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LINK New Atheism, Worse Than You Think

A secular religion justifying imperialism..

Krish55 8 July 31
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This is a long critique of two new anti-New Atheism books that focuses mostly on socio-economic issues and "social justice" rather than on atheism itself. At least the rambling critique is honest enough to include some criticisms of the books. You could cherry pick what you want out of this lengthy critique, which has a rather unfocused conclusion, but beware of the Ad Hominem attacks of these books that distract from the actual atheist issues.

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Another attack in the long line of ongoing attacks against atheism. Almost every day I come across another article or some book denouncing atheism, especially their new bogeyman "new atheism". I'm not even going to bother to comment in detail. I'm bored doing it. All I can say I say is, so-called new Atheism and its activists must be working, otherwise this ongoing assault from the Right and religious apologists, both over and covert, wouldn't continue. What really counts is the growth in non religious people in census data for western countries, and the ongoing secularisation of the west, despite religious attempts to thwart it. That's the real and big issue here -- these trends away from religion that scares the religious greatly -- and the "new atheist" bogeymen (intended to be gender neutral here) are the perfect recipients for their sublimated anger.

Just curious... did you read the article?

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Have heard about these dangerous atheist militants. That billboard once a year in places like Omaha is really terrifying. ???

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I completely disagree with the article, which is outdated and off the mark, in my opinion. The label ‘Islamophobia’ is a fabrication, designed to conflate racial or ethnic hatred with a legitimate scorn, if not loathing, of the concepts, doctrines, practices and dogmas of the Islamic faith. With every fiber in my being, I despise Islam, almost as much as I do Christianity.

And while the so-called Four Horsemen are the most well-known, if not infamous, atheists, I have read and listened to so many more, including Voltaire, David Hume, Thomas Paine, Robert Ingersoll, Bertrand Russell, Steven Weinberg, Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, Susan Jacoby, Jerry Coyne, Sean Carroll, Alain de Botton, not to mention the comedic personalities of George Carlin, John Cleese, Steven Fry, Ricky Gervais, Bill Maher (i.e., the Islamobphobe) and Jim Jeffries. Attacking the so-called ‘New Atheists’ is a waste of energy, and the premise of atheism being akin to a religion is preposterous.

Stephen Fry.

@PBuck0145 Stephen Fry adds an unique ingredient to the mix. Kindness, I guess.

8

Another utter load of crap.
Anything to sell books and make themselves feel important.

@irascible Oh you....you irascible person, you!

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I wonder what the tax consequences of this new religion are.

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Atheism is not a religion, and definitionally cannot be. It is far too narrow to define an ideology, a worldview, a religion, or an organization. If something has "become" a religion then it has become something other than atheism -- assuming it was ever atheism to begin with.

The strenuous efforts to redefine what atheism means without any effort to consult the dictionary or to ask actual atheists what it means to them, just highlights the intellectual bankruptcy of people who try to turn it into something they are willing to "understand" rather than actually understanding what it actually is.

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The link is essentially the most boring book review I’ve ever started to read. Zzzzz

Marz Level 7 July 31, 2018
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I rarely refer to myself as Atheist. Some Atheists are as obnoxious and zealous as a born again. New Atheists...what the hell does all that mean...we simply don't buy the god bullshit..we think rationally....why not just leave it at that

Xena Level 6 July 31, 2018

What Xena said!

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There are some people that take things to far, even Atheists. I read an article once of a group was trying to make an Atheist church.And others wanted to make an Atheist bible.
My only guess is that most of them were once believers and just miss that kind of community.

@archer5691 It's far worse than just a "poor choice of words". It's done intentionally and disingenuously.

The real Bible is our understanding of the universe and the phenomena by which we are surrounded. The real Bible has almost nothing to do with organized religion.

I think you're right. I thought of my religious congregation as just another type of social club. And it must be nice to have a sense of belonging even if it has a cost attached to it in terms of independent thought. It's very likely many people will make the same sacrifice to belong to the new club.

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Could it be a new church for belief in science - whites only, please! With a copy of The Selfish Gene in one hand and a firearm in the other, we'll track down out and extirpate the unprivileged, ignorant believers!

...he said with wink and a nudge...

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Here's my brain. How does one get a new no god. There is no god. Let's do it gain. There is no god. Well, that's new. It came after the other one!! I know. silly. Been smoking the wrong dandelions.

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He called us "wayward" as if that was a bad thing.?

We are wayward..which is fine and dandy.

@Hitchens Exactly. He should not have tried to insult us with compliments 😉

@pixiedust

Yes indeedy..lest we become a sight more wayward..?

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost n shit.

Might you agree that there are some who would not welcome a wayward spouse?

@pnfullifidian I didn't

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Thank you VERY much for sharing this. I have had some issues with what I call "angry atheists" and hope that if any of them are here, that they read at least this article and see that they're not solving any problems with this approach.

Someone deliberately misunderstanding and misconstruing atheism has something to do with whether some atheists are allegedly angry??

Sorry. Not sorry.
There isn't anything wrong with being angry about believers forcing their influence onto our lives.
I'm an anti-theist for that very reason .
There is no more "live and let live".
There is no more peaceful coexistence.

There is also plenty to call bullshit on.
Especially making up new definitions to suit your own agenda.

I'm sorry if I seem angry at times. It's just that when I look at the Constitution and the philosophy espoused by so many of the Framers, including my avatar, Thomas Paine, as well as Franklin, Jefferson and Madison—who strongly believed in a secular government—I get a tad upset with regard to the relationship between church and state, in this the 21st century. I wouldn’t be angry at religion if it didn’t have its hands in our pockets with favorable tax policies, and its finger on the scales of justice. After all, there’s no reason for us nonbelievers to be pissed off when looking at our currency, or reciting the pledge, or witnessing the recent actions of the judiciary, justice department and laws passed in some statehouses. I mean, why be angry when you have this institution that seeks to take away women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and in their place impose their own definition of morality. Nothing to be angry about at all, right?

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Atheism is the absence of religious belief, the absence of dogma. Ne-atheist is a bastard stepchild -- an attempt to create a new dogma around atheist. It is to be denounced.

Ne-atheist? You mean new atheism?

New atheism is just a different emphasis in how atheism is communicated and debated about. It's not a dogma. It is basically just taking off the padded gloves and not bothering to be kindly and gentle to extremist religion, notions of blasphemy and other gaslighting techniques.

Religion has enjoyed un-earned deference and respect in the marketplace of ideas since forever, but is now being required to justify its own existence. Boo-hoo and too bad.

Also -- pointing this out and not being sufficiently impressed with religion doesn't constituted being either rude or angry. It's simple disagreement, nothing more nor less. It's just very straightforward and forthright instead of skulking in the shadows.

Some atheists have been so cowed by religion that they are freaking out now that some other atheists are calling a spade a spade.

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