Rant against anti-atheist agnostics.

[Whateverist]

On thread, the mechanisms for the existence of anti-atheists are like those of antidisestablishmentarians: they're a natural cycle of our defensive mechanisms. It's often born from the fact that the composition of most theisms are so obviously mythological that the simple existence of atheism is a direct and serious threat; sometimes it comes from the (mistaken) belief that atheism = antitheism. Whatever the cause, theism has an 'opponent'. If someone opposes theism then we can expect someone to oppose those who oppose theism. The arguments themselves are largely irrelevant, defense of sincerely held belief is human nature.

Interesting idea. Of course I can understand why theists would oppose those (atheists) who oppose theism. I"m less clear on why someone who calls himself agnostic would react against against atheism in the same way. But I agree with you that an incorrect definition of atheism most likely plays some role.

When I say I have no dog in the fight between theism and atheism it is primarily because the terms of the debate are so ill-defined that it always seems both sides get way too animated over what is unknown and possibly unknowable. Agnosticism, for me, leads me to assign less significance to the details of the debates. It would be like becoming animated in an argument over what unicorns prefer to eat. WTF?