Leopards Ate My Face

Certainly, the whole idea is that theistic belief is separate from morality after all.

And yet examples are remarkable. The one you met wouldn’t have been memorable otherwise. At a guess, it’s rare because atheism is the kind of hair-shirt or “kick me” sign that actual assholes rarely choose, as it tends to require a fair amount of introspection.

But I have known a handful of assholes who go around telling everyone they’re an asshole, as if the negative attention is the point. Usually I associate that behavior with baggage related to abandonment and rejection.

In that case, conservatism and other socially maladaptive ideologies might be secondary to unresolved trauma, shame, fear, and self-hate. And for that, therapy is the only solution I know, not religion.