when presented with a counterexample, like  a religious individual renowned for rational  

thinking, the atheist might retort, "Well,  no truly religious person can be rational."

This response is a classic example of the No True  Scotsman fallacy. Because he revises a universal  

claim ('all religious people are irrational') in  the face of a valid counterexample (a rational  

religious person), rather than acknowledging the  exception or reevaluating the original claim.

By redefining the criteria for what constitutes  a 'religious'' person to exclude anyone rational,  

the atheist conveniently sidesteps  a direct challenge to their belief. 

This tactic allows them to maintain their original  assertion without engaging with contradictory  

evidence, thus avoiding a substantive  discussion or reexamination of their stance.