I think I’ve made a decision to be more direct in my attacks against beliefs in the supernatural (including religion). I make this decision based on an overarching belief that religion is an impediment to societal progress. But I want to make a distinction.

I want to be more aggressive against religious ideas, but at the same time avoid being directly offensive to the individuals who buy into them.

Basically, I am embracing more and more Sam Harris’ view that open ridicule is the best way to handle outrageous claims, but at the same time I realize how ineffective it is to attack individuals directly; in fact it’s often counterproductive.

So I need to do both somehow–be more openly critical of non-rational beliefs, but keep the attacks abstracted from those who believe them.

Thoughts? ::