who cares why someone tries to strip basic rights of a group of citizens? why does it matter if it's because of a book or because they're just intolerant? because many atheists are just as likely as many religious people to abridge basic rights.
choosing what you believe about the meaning of life and whether/to what extent you want to partake in religious tradition is as basic a human right as any other, and some atheists are hostile toward that right.
some atheists also try to hide the ball by turning things like homosexuality and contraception into human rights issues while painting contrary religious principles as some kind of superstitious voodoo blocking progress. the fact is that religious freedom is a basic right just like homosexuality, and in fact, there is a far greater tradition of religious freedom than of sexual freedom. does this mean one right should always trump the other? no. but some atheists, just like some religious people, are far too quick to dismiss the right they don't like and defend the one they do.
fact is that these are usually hard questions that don't have easy answers. sometimes religious freedom needs to yield to individual rights. but sometimes religious freedom needs to be defended, even if you don't like the way that freedom is being used
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