Reply #16: The difference is the gold plates and underwear are real beliefs of Mormonism. Yours are not.

[dmallind]

Atheism is a lack of belief in the existence of gods. The "larger point" that it's how Mormonism is lived that matters most would have no meaning to atheism, since there is no unifying belief or expected behavior. But I would at least expect that the respect you seek for LDS folks and their beliefs would be analogous to letting atheists define themselves.