As a user of Reddit and an avid reader of r/atheism, I would like to respond to your Dec. 17 post on your comparison between r/Christianity and r/atheism:

It only takes a glance down the topic headings to see what I mean. The Christian topics are almost all about faith struggles, reconciling Christian doctrines with the facts of evolution, raising money for good causes, helping suffering people in other parts of the world, discussing various Christian beliefs, etc. There are a couple of threads about atheism, one of them positive, praising Dawkins’ public reading of the King James Bible.

Then turn to the atheist group: almost every thread is knocking, indeed attacking, religion in some way or another (usually Christianity and Christians), often in sneering tones. From almost total positivity on the Christian group we go to almost total negativity on the atheist one. From humility and thinking how to help others – while (ironically) doing quite a bit of self-questioning – on the Christian site, to unself-critical arrogance and belittling of others on the atheist site.

Your view on the "total negativity" of r/atheism’s denizens may not entirely be without merit, but I would defend the negative, angry atmosphere of the forum as a core, but not total feature. Our respective views on atheism and secular humanism aside, I can appreciate much of the top-ranking content on the front page as the outpouring of angry, jaded individuals who were mostly raised within some semblance of a theistically-centered parentage only to protractively "discover" the perceived logical paucity of that aspect of their own upbringing. 

It may be more traumatic than discovering that there is no such person in existence as Santa Claus, but the feeling that you’ve been "had" in the most unquestionably authoritarian manner – by your family, your friends, your local clergypersons, above all – is a feeling that is difficult to shake off. In fact, from the often-stated viewpoint of your fellow theists, some ex-theists are likely to project the anxieties and behavior foisted upon them at a young age against other people who may not be a strident in their exterior rejection of theistic ideology. 

But do I pity those or reject those who make a habit of sarcastic, seethingly-angry posts to r/atheism in order to reflect the predominate theme? Of course not.

I think that many denizens of the forum are younger in age, having just recently spurned the theistically-incorporative or centered worldview in increasing disgust and desiring for an outlet in which they can not only express their anger and assumption (I emphasize: ASSUMPTION) of progressive mental maturity, but also find like-minded, like-situationed peers with whom they can converse on a frequent basis and reinforce their newfound status. 

From that point, where an r/atheism user’s non-theistic secularity takes the user is up to the user alone. I’m very sure that most do not retain a frequent rate of posting to the forum, and some may come across the wider variety of atheist and secular humanist blogs and forums out there (say, RichardDawkins.net, DaylightAtheism.org, Planet Atheism, etc.) in order to find their niche. They may buy the literature, watch the videos, or even go to the offline outings and events for atheists and secular humanists.

But these more niche media outlets are likely to take an overall-different tone and atmosphere than that found on r/atheism. While making the same arguments, they will likely address other perceived reserves of theism, such as the ultimate fate of our minds, the existence of the self apart from the concept of a soul, moral and logical standards existing apart from a perceived theistic authority, the most far-flung effects of theistic worldviews upon whole civilizations, the relationship of the individual with the state and other collectives, the technological upgrading of various aspects of humanity and human existence, and other such topics which do not fall squarely within an atheistically-centered narrative. 

So r/atheism is probably one of the more visible and premiere outlets for young ex-theists, but it is far from the only or last outlet of media and discussion which one should attempt to peruse to aggregate a view of the Internet-using humanist demographic. 

In reciprocation, I do not necessarily judge the logical attractiveness of Christendom by just the letter of the Christian Bible nor by the behavior of those who take the letter of your preferred canon to various extremes (some of which are logical), as there are a number of Christians who are willing to interpret scripture to address the most niche topics which are broached by, say, findings in science and technology or law. The Umma of Islam has many saner elements who are less driven to emphasize the role of religion in public and political discourse or antagonize the usual targets of fundamentalist outrages (one such reputedly-saner individual, the governor of Punjab, was just assassinated by his crazed bodyguard with an AK-47 today for merely expressing a rejection of Pakistan’s blasphemy law).

Yet, permit me to utter my feeling, as an atheist, that I feel less welcome in the country of my birth, the land of the free, because of my personal and public spurning of theism. Permit me to express my mirth at the hostility expressed by many offline neighbors, including my own mother, against those who are more apt to reject the prior imposition of theism within their own inner mental sancta.
I haven’t posted my atheistic "coming out" story to r/atheism, but I can understand why so many are willing to post such expressions of white-hot rage, syruppy sarcasm and so forth. They are angry. They are frustrated. And they want to know how to live their lives without the presence of such a meme as a "deity" within their own lives, mentally bothering them at every turn with culturally-tinged artifacts.
There’s a wider blogosphere to help them with their frustrations and finish the rejection in fuller instances than ever before, and r/atheism is just one of many starts.

So again, the anger and sarcasm which themes much of the content posted to r/atheism?

A feature, not a flaw.