming stuff. You presume, on no evidence you have provided so far, that a supernatural being exists who can control outcomes in our world.
All I am doing is telling you not to try to act like I should heed your claims, because I don't have to. The same freedom of worship that allows you to enjoy your religious claims means that I am allowed to reject those claims. You shouldn't try to shoe horn your alleged deity and the associated, highly dubious morality into a position where that morality influences legislation until you can show, to the satisfaction of a court of law in which that legislation will be interpreted, that the deity actually exists. Good luck with that.

“All I want is equality”.
Hear hear, Diver Matt. Really, a simple sense of true equality is all that is necessary for the 'internal moral compass' I mentioned earlier.
If we truly believe we are the equal of the next person (no better, no worse) then we have to accept that the other person has as much right to life, liberty, health, happiness and yes belief as we do.
To my mind, a person has a right to describe themselves as an Atheist whether they strongly disbelieve in God, or -as in my case- just find no compelling reason to believe in God.
But can any truly rational atheist say with absolute certainty that the theists are wrong?
The irritating thing -to me- about theists is their superior attitude. Their utter conviction that they are better able to know the unknowable than I am, and are therefore better for it.
It bothers me when Atheists show the very same attitude.

@ Grim

I can't say theists are definitely wrong, but until they come up with something compelling, I won't say they are correct and will dispute any claim they make regarding having the right to boss other people around.
Technically my position is that of agnostic atheist, since I lack certainty on the matter, but atheist is easier to say and, since I have yet to be made aware of any compelling evidence for the supernatural, an apt description of my position regarding deities.
Please don't tell me you're willing to take a betting slip from M. Pascal.