BanJolvie, thanks for educating me with that eye-opening example. I should word my point better. The idea of abolition itself, unlike the means used to defend it, couldn't be too "extreme". That's what I also believe to be true of atheism. I don't know of any atheist equivalent of the massacre Brown arranged, so there is an asymmetry as far as I know in the actions of the advocates, but I think the point about the ideas is nonetheless salvageable.

Daniel Clear:

I've heard suggestions that gnu atheists are no better than terrorists

I can well believe you have, because I've heard something even harsher, from an Oxford undergraduate no less: he took the view Professor Dawkins was worse than Osama bin Laden (this was before he was killed). I couldn't square the circle when I heard that. The Professor may say he disagrees with others and explain why, and he may try to shape education on that basis to make it fairer and more rational and less divisive, but he can't be worse for those things than the mastermind behind thousands of murders. And to say otherwise is an insult to everyone who died or killed because of bin Laden's power over the killers' minds and everyone who loved those in either group.