[ExI] extropy-chat Digest, Vol 179, Issue 2

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 04/08/2018 17:38, extropy-chat-request at lists.extropy.org wrote:
> Ben, then how to explain the taliban-like intolerance of militant 
> atheists? The only explanation I can find is that they think they know.
>

A couple of points:

1) I was pointing out that 'knowing that gods don't exist' is a 
misleading definition of atheism, not that there aren't some atheists 
who can be just as obnoxious as some religious people (note: by 
'obnoxious' I don't mean going around beheading people).

2) There's no such thing as 'militant atheism'. As far as I know, that's 
just a term made up by some religious people to smear their enemies, on 
a par with 'islamophobia' (a phobia is an irrational fear. No-one is 
islamophobic). At best, it's a distortion of the word 'militant' to mean 
'vocal'. If militant religious fundamentalists used the same methods as 
'militant' atheists, the world would be a much better place.

'Taliban-like intolerance' would be kidnapping and killing people 
because they disagree with your religious world-view. I'm pretty sure no 
atheists have done that. When did you ever hear of anyone committing an 
atrocity in the name of unbelief?

-- 
Ben Zaiboc