“These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the GREATEST of these is love.” Standing in front of the locked doors of the church, I realize they are simply words devoid of meaning.

Like many dogmas which need to be constantly re-asserted, the notion of xtian "love" is the tribal or racist "love" of their own tribe or clique, to to exclusion of love for the wider human race. - Hence religious warring factions.

In our society the term atheist is met with ridicule and disgust. Many choose to remain silent for fear of retribution from those within the religious community.

Fortunately this anti-heretic primitivism, has been shaken off in many more civilised advanced countries.
The attitude arises from the authoritarian pseudo-morality which enforces dogma with threats of a sky-daddy condemning naughty sheeples to eternal hell-fire.

God-fearing = morality - therefore - atheism = immorality.
It is simplistic enough for even the dimmest to follow - no thinking required.
The concept of self discipline and a wider community empathy for the human race is simply not considered.
The rest of humanity is regarded as an under-class only fit for recruitment to the particular thinking of the meme group, or consigned to the dust-bin of Hell.

This sort of simplistic arrogant thinking is particularly prevalent in backward rural communities, where particular forms of theism have been able to dominate local community social structures, and so are able to ostracise those outside the group-think.