re: #321 Hecuba’s daughter

Her militant atheism would probably dissuade them.

Fixed. “Militant atheist” is a loaded term, as is “militant feminist” or “militant leftist.”

It is meant to imply violence, such as the letter in the newspaper I responded to the other day.

Ayn Rand was a horrible person, but she did not advocate for violence in the name of atheism.

Shameless Page Promotion
Apologetics Fail #21: Militant Atheists (goes off-site to Cynics for a Better Tomorrow)

Frequently, when atheists speak out against such things as religious intrusion on the affairs of statecraft, or even on defending their own rights, they are defined as “militant.” This characterisation is not solely applied by religious people; ofttimes the popular press will apply the term “militant atheist” to people such as Sam Harris or Daniel Dennett.

The term “militant” is used, especially by apologists, as both a strawman (atheists are angry) and in an equivocation fallacy (the image brought forth is of a group of armed fighters trying to overthrow the established order).

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