Have you ever encountered someone whose invincible ignorance on any given subject exists in precisely direct proportion to the self-satisfaction and certitude with which he presses his arguments? Someone so obtuse that, when you (with a little too much subtlety) point out the superficiality of those arguments, he doesn’t even realize he’s been insulted?
This scenario seems unavoidable whenever one falls into the company of a militant atheist. The phrase itself seems paradoxical; yet, the maddening irony is that the opposition to religion has become fiercely and fanatically dogmatic. Today’s atheists are determined to save the world from religion, even as they make fun of yesterday’s theists for being determined to save it from sin.