Despite being an atheist, I am routinely annoyed by militant atheists blaming all the world's ills on religion. They are usually coming out of hard sciences (physics, biology) with little appreciation for historical causation.
Case in point, today's article in Salon by Adam Lee, which can provide the focus for a debate.
http://www.salon.com/2012/07/14/reli...ggest_threats/
He gives the usual concession about many religious people being nice and kind, but, MUSLIMS and evangelicals, oh my! He says yeah, there was some historical context to 9/11, but
Quote:
the fact remains that religion — deeply held, devoutly believed religion — was the primary motivating factor in the transformation of 19 young men into willing instruments of death. The 9/11 hijackers sincerely believed . . .
This is like saying the most important part of an engine is the piston, even though it does nothing without crankshaft, cylinder, etc. Yes, the particular individuals expected a reward in heaven for 9/11, but they also had specific political objectives in the real world.
Al Qaida always said straight up their goal was to get U.S. dominance out of the Middle East, which they blame for supporting corrupt dictators and Israel, and defiling Islam's holy sites. Point being, without a U.S. desire to control the world's energy sources, there is no encounter with terrorist fanatics.
This is just one example of the SOP of militant atheists: blaming everything on religion, even though nothing happens outside a context. You cannot end violence by talking only about fanaticism. The fanatics are immune to logic, you have to address the whole situation.
Since athei-nazis refuse to consider the multi-causality of history, they are nothing but noisy ranters in love with their scientific superiority.
I dare say it would be easier to end the American military empire than to end magical thinking, so athei-nazis should shut the hell up or get real.