Agnostic.com

7 0

How do you feel about the term New Atheism? Do you identify with the term of not?

Religionists, mystics and theists (or RMTs as I call them) attempt to wield this term against non-believers negatively, failing to see that while atheism is as old as the ancients, the 'newness' lies in attitude: refusal to pander to religion; a confidence to challenge religious institutions, practices, and theology. Personally, I have no problem with the term. It's 21 Century atheism, in my view. How about all of you? Thanks.

David1955 8 Dec 20
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

7 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

0

Atheism has been around longer than humans and those whom humans evolved from have had delusions of gods/goddesses, etc.
There really is NO 'New' Atheism since nothing about it is really 'new' except for the fact that in most Western Civilised Cultures Atheists can now speak out freely and openly without the fear of being persecuted, burnt, tortured as were the circumstances for centuries up until the mid 18th.through to the 19th. centuries.

You are right. What is new is the more confronting attitude of atheists, by comparison with the 20th Century.

1

id imagine there have been none believers since god was invented

1

Labels are a mistake

0

Atheism is only relevant if the atheist does not say "God". To acknowledge a frame of reference for discussion with the word rendered every word afterwards utter nonsense.

1

I don't have a problem with the term, but I DO have a problem with many of the so-called New Atheist leaders, or "Four Horsemen of Atheism": Dawkins, Dennett, Harris and Hitchens.

My issue with them is that they reject not only religions that are superstitious (believing in gods, magic, prayer, etc.), but religious practices that do not. That makes no sense.

0

...New certainly doesn't come from religion. Atheism sounds more deserving of the title...

2

I tend to associate that term with the so called four horsemen, and I think their brand of atheism is generally high on confidence and painfully narrow in scope. The only god they seem to be aware of is the god of the fundamentalist or literalist. Their reaction is to an understanding of god that is, historically, a relatively recent development; we might say... the New Theism.

skado Level 9 Dec 20, 2017
Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:9319
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.