Atheists love 16 million colors of gray.

Steve Willy

Steve Willy: Why is the atheist even engaging in the debate.

Honestly there is no real need for us to debate, theists.

Steve Willy: On atheism, there is no objective basis for even ascertaining truth; there is no immaterial aspect to consciousness and all mental states are material.

Truth speaks for itself. Many of us reject the idea that an immaterial aspect to consciousness is a requirement to live a fulfilling life.

Steve Willy: Therefore, everyone who ever lived and ever will live could be wrong about a thing. By what standard would that ever be ascertained on atheism?

Since 99.9% of all Atheists assert there are no gods, for us to be wrong about that assertion, a god will have to make itself known to all of us, at the exact same moment, everywhere on this planet.

Steve Willy: Also if atheism is true, there is no objective meaning to existence and no objective standard by which the 'rational' world view of atheism is more desirable, morally or otherwise, to the 'irrational' beliefs of religion.

Everything the theist enjoys about life, we equally enjoy sans the gods.

Steve Willy: Ridding the world of the scourge of religion, so that humanity can 'progress' or outgrow it, is not a legitimate response to this because on atheism, there is no reason to expect humanity to progress or grow.

Your are right there is no explicit expectation that humanity will progress thousands of years into the future. You are confused by our intent. We do not intend to rid the world of religion. It is not the goal of (most) Atheist's to wipe religion off this planet but to coexist in a world that people can be free of suppression.

Steve Willy: We are a historical accident that should fully expect to be destroyed by the next asteriod, pandemic, or fascist atheist with a nuke. In short, if atheism is correct, there is no benefit, either on an individual or societal level, to knowing this or to spreading such 'knowledge.'

There is nothing wrong with knowing the nature of existence. Nor is there anything wrong with calculating the many possible scenarios of our extinction. There is something seriously wrong with making false predictions as to when humanity will become extinct. Christianities world view that "The End Times are here" distorts people perception of what they should cherish and find important in the here and now.

Steve Willy:  Related to this, why is the atheist debater even alive to participate.

Because we are. Get over it already.

Steve Willy: If there is no heaven, no hell, no afterlife at all, only an incredibly window of blind pitiless indifference, then the agony of struggling to exist, seeing loved ones die, and then dying yourself can never be outweighed by any benefit to existing.

Except that is not the entirety of human existence. We love, hate, sing, cry, debate, argue, make art, make war, find peace and tranquility, etc. etc. Because people die and we suffer does not mean we should also give up on living. There is a universe of exploration just waiting for our curiosity to be piqued.

Steve Willy: As rude as it way sound the atheist should have a coherent explanation for why they chose to continue existing.

We do. Open your eyes and mind, ask some questions instead of making hurtful blanket statements and you might find we are very much like everyone else, sans the god aspect.

Steve Willy: Failure to adequately address these threshold questions should result in summary rejection of the neckbeard's position. 

You already seem to know what an adequate answer is, so I doubt mine will suffice. Fortunately if I have failed to provide you with said adequate answers well that is the nature of being an Atheist, and I am fully happy with being wrong. It is the nature of theists to believe in absolutes, only white or black answers.

Atheists love 16 million colors of gray.

A religion in scorn

Upon the road less traveled
The Sadducee's of Theism are a gaggle
Proselytes with words sweet as honey
And as seductive as a lost bag of money.
Shrouded in a veil of deceit
Baffled by your avoidance of the easy street
For which punishments of suffering they have borne
For there is nothing as unpleasant as a Religion in scorn.

Primum non nocere

Hate is an emotionally charged word and pity seems arrogant. Words such as these and more like them cause the still suffering theist further anguish and makes them feel indisposed. We should always seek, not to exacerbate, but to alleviate their suffering. The Atheist, inoculated from the degenerative effects of the Theism Meme, can freely express unconditional compassion towards the still suffering theists. Dare I say that it is our job but more so it should be our desire to heal the sick and wounded. To bring comfort and reason to the confused and lost souls; who suffer greatly by the effects of the Theism Meme. Through acts of kindness and a willingness to serve or help, the still suffering theist, we in turn benefit from the healthy attitudes expressed around us. It should be an Atheist's moral imperative to (employ the Hippocratic oath: primum non nocere) "First Do No Harm."

An honesty

“The biggest benefit of being an atheist is honesty... it feels
much more real now, as an atheist.”—Paul Beaumont

To me this is an honesty that strips away any misconceptions I have of reality and points out any false assumptions/expectations that may be deluding my consciousness. It is an honesty that demands that I am first and foremost skeptical of my own beliefs and thoughts as well as the theistic myth's that pervade our societies. It demands that I ask of myself, "Are my opinions or positions, of a subject, correct, true and real?" It forces me to ask myself, "Can I see this in a different light or can I ask this question in a different way?" Atheism is curiosity. The more I learn about the world and reality the more I want to know. Atheism is like heroin for the curious intellect, it drives me to explore and enlighten myself to the countless wonders of the natural world. I am addicted to the real.
I also see that being an Atheist requires a rigorous sense of Accountability. Accountability is like having foresight. Meaning: that before I act upon those thoughts, I must weigh the consequences of my actions against the context of my environment. What ever I do or think I must always ask my self, "How do my actions effect the people or places or things directly connected to my current experience?" Atheism puts me into the world, into time-space, and into the moment I am experiencing. It strips away the imaginary and replaces that with actuality. Atheism informs me that, "In this moment of time and space I am the master of my universe, of my experience, that I am free, to do what I want, when I want, without constraint, without subjugation, without limits, devoid of prejudice and ignorance and that my consciousness is open and awake and ready to experience life as it is right now in this very moment.

And vodka makes it so much more enjoyable and so much more profound. /lol

If it's just us

Celebrate, everyday, the 6.4 billion years of evolution and adaptation, here on Earth, that put you in this moment. 
Be humbled by the sheer immensity of Cosmological Evolution that resulted in you becoming a conscious living being. 
Procreate for that is your purpose and strive to be altruistic in all your affairs. 
Be confident and sure, despite all evidence to the contrary, that you are not alone. 
For as the truly humbled Carl Sagan once said, “The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” 
Love everyone and forgive unconditionally, for it is our diversity that makes humanity strong and healthy. 
And lastly, find unbiased and unconditional meaning in the moment for all other pursuits are Absurd.

Science adds inspiration

Science does not take away spirituality but it does add inspiration in so many amazing and awe inspiring ways.
Who has not at some point looked at the Hubble Space Telescope's collection of photographs and felt some emotion or have felt humbled by the vast theories of quantum physics. These things, tangible and real have too often filled me with such awe and inspiration. Science has an immense power to capture one's mind while filling one's life with beauty and wonderment.
Our bodies, our minds, our world and our universe is filled with vast amounts of energy it is our soul as the theists might say. We might call those energies, for example, weak or strong nuclear forces but yet we know they are real and we can observe them, test them and validate them. We do not need to invent stories or myths about them for we all agree they are real.
Our creator, the sun, our universe and the cosmos all shed light down upon us and we are filled by the awesome power and humbled before it. All we must do is look up into the sky and see the sun, the stars and the Milkyway and we know that we are part of a massive undertaking of creation, destruction and evolution.

google search parameter "christians for gay rights"

[copy+paste] from Wikipedia. header: List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

caveat: these examples may not be exactly defined as "christians leading the battle for gay rights" but they do show that many christian organizations have become incentivized towards bringing the lgbt community into their folds.

The Metropolitan Community Church was instrumental in the first legal challenges to the heterosexual legal definition of marriage in Ontario (see Same-sex marriage in Ontario).
The Anglican Church of New Zealand has decided to allow homosexuals to become clergy.
The Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists,
a group of some 50 churches and organizations, is committed to the "full inclusion" of gay and lesbian persons in their churches.
The Community of Christ officially seeks to end all discrimination including discrimination against members of the LGBT community
The Mennonite Church USA has many "Welcoming Congregations" which are churches who are welcoming and inclusive of LGBTQ people in all levels of church life.
The "Old Catholic" Churches in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands view homosexuality as moral, permit gay and lesbian priests, and bless gay couples.[citation needed] These should not be confused with the Roman Catholic Church,
the Affirming Pentecostal Church International, the Covenant Network,[38] the Global Alliance of Affirming Apostolic Pentecostals (GAAAP),[39] and the Fellowship of Reconciling Pentecostals International (RPI).[40]
Those Pentecostal churches that are gay affirming base their position on research done into scripture in the original languages, where they believe they find no condemnation of homosexuality
The Presbyterian Church (USA),
the largest U.S. Presbyterian body, has approved the ordination of
non-celibate gays. On July 8, 2010, by a vote of 373 to 323, the General Assembly voted to propose to the presbyteries a constitutional amendment to remove the restriction against the ordination of partnered homosexuals. This action required ratification by a majority of the 173 presbyteries within 12 months for the proposed amendment to take effect.[43][44] On May 10, 2011, a majority of the presbyteries voted to approve the constitutional change.[45] It took effect on July 10, 2011.
Quakers in many countries, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, are supportive of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, seeing this as necessary aspect of the Equality Testimony and part of historical Quaker activism against injustice and oppression. Quakers in these countries have become active in the fight for equality of marriage for same-sex couples, and perform same-sex commitment or marriage ceremonies are part of Quaker business.
The United Church of Christ General Synod in 1985 passed a resolution entitled "Calling on United Church of Christ Congregations to Declare Themselves Open and Affirming"