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I wish I had reason to disagree with you, but as represented by many a comment I post in this forum, it's very hard not to agree. This "heartburn" with some about atheists is not all that uncommon though. It's part of what divides America with respect to politics too. Too much ego and emotion. Not enough fair level-headed mature objective reasoning. AKA critical thinking.
Point being, relative to law/logical reasoning, fighting against (or refusal to accept) those who are religious is shooting ourselves in the foot, essentially threatening our right not to profess any religion or belief. Hence the point it’s not defending atheism; it’s being on the offensive, particularly relative to this thread.
But there is a broader question that is worth asking, whether it be religion or White supremacy, etc. How does the mainstream group react to extreme group? Do they, essentially, say, "It's not our business"...fully tolerate it? Or do they do anything to attempt to modify the situation with their extremists.
The broader question might also be whether it is the extremists who impose the ridiculous requirements on women, up to and including preventing them from being educated, or is it the mainstream? Including even the religious mainstream females?
Extremism is all too many times the "tip of the iceberg" that floats above the rest. Is supported and/or enabled by the rest one way or another...
I'm pretty sure if it were not for those 70 virgins along with the rest promised by God at the end of the line, many if not most would not have done what they did...
Not only have we religion to consider in these contexts, but why always is it almost always males regardless the religion?
You have never heard of women suicide bombers? Huh.
What is a “mainstream group”? We live lives as individuals. I am only responsible for my own acts and responses. I rarely wake up in the morning and wonder what the “mainstream group” has on its schedule today. I only know what I need to accomplish. I prefer to live mindfully, in kindness and understanding. If I accomplish that i sleep peacefully. When I fail, I try harder. Not because it is virtuous but because it makes me feel good and failing makes me feel bad.
Like many, you tend to look at these issues from a micro level, but the problems occur more at the macro level...
Take the warm-hearted bake sale at the local church for example. Cakes are baked and sold for purposes of providing money to the church. Nothing wrong with that, but where does the money go? No doubt at the more macro level it goes toward doing some good, but at the more macro level it can also go toward causes one might argue are not so good. Again having nothing to do with what a person is feeling, thinking or doing at the individual level. That's the point here far as I'm concerned...
For example...how does the mainstream Mormon church deal with the extreme Mormons of far-northern Utah, under the leadership of Warren Jeffs?
How does the Baptist Church deal with the Westboro Baptists?
When something is wrong, one can do or say something...or turn a blind eye and let the wrong continue unabated. It's a question of what is moral.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".”
Or how do most churches deal with gay people or that third-rail birth control issue? Or even just birth control! Regardless what any one individual who is part of those churches may think to the contrary?
"If you are not part of the answer, you are part of the problem."
I'm pretty sure if it were not for those 70 virgins along with the rest promised by God at the end of the line, many if not most would not have done what they did...
Not only have we religion to consider in these contexts, but why always is it almost always males regardless the religion?
Wait till they get to heaven and those 70 virgins turn out to be old Catholic nuns!
The broader question might also be whether it is the extremists who impose the ridiculous requirements on women, up to and including preventing them from being educated, or is it the mainstream? Including even the religious mainstream females?
Extremism is all too many times the "tip of the iceberg" that floats above the rest. Is supported and/or enabled by the rest one way or another...
That is a very good question. I imagine it is a spectrum of thought.
Who gets to judge what "weight" differing perspectives have...and what do they use as a basis to determine that?
Or is it completely individual, and thus, we all make our own judgments and assign "weight" based upon whatever we determine.
The latter, and then of course as we choose our elected representatives, we put our trust in them to judge as we hope they will. In line with our personal judgements along these lines. To enact and uphold laws in keeping with our government brokered interests, but we all know this going back to that Civics 100 class...
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