Quote Originally Posted by gwahir View Post
*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.
Quote Originally Posted by wikipedia entry on timothy mcveigh
In the 2001 book American Terrorist, McVeigh stated that he did not believe in Hell and that science is his religion.[89][90] In June, 2001, a day before the execution, McVeigh wrote a letter to the Buffalo News identifying as agnostic.[91]
welp, looks like all agnostics and atheists are crazy assholes who just wanna kill people. I think that atheists and agnostics need to take a serious look at what, in their doctrines, impels people to commit acts of terrorism and the way they are being taught.


what I'm trying to say with this is that extremists are extremists and cannot be counted as part of the majority. As well, there are social, cultural and political factors that lead to extremists doing these things you find reprehensible. Because they are justified by doctrine taken out of context and snipped beyond recognition does not falsify the doctrines used.