I haven't read many of the posts here, but I did watch the video. The guy has some ok points, but, like many atheists, oversimplifies many crucial aspects of what it means to be an aggressive atheist. So, here's my take on the whole thing.
First of all, this post is going to assume that a benevolent, authoritative deity does not exist, or, in other words, there is no god. I'm an atheist myself, but the existence of God debate should be saved for some other thread; it doesn't have much to do with this topic. So, for all of the theists out there, lets just assume there is no such thing as god. I know it'll be difficult, but bear with me.
Now, the main reason for being an "aggressive atheist" would be to strive for the eradication of religion on earth. Lets say the opposite way of living one's life as an atheist would be called "passive atheism" (something I just made up, it sounds kind of stupid, I know). Assuming that a passive atheist would live his/her life by ignoring religious rhetoric, arguing about various religious topics only when in the presence of friends or family, and being overall non-confrontational about the topic, an aggressive atheist would strive for confrontation, hoping that their argumentative lifestyle would convert believers into non-believers, and eventually lead to a world without religion. If we can accept that this is the lifestyle/purpose of an "aggressive atheist" (this is my definition; you may have your own) then three main issues arise: 1) practice, 2) results, and 3) practicality (this may seem ambiguous now, but, again, bear with me).
What I mean by practice is how an aggressive atheist would argue their points and what might occur because of it. If the goal of an aggressive atheist is indeed to eradicate religion on earth, then, in order to be truly effective, a group would have to form. These atheists would need to band together and form a social institution in order to truly affect society. Individual aggressive atheists without structure would be about as effective as the weirdo at the party who's trying to tell you why 911 was an inside job, meaning not very. Now, this structure would be scarily close to religious institutions themselves. Some may argue that atheism is already a religion, and adding a structured institution to our unbelief would only fuel the fire. Personally, I think there needs to be some sort of supernatural or other-worldly being at the center of a belief system in order for it to be called "religion" but that's just me. Regardless, an atheistic institution would be similar to their religious counterparts. But by forming this institution, atheists could affect society in ways they cannot do presently. Theoretically, this institution would help atheism spread and spread quickly. The problem with this is that an atheistic institution would only add fuel to the fire. Assuming this institution becomes powerful, their ideas would obviously butt heads with other powerful groups such as the evangelicals who are very powerful themselves. The question is, would this additional strife necessarily do good for the atheist cause. Most atheists agree that it is religious institutions, not the belief itself, that is the root of much religious violence in the past and in the present. This atheistic institution may turn out to be just another problematic and strife-causing group. Evangelicals could target members of this institution just like Michael Bray targeted an abortionist. There are countless possibilities. The problem with my post so far, is that it is purely theoretical. But it can only be theoretical because the rise of an atheistic institution in a capitalist society has yet to come.
Now on to number 2, results. Would being an aggressive atheist result in the eradication of religion? Obviously a sole aggressive atheist could not possibly influence the world so much as to eradicate religion, but the aforementioned institution may. But is it even plausible for us to eradicate religion? I really don't think it is possible it the next 100-200 years. While atheism is indeed on the rise, religion is so strongly implanted in so many cultures and it very hard to change this. If we look at the Middle East and the extremist Muslims who inhabit it, their religion is very much cultural. Children are born into a way of life that indoctrinates them with the belief of a beautiful afterlife that can only be achieved through violence. Logic will not deter these types of people away from their belief, no matter how much scientific proof one might have. While liberal Christians in democratic states may be more susceptible to a logical, scientific argument; many cultures throughout the world will simply not buy it. Many cultures who practice Hinduism are not simply practicing a religion in a secular government, they are practicing a lifestyle as well. Their social structure is based on the religion itself, meaning that, in order for an atheistic world to come about, these cultures would have to be stripped down to the bone; something that seems highly unlikely.
Moving on to the last issue: practicality. Now lets say that an atheistic institution did indeed arise and that they successfully made the world an atheistic one. Again, this is a purely hypothetical situation. Would this atheistic world be better than our current one? If we look back to atheistic society's in the past, all we see is violence. But could this atheistic world be different? There are two main aspects that I would like to explore: the individual and the national. On the individual scale, an atheistic society would mean that there is no possible way to have a universal moral code. While, currently, there are two deterrents to violence: law and religion (as in Christians believing that they will go to hell if they comitt an immoral act, I understand that other religions may implore their followers to committ murder), an atheistic society would only have one: law. No longer would individuals hold back their violent or conflict-arising actions in fear of eternal unrest, the law would be the only strong deterrent of immoral action. Again, even if some moral code is adopted by a particular nation, it does not hold the weight that it would if it were religiously supported. One could choose to break the moral code with no consequences from higher authority. At the national level, I feel as if war may be severely restricted if an atheistic world were indeed possible. If one looks back at the history of war, it is almost always started because of religion, or, if it was not initially religiously fueled, the war was justified through religion in order to continue it. Without religion, one of the most powerful causes for war would be gone. Obviously, war may still rise due to a sense of nationalism, or, as stated in the scarce resource theory, due to a lack of a particular resource, whether it be tangible or intangible (i.e. one nation may feel their safety is in danger; therefore, safety becomes a scarce resource and, as a result, that nation goes to war in order to feel safe again). But, no longer could a sacred space such as Jerusalem be the reason for an ongoing war. No longer could inane, archaic passages from a holy book support acts of violence. No longer could one justify strapping a bombs to one's chest through the belief in a virgin orgy. No longer could groups indoctrinate their members to be thoughtless soldiers of a ridiculous cause. Again, I'm not saying war would not be possible, but I am arguing that war, without religion, would be less frequent and more practical. It is also hard to see how different governments would be affected by this. What would an atheistic India look like? What would an atheistic Iran look like? Its hard to tell.
I know a lot of what I just said is purely theoretical, but it has to be. I fail to see the point in being an "aggressive atheist" unless your goal is to eradicate religion. The man in the video speaks of his intolerance to religion. He seems very passionate about this intolerance. Therefore, it seems people of this nature would indeed join an atheistic institution if it came about. I know some atheists will disagree and say that "aggressive atheism" is purely an individual effort. But it does not seem that way. Dawkins (who likes the term militant atheism instead of aggressive atheism) certainly resembles a man who could be an initiator of the aforementioned atheist institution. Furthermore, would this institution be better or worse for the atheist cause. Would they successfully impose their beliefs on others or would they become an institution as conflictual as the religious one's they so strongly despise. And if their dream came true, would the world be a better place anyway? In conclusion, I'd say that if us atheists are supposed to be "aggressive", this would only lead to an atheistic institution that would only cause more conflict and be ineffectual in the grand scheme of things (i.e. the eradication of religion). However, if we were to somehow rid the world of religion; I would think it to be a better place than it is now (I know I only explored very few things in this theoretical atheistic world but I can only say so much)