Edit: There seems to be some controversy about what the woman was doing. If she was attempting to be confrontational, I don’t have a problem with the booing. Obviously if she was just saying she was a theist and asking a dumb question booing is a little harsh.
I’m guessing that the woman wasn’t being disruptive, since PZ Myers (who never ignores a chance to bash his opponents) didn’t explicitly say so—he just said that she asked a dumb question. In that case, the booing was extremely inappropriate. However, I see it as indicative of a larger phenomenon: atheists (and perhaps rationalists) developing a sort of group identity. This could very well be a bad thing because group identity often leads to groupthink and rationalization.
What was wrong with booing that woman?
Edit: There seems to be some controversy about what the woman was doing. If she was attempting to be confrontational, I don’t have a problem with the booing. Obviously if she was just saying she was a theist and asking a dumb question booing is a little harsh.
I’m guessing that the woman wasn’t being disruptive, since PZ Myers (who never ignores a chance to bash his opponents) didn’t explicitly say so—he just said that she asked a dumb question. In that case, the booing was extremely inappropriate. However, I see it as indicative of a larger phenomenon: atheists (and perhaps rationalists) developing a sort of group identity. This could very well be a bad thing because group identity often leads to groupthink and rationalization.