You’re making a false dichotomy, those aren’t the only two options.
I fully agree that there are some absolutely unhinged religious people, and religious people are far far more likely to take extreme action than atheist are.
But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any passionate and loud atheist who try to take away religion from others.
I am absolutely not trying to say “both sides are equal in their absurdity/extremism/authoritarianism”, I’m saying that the identity politics involved makes passionate people on both sides behave in similar ways.
The religious have far more people who are passionate about their religion than atheists have people passionate about their atheism; but when you look at people who are similarly passionate on both sides, their identity as religious/atheist can often make them behave in similar ways when interacting with the public (or each other, at least).
I’m trying to make a far more nuanced point than you’re representing.
You’re making a false dichotomy, those aren’t the only two options.
I fully agree that there are some absolutely unhinged religious people, and religious people are far far more likely to take extreme action than atheist are.
But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any passionate and loud atheist who try to take away religion from others.
I am absolutely not trying to say “both sides are equal in their absurdity/extremism/authoritarianism”, I’m saying that the identity politics involved makes passionate people on both sides behave in similar ways.
The religious have far more people who are passionate about their religion than atheists have people passionate about their atheism; but when you look at people who are similarly passionate on both sides, their identity as religious/atheist can often make them behave in similar ways when interacting with the public (or each other, at least).
I’m trying to make a far more nuanced point than you’re representing.