The problem I'm having with this "airbrushing history" line of thinking is, you're thinking of Atheists as if they are a form of organized
group.
We are anything but organized.
It's not like we can congregate and say "hey, lets revise our history".
We don't have meeting places, there is no organization... the only time we manage to talk to one another is when we accidentally meet... even then,
the conversation tends to be about anything BUT our beliefs.
Every Atheist is different. Every Atheist is free to chose what he does and thinks, and when.
One common trend I've found in Atheists is we are so sick and tired of being hassled by religious people, that we simply don't talk about our
beliefs in public.
Why should we start preaching to others, when the one thing we tend to really hate are preachers?
Allot of Atheists start off by questioning religion because of some moral issue they see with it. Either they see it being used for corruption, or
they see it performing atrocities...
Agnosticism tends to be the result of this.
They are often so disgusted with their religion, or the people in it, that they denounce the religion, and take a "don't know, don't care anymore"
stance on the existence of god.
Atheists go one step further.
I was agnostic at one point. (Its rare to simply jump straight to Atheism.) But, the more I went along, the more and more I came to realize, there
simply isn't a god in the first place. Slowly and surely, I stumbled on small bits of evidence that proved to me, the whole notion of some omnipotent
and infallible being creating us, and presiding over us, is total hogwash, a fairytale. It became clear to me that the "God Concept" was created by
man, to control man.
At this point, I could have begun fighting it, and the atrocities it has caused. But I saw things in a different light... instead of fighting it...
why not use it the same way it's creators did?
And hence, I use religion as a tool, a mind prison for those who cannot be trusted to function naturally in society.
I'd be willing to bet, that if I came to this conclusion on my own... there are MANY people out there who do the same.
Who knows, your branch of religion could simply be a mechanism installed by Atheists to keep you in line.
