Kyle Williams brings an excellent GQ article to our attention:
They were crazy, and they loved God—and I thought about the unimpeachable dignity of that love, which I never was capable of. Because knowing it isn’t true doesn’t mean you would be strong enough to believe if it were.
That last sentence rather beautifully describes the disbeliever’s dichotomy. It also shows how there’s usually no need for fear or loathing despite the mutual incomprehension between belief and disbelief.