And it would not bother me if they were just to assert “I’m a fundamentalist / a fascist / whatever”. They would have to be making arguments for their position.
,,,
…perhaps I view it as a sort of attack. If fundamentalism is true, then atheism is not true, and I am stupid or at least a very bad truth-seeker for being an atheist.
How do you feel when people make just as bad arguments for positions you agree with? Some possibilities:
Not as bad—you feel associated with the groups under discussion in these arguments, and much of your feeling comes from that.
Worse—you feel tribally aligned with them, and feel stupid by association.
Same—Just right, and your negative reaction is due to the bad forms of the arguments. Alternatively, the two above identities of feeling aligned to the speaker and a member of the group criticized are balanced. Test this by altering your level of kinship with the speaker, such as by pretending you also follow the same sports team.
How do you feel when people make just as bad arguments for positions you agree with? Some possibilities:
Not as bad—you feel associated with the groups under discussion in these arguments, and much of your feeling comes from that.
Worse—you feel tribally aligned with them, and feel stupid by association.
Same—Just right, and your negative reaction is due to the bad forms of the arguments. Alternatively, the two above identities of feeling aligned to the speaker and a member of the group criticized are balanced. Test this by altering your level of kinship with the speaker, such as by pretending you also follow the same sports team.