"But on a larger cultural level I don't think that even the most-obnoxious atheists are nearly the negative political force that religious extremists are, at least here in the U.S. Atheists don't try to tell people who they can marry or what they can do with their bodies."

Right, because Social Darwinism, and the imperialism it caused, was never a thing. But hey, they don't hate gays, so let's whitewash all atheists.