Around here, in the more "Red" and Conservative Christian areas of the Good Ol' USA, the word "Atheist" has a very negative connotation, as does "Communism." Most people, when they hear either of these words, think bad things, as if the person is evil or cruel, not the fact that they have different beliefs.

Humans also like labels. We like to name everything that we encounter as soon as it becomes "mainstream" or "widely recognized." Sometimes it bothers me.