The article opens with a description of what is basically a crime against children perpetrated in the name of religion, yet really points the finger at New Atheists as bad actors, which is startling.

I believe the quote attributed to Dan Dennett is actually him quoting people who have been to seminary.

B the part that struck me most was the description of atheists as “intellectual bullies”.  Suppose someone insisted that, in spite of enormous research to the contrary, they chose to believe that the the true formula for expressing kinetic energy was 3*mv, rather than (mv^2)/2, and did so because some divine being told them so.

How do you interact with such a person?  And what do you do if that person and their ideologue allies control the Texas Board of Education?

Or, phrased in a slightly different way, if you
(1) believe that you should form beliefs based on the best evidence available to you, and
(2) are religious, then
(3) there has been a malfunction of (1), above.

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The right to be wrong?  F**K the sandbox.

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I do not know why some people think that atheism is the same a satanism. These two are so much different and not like general merchandise wholesale which should be a package deal. We must not deal on atheists doing good deeds to people but people accepting atheism

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Play well with others?
You means other religions that have a history of not playing well with each other in the first place?
Perhaps it is time for these illogical religions to get a taste of their own medicine, an eye for an eye as it were.

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I think atheists deserve some outspoken people standing up for them.  I, like many, am an “in the closet”  agnostic.  I play very well with others and what does it get me?  I have a large group of friends on facebook, many of whom are constantly posting things about how great God is.  If I were to post quotes/links demonstrating the evils and hypocrisy of organized religion I am pretty sure I would be ostracized.  I have a lot of respect for people like Sam Harris and others who can speak up for many of us who are afraid to do so.

In the U.S. the Christians are in power (if you don’t believe me look at statistics on the religious makeup of Congress) and are now actually trying to change scientific facts (evolution, etc) to fit their worldview.  If that isn’t bullying, I don’t know what is.

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Bollocks!

All this gusto about tolerance and respecting each other is just a diversion.

We tolerate and respect each other by being non-violent and living at peace, not by telling others they should self censor - and by living at peace I don’t mean sitting crossed legged and humming all day. Everybody has a right to enter our communicative world of ideas and play havoc. That is what adults have done for millennia. It is how change for the better happens, and yes, we all accept we have different ideas of what is better - that is a good thing. That is why we open our mouths and try and convince each other of better worlds, problems and evils in this one as well as all the good things we might keep. We are adults, not children.

Imagine a world where the ruling political party told its dissenters to silence themselves and that they were being intolerant. You should not speak up against low taxation or greater access to health care because you are being intolerant of the majority who have a right not to hear your arguments.

Its a child’s argument, not so much playing in the sandbox as sticking your head in it. This guy should grow up and start sticking up for the world he wants in an adult way, and accept that everyone has a right to do the same. Perhaps the world needs a little more noise right now.

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