In debates with atheists this tendency is quite visible.
The Irish Philosopher Brendan Sweetman cites a helpful example in his book "Evolution, Chance and God" to illustrate this.
"A conspicuous recent example of this phenomenon is the claim by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow in their book, The Grand Design, that the latest scientific evidence in physics, astronomy and mathematics supports the conclusion that the universe may have arisen spontaneously out of nothing! They are led into making not only an illogical, but a ridiculous, claim like this by their atheistic agenda that motivates them, not only to exaggerate and misrepresent scientific evidence for their own purposes, but also, in their fervor to promote their view, to make silly claims that a moment's sober reflection by these highly qualified scientists would show are irrational!"
