Shalini, over at Scientia Natura: Evolution and Rationality has written a longish criticism of appeasers [ Appeasers: The spineless pushovers]. Appeasers are also called accommodationists, they are atheists who do not want to criticize religious beliefs out of a mistaken impression that it's wrong and counter-productive to question another person's faith. The accommodationists believe that religion deserves some kind of protective status that they do not grant to people who believe in astrology, bigfoot, and UFO's.
You have to read Shalini's entire article to appreciate what she has to say but here's an important paragraph that I agree with. It gives you the flavor of her argument.
Contrary to what appeasers think, this is not about one issue or another. It is not about young earth creationism, ID, evolution, climate change, stem cell research, marijuana or the latest hot-button issue. These are merely battles in the course of the real war -- the war between rationalism and superstition. In this war, only one side will be the winner. There is no room for appeasers, and the superstitious, at least, will have none of this cowardly garbage. They may be ignorant, deluded, liars or plain kooks, but they are certainly not cowards, and that is more than I can say for the appeasers. Remember, no change has ever been achieved by shutting up and bowing down to oppressive institutions. If we fail to make our voices heard, superstition has already won.
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