Religious "moderates" and atheists

[MindForgedManacle]

Extremists rarely exert any real influence in society without benefiting from a large number of enabling moderates.

Religious extremists rarely exert real influence on society period. When they do (see several Middle Eastern countries), it's nearly always in a time of turmoil where people are more less rational, what with wanting an end to the ills that surround them. This is why extremist Muslim groups tend to go out of favor amongst predominantly Muslim populations when economic and social conditions aren't in the red.

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Now that I think about it, isn't this just Sam Harris' silly argument? Moderates do not have an obligation to control their extremists. Any attempt to do so is just going to be the abdication of their right to free speech. Nor do moderates get to be lambasted because of all the silly shit extremists do. And if you play that game, you should realize they can play it too, i.e Stalin. And if your response is just that Stalin's actions had nothing to do with atheism itself, then you're doing the exact same thing as you criticize religious moderates for doing: exempting yourself of responsibility of actions done by those of the same ideology by saying that there actions had nothing to do with the ideology itself, but peripheral concerns.