I am a Christian, and have been a churchgoer all my life, apart from the 18 months or so when I stopped and lost my senses and went along to the KH. Biggest mistake of my life.
I've worked within the church, and been in a position of leading groups in various ways, but I also find a lot that is good and true in many ways within Hinduism, Buddhism, shamanism, "New Age" thinking and more. And it makes no difference to me whatever a person's beliefs are, Moslem, Hindu, Christian, pagan, atheist...it is how people are as people in their heart that counts.
Recent discussion threads involving atheists have been extremely interesting to me, particularly where they are articulate in denying the existence of a spiritual dimension. Most who profess themselves to be Christians, or adherents of other religions or ways of thinking that include New Age thought and paganism, are aware of exactly that spiritual dimension that seems to be explicitly rejected or denied by those who do have a belief.
Another difference is their asking for evidence. The fact that religious thought doesn't really depend in any way on evidence, even though there may be historical fact or incident on which a faith is based, is another marked difference. For example, much Native American religious thinking is based on myth rather than actual history. The structure of the Navaho religious system of thought is beautiful, and entirely consistent with modern conservation thought in its understanding of the need for harmony and interdependence of all life on earth. I share that approach, and, interestingly, many atheists, perhaps on this board too, are also ardent conservationists.
I mentioned beauty as an inherent part of the Navaho thought system. Beauty is an integral dimension of religious thought, certainly in Catholic (including Episcopalian) and Orthodox Christianity and probably in much Protestant religion too.
Although atheists will see beauty in nature, that's the same as everyone will see. They don't go beyond it.
As I've said so often on here, I know and am friends with very many atheists and agnostics offline, in the "real" world. They are comfortable in their atheism, used to it, rarely speak of it, any more than those of us who go to church talk much about it. Some of the atheists who've been posting a lot here recently seem more insistent and less comfortable with their atheism than those I've known for years. Perhaps it's because they're new to it, and have arrived at this point having emerged (as most of us have) from the trauma and lies of the Watchtower? I don't know. It just seems that way sometimes.
Going back to the thread's title, in the nineteen months I've been a member of the board, I've noticed more overt atheism recently, and maybe more Christian posting, but to me it seems as if it could be that way in response to an I crease in atheist posting, which I don't remember so much until comparatively recently.
I think so many here are in a process of healing from the Watchtower. I know I am. It's only recently that I knew I was going back to church, though I never once contemplated atheism. We are all different, working through what's happened to us, determined never to get caught again, and for the most part trying hard to help each other and finding like-minded friends along the way.
