Quote:We can agree on all of that. However, hard atheists are just as likely to conflate peaceful Christians with extreme ones and blindly attack them as extremist Christians are to do the same. I think we should have just as much condemnation for the intolerance of hard atheists as we do for violent Christians.As an hard atheist, as you put it (whatever suits your view), I'm 100% sure I wouldn't hesitate to help, love and cherish religious people if I got along with them - In fact I do that - My religious views don't prevent me from being a human being with behaviour I consider ethically correct - Unlike theists who use their morality and ethics to hurt others. I may think Christianity is bullshit, but I would never prevent you from believing or let you be discriminated simply because you are a Christian - There lies all the difference. And I'm a gnostic atheist.
By the way - How do you define an extremist atheists? Which atheists advocate murdering all religious people? I've never heard such peculiar idea - Mao and Stalin might have been atheists, but the evil was communist dogma, not atheism. What's the most extremist atheists will do? Write books and exercise freedom of speech? If it bothers you that much, shut down your ears - It offends me that priests and bishops say I'm going to hell and I'm not stopping them from saying it.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
