Atheism has become more vocal. Christians have always been vocal while atheists once kept their silence for fear of the consequences. I talk openly on-line about these issues, but not so much in public. Many atheists are still afraid to voice their views in public or to their Christian families. There are many Christian families who are unaware that their husbands, wives, sons or daughters, colleagues or friends, or even pastors, no longer believe in God. Many atheists do still keep silent. Oh, and of all the atheists I know, and that is a dozen or so, I am the only one who visits Christian forum. So, despite appearances most atheists don’t bother chatting up Christians on-line.
Atheists who were raised within Christian families grew up believing in life after death. Just because they dispense with belief in God does not mean that all the religious baggage disappears. When I became an atheist I retained two things for a period of time. One was a belief in life after death, the other was fear that I might be wrong about God. I have talked with a few atheists on-line who've expressed having this fear and who’ve told me that if ever they return to belief in God it will be this latent fear that takes them there. Note that Peter Hitchens (brother of the more infamous Christopher Hitchens) returned to his original Catholic faith after a stint of atheism, rebellion and flirtation with Marxism, precisely because of this latent fear (see his book, The Rage Against God). Yes, I read books by former atheists who’ve come back to God.
Those good ol’ times were not so good for blacks, homosexuals, or atheists.