There are two main types of Atheists, the weak Atheist and the strong Atheist. At the most basic level the position of a weak Atheist is not by any means "intectually lazy". The weak Atheist entertains a general skepticism and suspicion about god and religious institutions. Skeptics can of course be active disbelievers, but generally there at least is some evaluative process in which the question of god or religion is debated. Weak atheists then are more intellectually active then zealous believers who may have never even questioned what is "before them". What is before the believer is a religion which is socially transmitted, like language and culture. There is no innate truth in this religion because it is socially created and has different incarnations depending on which culture the religion exists within. How can a weak atheist be intellectually lazy when he is involved in a process of doubt and curiosity regarding the issue - while the believer mindlessly devotes himself to a religion just because it has been placed before him?

The strong Atheists discredits the role of religion in the world, and that it adversely effects society, or is for whatever reason unfavorable. It is exactly the opposite of ingnorance, it is a careful awareness of religion which leads the questioning. This is the reason why many Atheists know the Bible better then their god-fearing Christian counterparts.

A political philosopher, J.S Mill wrote that to prevent any idea from becomming "dead dogma" (the state of a notion which is generally accepted by everyone which has also lost its orginal value or meaning) that idea must be questions and evaluated by understanding opposing ideas - in this case he was concerned about the opinion of the minority being silenced in favor of some majoritarian "truth". We live in a Christian nation - quickly becomming a theofacists state, and the body of writing produced by Atheists must continue to be read and understood by people. We are the minority. Atheists often were religious seekers who found the Bible wanting in someway; we have given your religion a chance, and fairly Christians should read our works - take The Necessity of Atheism by Percy Shelley. Atheism is "taking an honest look" at the world - because it does so without the ideological assumptions that come with the belief in god or religion. As the Latin proverb goes "To doubt is freedom". People often think that an Atheism is belief that there is no good - it really is a state of non-belief; "I do not believe there is a god". Both are entirely different propositions (if you fancy yourself a logician) with different truth values and meanings. Atheism is a state where any idea can be entertained because there are no underlying systems of belief!

It is unfortunate that someone could write an article called "The Intellectual Laziness of Atheists" without even reading Atheist literature. Perhaps the other article should be renamed "The Intellectual laziness of William Jeffreys".