Originally Posted by
gwahir
*it's not actually a strawman argument when atheist critics of religion call upon extremists to make a point. those extremists EXIST. no atheist will say "a christian once bombed an abortion clinic, so all christians are abortion bombers". (a similar sentiment might be made about muslims, but atheists CERTAINLY do not have a monopoly on criticism of islam.) but saying "a guy was impelled by his doctrine to bomb this abortion clinic, therefore there are some things seriously wrong with christian doctrines and the way they are being taught." that is a reasonable argument. more often, though, the extremists aren't called upon to make a point about the religion in general; they are called upon to say that this is happening, and it shouldn't be ignored or dismissed as the lunatic fringe. it's also to say to religious moderates "seriously, guys, there are religious extremists in your group, and you should not be ignoring or shoving them under the rug or claiming that they're not your problem. you defend the same doctrines that compel these people to behave the way they are behaving; you have to deal with this."
if you find an atheist making a remark about loony extremists standing in for the whole group, it's usually nothing more than a joke or, if serious, a really immature, uneducated slur. that's not a strawman argument.