Rhetoric question

[Roses Ablaze]

Not really a debate, but it could easily turn into one.

What exactly is a strawman? I was having a debate on a forum about some religious topic and someone said something to the effect of "Atheists won't make it into heaven! Why would God let someone who hates him into His kingdom?" I said something like "Atheists don't hate god, they just don't think he exists. You can't hate someone if you don't think they exist". He said it was a strawman attack, but I don't think it was. There's a huge difference between hating someone and not knowing they exist, and I think a relevant difference. Thoughts?

 

[Kthleen]

Wait, the guy said your position was a straw man? That's silly; his is the straw man. A straw man is an misrepresentation of a position substituted by one person for the other person's actual position. Since atheists don't think that God exists, I'd say that he's misrepresenting their position, dressing up the misotheistic antitheist doll in atheist clothing.

 

[the gadfly]

Well, as an atheist myself, I don't believe in heaven or hell. When I die, I will cease to exist. Just like every non-human organism.

We humans aren't special. We are just animals with more highly developed intellectual skills than others. But we are just as susceptible to whatever nature throws at us as is the lowest animal or plant. Maybe more so, because we've become so technologically dependent and have forgotten how to cope with nature.

Do I even need to get into a discussion about which of this world's many religions is the true, correct one?