Unlike some atheist-friendly (as opposed to “friendly atheist”) blogs or websites that tend to be about 95% snark (or just plain abuse) aimed at religious hypocrisy and lunacy, you tend to run a very civil ship, and I find that respectfulness and restraint extremely refreshing. (Some of the passengers here occasionally get a little bit carried away with the religion-bashing, but I don’t see that as your fault — and your example tends to keep this place from developing into Godflame Central.)

I think that, if anything, you sometimes try a little too hard to be “friendly” toward theists and theism in this respect, and give benefit of the doubt even when it is not, in my own opinion, particularly warranted — but, as I said, snark isn’t at all hard to find elsewhere, so this means that your blog isn’t just going along with the rest of the atheist or anti-theist flow, but pursues its own independent and reason-driven course. Kudos to you for having that integrity, and for having the pleasant disposition to do things in a positive manner instead of a negative one.

~David D.G.

Bizarre.

I always thought of the baby jokes as an ironic joke on the perception of atheists as eeeeeeeeeeeeevil.

What needs to change on this blog? This is your blog, not mine.

What do you want to see more of? This is your blog, not mine.

What do you never want to see? This is your blog, not mine.

There, all done

In other words, while it’s good to get feedback, remember that the surest way to do nothing is to try and please everyone.

Keep questioning (both yourself and others) while remaining true to yourself.

Your site is generally one of three sites I commonly go to, the other being PZ’s and Richarddawkins.net. (Daylight Atheism comes in a close fourth) I like PZ’s because generally he holds no punches, and Richard’s because it can be a wild and woolly ride through the comments. I come to yours because it seems to be generally a ‘safe’ haven, and there is usually nothing wrong with being safe as long as you have good reason to be so inclined. (Though it is sometimes good to step outside the box.)

If this site should ever become a chore, just walk away. You can always walk back.

As for what I’d like to see more of-more constructive criticism of atheist ideas, alongside constructive criticism of religious ideas. I thought it was great of you to comment on PZ’s post (even though I’m a big fan of his blog as well), and we atheists shouldn’t be afraid to be critical of each other. I frequently read stuff on other atheist blogs that I think crosses a line.

This is a helpful suggestion. Another thing I would expect from a “friendly” atheist blog is more constructive critique of some of the unfriendly things some atheists do or say (i.e. more stuff along the lines of “hey guys, we can do better than this.”)

That doesn’t mean we have to be rude or mean, but many religious people will think we are being rude and mean just because there’s been that unspoken law for so long that it is not acceptable to criticize religion, at least large, established religions like Christianity. Well, um, too bad. As someone said above, if you don’t want to be laughed at, don’t believe stupid things. I can get on board with the love your neighbor stuff, but believing that a virgin had a baby or that people rise from the grave is just as crazy as scientology or the other religions that it’s acceptable to make fun of.

The part to remember is that we are talking to real people when we post here. So we shouldn’t post anything we would not say to someone face-to-face, and we shouldn’t use a tone that we would not use in person. That keeps the conversation civil, I think.