[stargroup100]

A lot of this has to do with how people think and society norms. Everyone has different philosophies, and when there is a conflict of interest, there is a chance that ignorance will take place. It goes both ways. There are nonreligious people who insult religious people, just as there are religious people that insult nonreligious people, and for mostly the same reasons.

People that insult those who believe in a higher being tend to have the philosophy that believing or not believing in these beings have no impact or negative impact on our lives, and/or that we should look at reality objectively without the idea of the supernatural, and that those that do look at the supernatural might be gullible, stupid, etc.

For example, one of the common issues is this: Yes, religion is not all bad, and for some people there is a benefit that they can't otherwise get, and it does have cultural significance, but that doesn't give it the right to invade other areas, such as our government and our science curriculum. That ends up imposing religion onto other people, and a lot of people get angry, and rightfully so. But the ones that insult religion probably generalize and stereotype religious people in this way.

This phenomenon is never going to cease to exist, as there will always be people that are more rational and naturalistic and not accepting of the supernatural, while others practice religion to an extreme. On both sides of the argument, each side thinks it is right and the other wrong. And when you combine that with the fact that many people feel the need to express negativity to those who believe something they think is ridiculous and wrong, well you get a bunch of trouble.