New Atheism: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Positions promoted by some atheists}} |
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{{Synthesis|date=February 2012}} |
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'''New Atheism''' is a social and political movement promoted by a collection of modern atheist writers who have advocated the [[antitheist]] view that "[[religion]] should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises." <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/08/atheism.feature/index.html|title=The rise of the New Atheists|publisher=[[CNN]]|first=Simon|last=Hooper|accessdate=2010-03-16}} |
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</ref> There is uncertainty about how much influence the movement has had on [[religious demographics]], but the increase in atheist groups, student societies, publications and public appearances has coincided with the non-religious being the largest growing demographic, closely followed by [[Islam]] and [[evangelicalism]] in the [[United States|US]] and [[United Kingdom|UK]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/dec/11/census-2011-religion-race-education|title=Census 2011: religion, race and qualifications - see how England & Wales have changed|website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}} |
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New Atheism lends itself to and often overlaps with [[secular humanism]], particularly in its criticism of the indoctrination of children and the perpetuation of ideologies. |
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{{Atheism sidebar|types}} |
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The term '''''New Atheism''''' describes the positions of some [[atheist]] academics, writers, scientists, and philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Lois |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XguDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT48 |title=A Dictionary of Atheism |last2=Bullivant |first2=Stephen |date=2016-11-17 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-252013-5 |language=en |access-date=12 March 2017 |archive-date=20 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120215619/https://books.google.com/books?id=XguDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT48 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wolf |first=Gary |date=November 1, 2006 |title=The Church of the Non-Believers |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2006/11/atheism/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |issn=1059-1028 |archive-date=21 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721010426/https://www.wired.com/2006/11/atheism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> New Atheism advocates the view that [[superstition]], [[religion]], and [[irrationalism]] should not be tolerated. Instead, they advocate the [[antitheist]] view that the various forms of [[theism]] should be [[Criticism of religion|criticised]], [[Antireligion|countered]], examined, and challenged by [[rational]] argument, especially when they exert strong influence on the broader society, such as in government, education, and politics.<ref>{{cite web |last=Taylor |first=James E. |title=New Atheists |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/n-atheis/ |access-date=14 April 2016 |website=The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |quote=The New Atheists are authors of early twenty-first century books promoting atheism. These authors include [[Sam Harris]], [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Daniel Dennett]], and [[Christopher Hitchens]]. The 'New Atheist' label for these critics of religion and religious belief emerged out of journalistic commentary on the contents and impacts of their books. |archive-date=26 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826001224/http://www.iep.utm.edu/n-atheis/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hooper |first=Simon |date=November 9, 2006 |title=The rise of the New Atheists |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/08/atheism.feature/index.html |access-date=16 March 2010 |archive-date=8 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408094135/http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/08/atheism.feature/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Critics have characterised New Atheism as "''secular [[fundamentalism]]''" or "''fundamentalist atheism''".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hedges |first=Chris |title=When Atheism Becomes Religion: America's New Fundamentalists |year=2008 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-1-4165-7078-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b-f_HU9MZuYC&dq=new+atheism+fundamentalism&pg=PA1}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=McAnulla |first=Stuart |title=Secular fundamentalists? Characterising the new atheist approach to secularism, religion and politics |journal=British Politics |volume=9 |pages=124–145 |year=2011 |issue=2 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |doi=10.1057/bp.2013.27 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/bp.2013.27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=LeDrew |first=Stephen |title=Relativism and Post-Truth in Contemporary Society |chapter=Scientism and Utopia: New Atheism as a Fundamentalist Reaction to Relativism |year=2018 |pages=143–155 |publisher=Springer |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-96559-8_9 |isbn=978-3-319-96558-1 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-96559-8_9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Stahl |first=William |title=Religion and the New Atheism: A Critical Appraisal |chapter=One-Dimensional Rage: The Social Epistemology Of The New Atheism And Fundamentalism |year=2010 |pages=95–108 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-19053-5 |chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004190535/Bej.9789004185579.i-253_008.xml}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Nall |first=Jeff |title=Fundamentalist Atheism and its Intellectual Failures |journal=Humanity & Society |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=263–280 |publisher=Sage |year=2008 |doi=10.1177/016059760803200304 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/016059760803200304}}</ref> Major figures of New Atheism include [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Sam Harris]], [[Christopher Hitchens]], and [[Daniel Dennett]], collectively referred to as the "[[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Four Horsemen]]" of the movement. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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The secular humanist [[Paul Kurtz]] (1925–2012), founder of the [[Center for Inquiry]], is often regarded as a forerunner to the New Atheism movement.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Robert |date=2012-10-22 |title=Paul Kurtz, "giant" of humanism, dead at 86 |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-kurtz-idUSBRE89L19D20121022 |access-date=2022-12-25 |archive-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228115310/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-kurtz-idUSBRE89L19D20121022 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists" /> The 2004 publication of ''[[The End of Faith|The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason]]'' by [[Sam Harris]], a bestseller in the United States, was joined over the next couple years by a series of popular best-sellers by atheist authors.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/09/hitchens200709|title=God Bless Me, It's a Best-Seller!|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher Hitchens|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=15 August 2007|access-date=14 April 2016|quote=...in the last two years there have been five atheist best-sellers, one each from Professors Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett and two from the neuroscientist Sam Harris.|archive-date=2 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002001157/http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/09/hitchens200709|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38thDwAAQBAJ |title=The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution |publisher=Random House |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-525-51195-3 |location=New York |pages=1 |access-date=20 January 2023 |archive-date=21 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421232245/https://books.google.com/books?id=38thDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Harris was motivated by the events of [[11 September 2001]], for which he blamed Islam, while also directly criticizing [[Christianity]] and [[Judaism]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=Sam |author-link=Sam Harris |date=11 August 2004 |title=The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7432-6809-7|title-link=The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason }}</ref> Two years later, Harris followed up with ''[[Letter to a Christian Nation]]'', which was a severe criticism of Christianity.<ref>{{cite news |last=Steinfels |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Steinfels |title=Books on Atheism Are Raising Hackles in Unlikely Places |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=3 March 2007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/books/03beliefs.html |access-date=17 July 2016 |archive-date=26 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626135149/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/books/03beliefs.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Also in 2006, following his television documentary series ''[[The Root of All Evil?]]'' [[Richard Dawkins]] published ''[[The God Delusion]]'', which was on the ''New York Times'' best-seller list for 51 weeks.<ref>{{cite web |title=''The God Delusion'' One-Year Countdown |url=http://richarddawkins.net/article,1599,The-God-Delusion-One-Year-Countdown,RichardDawkinsnet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828171533/http://richarddawkins.net/article,1599,The-God-Delusion-One-Year-Countdown,RichardDawkinsnet|archive-date=28 August 2008|work=RichardDawkins.net |access-date=5 October 2007}}</ref> |
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The 2004 publication of ''[[The End of Faith|The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason]]'' by [[Sam Harris (author)|Sam Harris]], a bestseller in the US, marked the first of a series of popular bestsellers. Harris was motivated by the events of [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001]], which he laid directly at the feet of Islam, while also directly criticizing Christianity and Judaism. Two years later Harris followed up with ''[[Letter to a Christian Nation]]'', which was also a severe criticism of Christianity. Also in 2006, following his television documentary ''[[The Root of All Evil?]]'', [[Richard Dawkins]] published ''[[The God Delusion]]'', which was on the ''New York Times'' bestseller list for 51 weeks. |
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In 2010, [[Tom Flynn (author)|Tom Flynn]] (1955–2021), then editor of ''[[Free Inquiry]]'', stated that the only thing new about "New Atheism" was the wider publication of atheist material by big-name publishers, books that appeared on bestseller lists and were read by millions.<ref name="Flynn2010">{{cite journal |last=Flynn |first=Tom |author-link=Thomas W. Flynn |year=2010 |title=Why I Don't Believe in the New Atheism |url=https://secularhumanism.org/volume/no-3-vol-30/ |journal=Free Inquiry |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=7–43 |access-date=28 July 2011 |archive-date=7 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407201920/https://secularhumanism.org/volume/no-3-vol-30/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Mitchell Landsberg]], covering a gathering held by the [[Council for secular humanism|Council for Secular Humanism]] in 2010, said that religious [[Skepticism|skeptics]] in attendance were at odds between "new atheists" who preferred to "encourage open confrontation with the devout" and "accommodationists" who preferred "a subtler, more tactical approach."<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Landsberg |first=Mitchell |date=2010-10-10 |title=Religious skeptics disagree on how aggressively to challenge the devout |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-oct-10-la-me-humanists-20101010-story.html |access-date=2023-01-21 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=21 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121003552/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-oct-10-la-me-humanists-20101010-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Kurtz was ousted from the Center for Inquiry in the late 2000's.<ref name=":8" /><ref name="A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists" /> This was in part due to a perception that Kurtz was "on the mellower end of the spectrum" according to Flynn.<ref name=":8" /> |
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==Major publications== |
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These are some of the significant books in the field of New Atheism: |
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*''[[Infidel (book)| Infidel]]'' by [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]] (2006 in Dutch, English translation 2007) |
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*''[[The End of Faith|The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason]]'' by [[Sam Harris (author)|Sam Harris]] (2004) |
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*''[[The God Delusion]]'' by [[Richard Dawkins]] (2006) |
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*''[[Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon]]'' by [[Daniel Dennett]] (2006) |
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*''[[God: The Failed Hypothesis|God: The Failed Hypothesis – How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist]]'' by [[Victor J. Stenger]] (2007) |
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*''[[God Is Not Great|God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything]]'' by [[Christopher Hitchens]] (2007) |
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*''[[Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam]]'' by [[Michel Onfray]] (2007) |
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*''[[Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists]]'' by [[Dan Barker]] (2008) |
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*''[[The God Argument]]'' by [[A. C. Grayling]] (2013) |
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In November 2015, ''[[The New Republic]]'' published an article entitled "Is the New Atheism dead?"<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/123349/new-atheism-dead|title=Is the New Atheism dead?|first=Elizabeth|last=Bruenig|magazine=The New Republic|date=6 November 2015|access-date=27 August 2022|archive-date=12 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712054228/https://newrepublic.com/article/123349/new-atheism-dead|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, the atheist and evolutionary biologist [[David Sloan Wilson]] (b. 1949) wrote: "The world appears to be tiring of the New Atheism movement."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sloan Wilson |first=David |date=2016-02-01 |title=The New Atheism as a Stealth Religion: Five Years Later |url=https://thisviewoflife.com/the-new-atheism-as-a-stealth-religion-five-years-later/ |access-date=2023-01-20 |website=This View Of Life |language=en-US |archive-date=16 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816064310/https://evolution-institute.org/article/the-new-atheism-as-a-stealth-religion-five-years-later/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2017, [[PZ Myers]], who formerly considered himself a new atheist, publicly renounced the New Atheism movement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Myers |first=PZ |date=31 July 2017 |title=The New Atheism is dead. Long live atheism. |url=https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2017/07/31/the-new-atheism-is-dead-long-live-atheism/ |website=Pharyngula |access-date=12 July 2018 |archive-date=11 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911020202/https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2017/07/31/the-new-atheism-is-dead-long-live-atheism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The book ''The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution'' was released in 2019.<ref>{{cite web |date=19 March 2019 |title=The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-525-51195-3 |website=Publishers Weekly |access-date=21 August 2019 |archive-date=21 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821214044/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-525-51195-3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":6" /> |
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==Prominent New Atheists== |
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=== Legacy === |
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===The Four Horsemen and Horsewoman of the Non-Apocalypse=== |
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In a January 2019 retrospective article, [[Steven Poole]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' observed: "For some, New Atheism was never about God at all, but just a topical subgenre of the rightwing backlash against the supposedly suffocating atmosphere of '[[political correctness]]'."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Poole |first=Steven |date=2019-01-31 |title=The Four Horsemen review - whatever happened to 'New Atheism'? |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/31/four-horsemen-review-what-happened-to-new-atheism-dawkins-hitchens |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=[[The Guardian]] |archive-date=28 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220728160815/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/31/four-horsemen-review-what-happened-to-new-atheism-dawkins-hitchens |url-status=live }}</ref> In November 2019, [[Slate Star Codex |Scott Alexander]] argued that New Atheism did not disappear as a political movement but instead turned to social justice as a new cause to fight for.<ref>{{Cite web |last=West |first=Ed |date=2019-11-04 |title=What really happened to the New Atheists |url=https://unherd.com/thepost/what-really-happened-to-the-new-atheists/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=[[UnHerd]] |archive-date=21 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721013302/https://unherd.com/thepost/what-really-happened-to-the-new-atheists/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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In an April 2021 interview, Natalie Wynn, a [[left-wing]] YouTuber who runs the channel [[ContraPoints]], commented: "The [[alt-right]], the [[manosphere]], [[incel]]s, even the so-called [[SJW]] Internet and [[LeftTube]] all have a genetic ancestor in New Atheism."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maughan |first=Philip |date=April 14, 2021 |title=The World According to ContraPoints |url=https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/contrapoints-natalie-wynn-interview/ |access-date=August 3, 2021 |website=Highsnobiety |archive-date=29 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429125954/https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/contrapoints-natalie-wynn-interview/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In a June 2021 retrospective article, [[Émile P. Torres]] of ''[[Salon.com|Salon]]'' argued that prominent figures in the New Atheist movement had aligned themselves with the [[far-right]].<ref>{{cite web|date=5 June 2021|title=Godless grifters: How the New Atheists merged with the far right|url=https://www.salon.com/2021/06/05/how-the-new-atheists-merged-with-the-far-right-a-story-of-intellectual-grift-and-abject-surrender/|work=Salon|first=Émile P.|last=Torres|access-date=27 August 2022|archive-date=26 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826203416/https://www.salon.com/2021/06/05/how-the-new-atheists-merged-with-the-far-right-a-story-of-intellectual-grift-and-abject-surrender/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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During a public discussion originally intended to feature [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Christopher Hitchens]], [[Sam Harris (author)|Sam Harris]], [[Daniel Dennett]] and [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]], but which Hirsi Ali was unable to attend, the group of prominent atheists was jokingly referred to as the "Four horsemen of the non-apocalypse". In a later highly publicized discussion, after the death of Hitchens, Hirsi Ali was described as the "fourth horse-woman".<ref>{{cite web|last=Harris, Dawkins, Dennet, Ali|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D2x0XBY83w&feature=youtube_gdata}}</ref> |
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In a June 2022 retrospective article, Sebastian Milbank of [[The Critic (modern magazine)|''The Critic'']] stated that, as a movement, "New Atheism has fractured and lost its original spirit", that "much of what New Atheism embodied has now migrated rightwards", and that "another portion has moved leftwards, embodied by the 'I Fucking Love Science' woke nerd of today."<ref name="milbank 2022"/> Following the conversion of writer [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]] to Christianity in 2023, the columnist Sarah Jones wrote in [[New York (magazine)|''New York'']] magazine that the New Atheism movement was in "terminal decline".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Sarah |date=2023-11-29 |title=The Infidel Turned Christian |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/ayaan-hirsi-alis-political-conversion.html |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Intelligencer |language=en |archive-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118195953/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/ayaan-hirsi-alis-political-conversion.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Sam Harris is author of the bestselling non-fiction books ''The End of Faith'', ''Letter to a Christian Nation'' and the ''Moral Landscape'' as well as two shorter works initially published as e-Books, ''Free Will''<ref name="Free Will">{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|year=2012|title=Free Will|publisher=The Free Press|isbn=1451683405|pages=96|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Free-Will-Sam-Harris/dp/1451683405}}</ref> and ''Lying''.<ref name=Lying>{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Lying|year=2013|publisher=Four Elephants Press|isbn=1940051002|pages=108|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lying-Sam-Harris/dp/1940051002}}</ref> Harris is a co-founder of the Reason Project. With a large online presence<ref>{{cite web|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Sam Harris Blog|url=http://www.samharris.org/blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Sam Harris' Twitter|url=https://twitter.com/SamHarrisOrg}}</ref> has recently had to respond to a resurgence of criticism of his first book ''End of Faith'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=End of Faith|year=2006|publisher=Free Press|isbn=0743268091|pages=336|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-End-Faith-Religion-Terror/dp/0743268091}}</ref> initially raised by [[Murtaza Hussain]], which Harris initially ignored but later responded to American journalist [[Glenn Greenwald]] when he expressed support of these views.<ref>{{cite web|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Dear Fellow Liberal|url=http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/dear-fellow-liberal2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=Response to Controversy|url=http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/response-to-controversy2/}}</ref> |
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==Prominent figures== |
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[[Richard Dawkins]] is author, most notably, of ''The God Delusion''<ref>{{cite book|last=Dawkins|first=Richard|title=The God Delusion|year=2006|publisher=Black Swan|isbn=055277331X}}</ref> preceded by a [[Channel 4]] program titled ''Religion: The Root Of All Evil'' which Dawkins requested was changed to ''[[The Root of all Evil?]]'' and founder of the [[Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science]] (RDFRS). Dawkins has recently and characteristically courted controversy, particularly regarding a tweet stating "All the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though."<ref>{{cite web|last=Dawkins|first=Richard|title=Muslim Nobel Prizes|url=https://twitter.com/RichardDawkins/status/365473573768400896}}</ref> receiving criticism from all sides with atheists and the [[Atheism+]] movement keen to denounce Dawkins and thereby the New Atheism, its tone and goals; many don't hesitate to accuse Dawkins of equivalence with fundamentalists.<ref>{{cite web|last=Malik|first=Nesrine|title=Richard Dawkins' tweets on Islam are as rational as the rants of an extremist Muslim cleric| url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/08/richard-dawkins-tweets-islam-muslim-nobel}}</ref> In this instance Dawkins moved to respond to the furore regarding his tweet.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dawkins|first=Richard|title=Calm reflections after a storm in a teacup|url=http://www.richarddawkins.net/foundation_articles/2013/8/9/calm-reflections-after-a-storm-in-a-teacup}}</ref> |
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Key figures associated with New Atheism include [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Sam Harris]], [[Christopher Hitchens]], [[Daniel Dennett]], and [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]].<ref name=":52" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Blumner |first=Robyn |author-link=Robyn Blumner |date=2020-12-04 |title=Give the Four Horsemen (and Ayaan) Their Due. They Changed America. |url=https://secularhumanism.org/2020/12/give-the-four-horsemen-and-ayaan-their-due-they-changed-america/ |access-date=2022-12-24 |website=Free Inquiry |language=en-US |archive-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228145337/https://secularhumanism.org/2020/12/give-the-four-horsemen-and-ayaan-their-due-they-changed-america/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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==="Four Horsemen"=== |
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[[Christopher Hitchens]] author of ''God is not Great''<ref>{{cite book|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|title=God is Not Great: how religion poisons everything|year=2007|publisher=Atlantic Books; First Trade Edition edition|isbn=1843545748|pages=320}}</ref> and was named among "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' and ''[[Prospect magazine]]''. In addition Hitchens served on the advisory board for the [[Secular Coalition for America]]. In 2010 Hitchens published his memoir ''Hitch22''<ref>{{cite book|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|title=Hitch22|year=2010|publisher=Atlantic Books|isbn=1843549220|pages=448|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitch-22-Memoir-Christopher-Hitchens/dp/1843549220}}</ref> (a nickname provided by close personal friend [[Salman Rushdie]] whom Hitchens always supported during and following [[The Satanic Verses controversy]], shortly after publication Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, ultimately dying in December 2011.<ref>{{cite news|title=Christopher Hitchens dies at 62 after suffering cancer|first=BBC|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16212418 | work=BBC News|date=December 16, 2011}}</ref> Before his death Hitchens published a collection of essays and articles in his book ''Arguably''<ref>{{cite book|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|title=Arguably|year=2011|publisher=Atlantic Books|isbn=0857892584|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arguably-Christopher-Hitchens/dp/0857892584}}</ref> and a short edition ''Mortality''<ref>{{cite book|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|title=Mortality|year=2012|publisher=Atlantic Books|isbn=1848879210|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mortality-Christopher-Hitchens/dp/1848879210/ref=pd_sim_b_2}}</ref> (published in 2012 following his death). These publications and numerous public appearances provided Hitchens with a platform to remain an astute atheist during his illness even speaking specifically on the culture of deathbed conversions and condemning the action of attempting to convert the terminally ill, which in reverse would unanimously be opposed as "bad taste".<ref>{{cite web|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|title=Is there an afterlife?|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbzd6ZbCowY}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|title=Hitchens and Paxman interview|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-s9AyNQyCw}}</ref> |
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| footer = The "Four Horsemen of the New Atheism" (clockwise from top left): [[Richard Dawkins]] (b. 1941), [[Christopher Hitchens]] (1949–2011), [[Daniel Dennett]] (1942–2024), and [[Sam Harris]] (b. 1967). |
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On 30 September 2007, Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, and Dennett met at Hitchens' residence in Washington, D.C., for a private two-hour unmoderated [[round table (discussion)|round table]] discussion. The event was videotaped and titled "The Four Horsemen".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://richarddawkins.net/2013/10/the-four-horsemen-dvd-19-95/ |title=The Four Horsemen DVD |website=Richard Dawkins Foundation |access-date=13 April 2016 |quote=On the 30th of September 2007, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens sat down for a first-of-its-kind, unmoderated 2-hour discussion, convened by RDFRS and filmed by Josh Timonen. |archive-date=11 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611214236/https://richarddawkins.net/2013/10/the-four-horsemen-dvd-19-95/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> During "The God Debate" in 2010 with Hitchens versus [[Dinesh D'Souza]], the group was collectively referred to as the "Four Horsemen of the Non-Apocalypse",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/sam-harris-is-still-railing-against-religion/ |title=Sam Harris is Still Railing Against Religion |last=Hoffman |first=Claire |date=2 September 2014 |website=Los Angeles Magazine |access-date=13 April 2016 |quote=As Western society grappled with radical Islam, Harris distinguished himself with his argument that modern religious tolerance had placated us into allowing delusion rather than reason to prevail. Harris upended a discussion that had long been dominated by cultural relativism and a hands-off academic intellectualism; his seething contempt for the world's faiths helped launch the 'New Atheist' movement, and together with Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Daniel Dennett, he became known as one of the 'Four Horsemen of the Non-Apocalypse.' |archive-date=15 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615152332/http://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/sam-harris-is-still-railing-against-religion/ |url-status=live }}</ref> an allusion to the biblical [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]] from the [[Book of Revelation]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zenk |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbIVAgAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of Atheism |publisher=OUP Oxford |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-964465-0 |editor-last=Bullivant |editor-first=Stephen |page=254 |language=en |chapter=16. New Atheism |editor-last2=Ruse |editor-first2=Michael |access-date=20 January 2023 |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003172045/https://books.google.com/books?id=jbIVAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The four have been described by critics as "evangelical atheists".<ref name="Stedman">{{cite news|last1=Stedman|first1=Chris|title='Evangelical Atheists': Pushing For What?|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-stedman/evangelical-atheists-what_b_765379.html|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=2 March 2017|date=18 October 2010|quote=something peculiarly evangelistic about what has been termed the new atheist movement ... It is no exaggeration to describe the movement popularized by the likes of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens as a new and particularly zealous form of fundamentalism — an atheist fundamentalism.|archive-date=4 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804130829/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-stedman/evangelical-atheists-what_b_765379.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[Daniel Dennett]] author of ''Darwin's Dangerous Idea''<ref>{{cite book|last=Dennet|first=Daniel|title=Darwin's Dangerous Idea|year=1996|isbn=014016734X|pages=592|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darwins-Dangerous-Idea-Evolution-Meanings/dp/014016734X}}</ref> and ''Breaking the Spell''<ref>{{cite book|last=Dennett|first=Daniel|title=Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon|year=2007|publisher=Penguin|isbn=0141017775|pages=464}}</ref> and many others has also been a vocal supporter of the ''[[The Clergy Project]]'',<ref>{{cite web|last=Dennet|first=Daniel|title=Clergy Project|url=http://clergyproject.org/news/2012/04/15/dan-dennett-speaks-about-the-clergy-project-at-2012-global-atheist-convention/}}</ref> an organisation which provides support for Clergy in the US who no longer believe in God and cannot fully participate in their communities any longer.<ref>{{cite web|title=Clergy Project Home Page|url=http://clergyproject.org/}}</ref> |
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Dawkins, the author of ''[[The God Delusion]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Dawkins |first=Richard |title=The God Delusion|year=2007|publisher=Black Swan|isbn=978-0-552-77429-1|title-link=The God Delusion }}</ref> and director of a [[Channel 4]] television documentary titled ''[[The Root of All Evil?]],'' is the founder of the [[Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science]]. He wrote: "I don't object to the horseman label, by the way. I'm less keen on 'new atheist': it isn't clear to me how we differ from old atheists."<ref>[[Richard Dawkins]], ''[[The God Delusion]]'', 10th anniversary edition, Black Swan, 2016, page I15 (new introduction for the 10th anniversary edition).</ref> |
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[[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]] was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, later fleeing to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage in 1992<ref>{{cite web|title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali|url=http://www.project-reason.org/about/individual_member/2663/}}</ref> where she became involved in Dutch politics, lost her faith and became vocal opposing Islamic ideology especially concerning women, exemplified by her books ''Infidel'' and ''The Caged Virgin''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hirsi Ali|first=Ayaan|title=The Caged Virgin|year=2008|isbn=0743288343|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Caged-Virgin-Emancipation-Proclamation/dp/0743288343}}</ref> Hirsi Ali was later involved in the production of the film ''[[Submission]]'' for which her friend [[Theo van Gogh (film director)|Theo Van Gogh]] was murdered and a death threat to Hirsi Ali pinned to his chest.<ref>{{cite news|title=Controversial film maker killed|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/controversial-filmmaker-shot-dead-531777.html | location=London | work=The Independent}}</ref> This resulted in Hirsi Ali's hiding and later immigration to the United States where she now resides and remains a prolific critic of Islam,<ref>{{cite web|last=Hirsi Ali|first=Ayaan|title=Christians in the Muslim world|url=http://mag.newsweek.com/2012/02/05/ayaan-hirsi-ali-the-global-war-on-christians-in-the-muslim-world.html}}</ref> religion, of the treatment of women in Islamic doctrine and society<ref>{{cite web|last=Hirsi Ali|first=Ayaan|title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Protecting Women From Militant Islam |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-on-Protecting-Women-From-Militant-Islam.html}}</ref> and proponent of free speech and the freedom to offend.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hirsi Ali|first=Ayaan|title=The Right to Offend|url=http://www.project-reason.org/archive/item/the_right_to_offend_a_speech_by_ayaan_hirsi_ali/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Hirsi Ali|first=Ayaan|title=Muslim Rage and the Last Gasp of Islamic Hate|url=http://mag.newsweek.com/2012/09/16/ayaan-hirsi-ali-on-the-islamists-final-stand.html}}</ref> |
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Harris wrote several bestselling non-fiction books including ''[[The End of Faith]]'', ''[[Letter to a Christian Nation]]'', ''[[The Moral Landscape]]'', and ''[[Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion|Waking Up]]'', along with two shorter works (initially published as e-books) ''Free Will'' and ''Lying''.<ref name="Free Will">{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|author-link=Sam Harris (author)|year=2012|title=Free Will|publisher=The Free Press|isbn=978-1451683400|page=[https://archive.org/details/freewill00harr_0/page/96 96]|id={{ASIN|1451683405|country=uk}}|url=https://archive.org/details/freewill00harr_0/page/96}}</ref> <ref name=Lying>{{cite book|last=Harris |first=Sam|title=Lying|year=2013|publisher=Four Elephants Press|isbn=978-1940051000|page=108|id= {{ASIN|1940051002|country=uk}}}}</ref> |
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===Other prominent New Atheists=== |
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Hitchens, the author of ''[[God Is Not Great]],''<ref>{{cite book |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher Hitchens |title=God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything |year=2007 |publisher=Atlantic Books |edition=First trade |isbn=978-1-843-54574-3 |page=320}}</ref> was named among the "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' and ''[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]]'' magazines. He served on the advisory board of the [[Secular Coalition for America]]. In 2010, Hitchens published his memoir ''[[Hitch-22]]'' (a nickname provided by close personal friend [[Salman Rushdie]], whom Hitchens always supported during and following [[The Satanic Verses controversy|''The Satanic Verses'' controversy]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |title=Hitch22 |year=2010 |publisher=Atlantic Books |isbn=978-1-843-54922-2 |page=448 |id= {{ASIN|1843549220|country=uk}} }}</ref> Shortly after its publication, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which led to his death in December 2011.<ref>{{cite news|title=Christopher Hitchens dies at 62 after suffering cancer|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16212418|work=BBC News|date=16 December 2011|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330215716/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16212418|url-status=live}}</ref> Before his death, Hitchens published a collection of essays and articles in his book ''[[Arguably]]'';<ref>{{cite book|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|title=Arguably|year=2011|publisher=Atlantic Books|isbn=978-0857892584|id= {{ASIN|0857892584|country=uk}}}}</ref> a short edition, ''[[Mortality (book)|Mortality]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher |title=Mortality |year=2012 |publisher=Atlantic Books|isbn=978-1848879218|id= {{ASIN|1848879210|country=uk}} }}</ref> was published posthumously in 2012. These publications and numerous public appearances provided Hitchens with a platform to remain an astute atheist during his illness, even speaking specifically on the culture of [[deathbed conversion]]s and condemning [[There are no atheists in foxholes|attempts to convert]] the [[terminally ill]], which he opposed as "bad taste".<ref>{{cite web |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |title=Is there an afterlife? |website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbzd6ZbCowY}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |title=Hitchens and Paxman interview |website=[[YouTube]] |date=12 December 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-s9AyNQyCw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/Y-s9AyNQyCw |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref> |
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While The Four Horsemen are arguably the foremost proponents of the New Atheism, there are a number of other current, notable New Atheists including: [[Lawrence M. Krauss]] (author of ''A Universe from Nothing<ref>{{cite book|last=Krauss|first=Lawrence|title=A Universe from Nothing|year=2012|publisher=Simon & Schuster; First Thus edition|isbn=1471112683|pages=224}}</ref>''), [[Jerry Coyne]] (''Why Evolution is True<ref>{{cite book|last=Coyne|first=Jerry|title=Why Evolution is True|year=2010|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=0199230854|pages=336}}</ref>'' and complimentary blog<ref>{{cite web|last=Coyne|first=Jerry|title=WEIT|url=http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/}}</ref> which specifically includes polemics against topical religious issues), [[Greta Christina]] (''Why are you Atheists so Angry?''),<ref>{{cite book|last=Christina|first=Greta|title=Why Are you Atheists so Angry|year=2012|isbn=0985281529|pages=184}}</ref> [[Victor J. Stenger]] (''The New Atheism<ref>{{cite book|last=Stenger|first=Victor|title=The New Atheism|year=2009|publisher=Prometheus Books|isbn=9781591027515|pages=282|url=http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Atheism-Taking-Science/dp/1591027519}}</ref>''), [[Michael Shermer]] (''Why People Believe Weird Things''<ref>{{cite book|last=Shermer|title=Why People Believe Weird Things|publisher=Souvenir Press (14 Sep 2007)|isbn=0285638033|pages=384}}</ref>) [[David Silverman (activist)|David Silverman]] (President of the [[American Atheists]]) [[Ibn Warraq]] (''Why I Am Not a Muslim<ref>{{cite book|last=Warraq|first=Ibn|title=Why I am not a Muslim|year=2003|publisher=Prometheus Books|isbn=1591020115|pages=428|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-I-Am-Not-Muslim/dp/1591020115}}</ref>''), [[Steven Pinker]] and others. |
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Dennett was the author of ''[[Darwin's Dangerous Idea]]'' and ''[[Breaking the Spell (Dennett book)|Breaking the Spell]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dennett|first=Daniel |author-link= Daniel Dennett | title=Darwin's Dangerous Idea |year=1996 |isbn=978-0140167344 |page=592|publisher=Penguin Adult |id= {{ASIN|014016734X|country=uk}} }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dennett|first=Daniel |author-link= Daniel Dennett | title=Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon |year=2007 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0141017778 |page=464}}</ref> He had been a vocal supporter of [[The Clergy Project]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Dennett |first=Daniel |author-link= Daniel Dennett |title=Clergy Project |url=http://clergyproject.org/news/2012/04/15/dan-dennett-speaks-about-the-clergy-project-at-2012-global-atheist-convention/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122144720/http://www.clergyproject.org/news/2012/04/15/dan-dennett-speaks-about-the-clergy-project-at-2012-global-atheist-convention/ |archive-date=22 January 2013}}</ref> an organization that provides support for clergy in the US who no longer believe in God and cannot fully participate in their communities any longer.<ref>{{cite web|title=Clergy Project Home Page|url=http://clergyproject.org/|date=4 October 2014|access-date=3 November 2013|archive-date=9 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609133526/http://clergyproject.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> He was also a member of the [[Secular Coalition for America]] advisory board,<ref>{{cite web |title=Daniel Dennett |url=https://secular.org/profile/dr-daniel-dennett/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205150404/https://secular.org/profile/dr-daniel-dennett/ |archive-date=December 5, 2020 |access-date=January 4, 2021 |work=secular.org}}</ref> and a member of the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]], as well as an outspoken supporter of the [[Brights movement]]. He did research into clerics who are secretly atheists and how they rationalize their works. He found what he called a "don't ask, don't tell" conspiracy because believers did not want to hear of loss of faith. This made unbelieving preachers feel isolated, but they did not want to lose their jobs and church-supplied lodgings. Generally, they consoled themselves with the belief that they were doing good in their pastoral roles by providing comfort and required ritual.<ref name="Dennett2010">[https://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/papers/Preachers_who_are_not_believers.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123131759/http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/papers/Preachers_who_are_not_believers.pdf|date=January 23, 2019}}, "Preachers Who Are Not Believers," ''Evolutionary Psychology'', Vol. 8, Issue 1, March 2010, pp. 122–50, {{ISSN|1474-7049}}.</ref> The research, with Linda LaScola, was further extended to include other denominations and non-Christian clerics.<ref>[http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffrf/FTradio_247_011511.mp3 Podcast: interview with Daniel Dennett. Further developments of the research: pastors, priests, and an Imam who are closet atheists]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414080440/http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/8/6/b/86b9fb94735253f4/FTradio_247_011511.mp3?c_id=2966629&cs_id=2966629&expiration=1586854694&hwt=5f8f65a36e676aca287140cce601aef1|date=April 14, 2020}}.</ref> The research and stories Dennett and LaScola accumulated during this project were published in their 2013 co-authored book, ''Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thehumanist.com/magazine/may-june-2014/arts_entertainment/caught-in-the-pulpit-leaving-belief-behind|title=Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind|date=2014-04-22|work=TheHumanist.com|access-date=2017-06-01|language=en-US|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401015205/https://thehumanist.com/magazine/may-june-2014/arts_entertainment/caught-in-the-pulpit-leaving-belief-behind|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Criticism of the term== |
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In a 2010 column entitled ''Why I Don't Believe in the New Atheism'', [[Thomas W. Flynn|Tom Flynn]] contends that what has been called "New Atheism" is neither a movement nor new, and that what was new was the publication of atheist material by big-name publishers, read by millions, and appearing on best-seller lists.<ref name="Flynn2010">{{cite journal| last = Flynn | first = Tom | authorlink = Thomas W. Flynn | title = Why I Don't Believe in the New Atheism | year = 2010 | url = http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=flynn_30_3 | accessdate = 2011-07-28}}</ref> |
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==="Plus one horse-woman"=== |
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{{main|Ayaan Hirsi Ali}} |
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[[File:Ayaan Hirsi Ali by Gage Skidmore.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]] (born 1969)]] |
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a central figure of New Atheism<ref name=":52">{{Citation |title=The New Atheism |date=2017 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/jihad-radicalism-and-the-new-atheism/new-atheism/5971EDDFB153952A0D0C593DE26E074A |work=Jihad, Radicalism, and the New Atheism |pages=95–96 |editor-last=Khalil |editor-first=Mohammad Hassan |access-date=2022-12-24 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108377263.009 |isbn=978-1-108-38512-1 |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003172043/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/jihad-radicalism-and-the-new-atheism/new-atheism/5971EDDFB153952A0D0C593DE26E074A |url-status=live }}</ref> until she announced her [[conversion to Christianity]] in November 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ali |first=Ayaan Hirsi |date=11 November 2023 |title=Why I am now a Christian |work=UnHerd |url=https://unherd.com/2023/11/why-i-am-now-a-christian/ |access-date=13 November 2023 |archive-date=23 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123043959/https://unherd.com/2023/11/why-i-am-now-a-christian/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Hirsi Ali, originally scheduled to attend the 2007 meeting,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ahuja |first=Anjana |date=2019-03-22 |title=The Four Horsemen — polemics from the high priests of New Atheism |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/f3238d46-4418-11e9-b83b-0c525dad548f |access-date=2022-12-24 |archive-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228115310/https://www.ft.com/content/f3238d46-4418-11e9-b83b-0c525dad548f |url-status=live }}</ref> later appeared with Dawkins, Dennett, and Harris at the 2012 [[Global Atheist Convention]], where she was referred to as the "plus one horse-woman" by Dawkins.<ref>{{YouTube|id=sOMjEJ3JO5Q|title=Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris & Ayaan Hirsi Ali}}</ref> [[Robyn Blumner]], CEO of the Center for Inquiry, described Hirsi Ali as the "Fifth" horseman.<ref name=":7" /> |
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Hirsi Ali was born in [[Mogadishu]], [[Somalia]], fleeing in 1992 to the [[Netherlands]] in order to escape an [[arranged marriage]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali|url=http://www.project-reason.org/about/individual_member/2663/|access-date=3 November 2013|archive-date=7 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307232045/http://www.project-reason.org/about/individual_member/2663/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She became involved in Dutch politics, rejected faith, and became vocal in opposing Islamic ideology, especially concerning women, as exemplified by her books ''[[Infidel: My Life|Infidel]]'' and ''[[The Caged Virgin]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hirsi Ali|first=Ayaan|author-link=Ayaan Hirsi Ali|title=The Caged Virgin|year=2008|isbn=978-0743288347|id={{ASIN|0743288343|country=uk}}|url=https://archive.org/details/cagedvirginemanc00hirs|publisher=Free Press}}</ref> |
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Hirsi Ali was later involved in the production of the film ''[[Submission (2004 film)|Submission]]'', for which her friend [[Theo van Gogh (film director)|Theo van Gogh]] was murdered with a death threat to Hirsi Ali pinned to his chest.<ref>{{cite news|title=Controversial film maker killed|date=November 2, 2004|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/controversial-filmmaker-shot-dead-531777.html | location=London | work=[[The Independent]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624091729/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/controversial-filmmaker-shot-dead-531777.html|archive-date=June 24, 2011}}</ref> This event resulted in Hirsi Ali's hiding and later emigrating to the United States, where she resides and remains a prolific critic of Islam.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hirsi Ali|first=Ayaan|title=Christians in the Muslim world|url=http://mag.newsweek.com/2012/02/05/ayaan-hirsi-ali-the-global-war-on-christians-in-the-muslim-world.html|date=6 February 2012|work=Newsweek|access-date=3 November 2013|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304212737/http://mag.newsweek.com/2012/02/05/ayaan-hirsi-ali-the-global-war-on-christians-in-the-muslim-world.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She regularly speaks out against the treatment of women in Islamic doctrine and society<ref>{{cite web |last=Hirsi Ali |first=Ayaan|title=Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Protecting Women From Militant Islam |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-on-Protecting-Women-From-Militant-Islam.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625215745/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-on-Protecting-Women-From-Militant-Islam.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 25, 2012|date=May 15, 2012 |work=Smithsonian.com}}</ref> and is a proponent of free speech and the freedom to offend.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hirsi Ali |first=Ayaan |title=The Right to Offend |date=May 12, 2009 |website=Project Reason |url=http://www.project-reason.org/archive/item/the_right_to_offend_a_speech_by_ayaan_hirsi_ali/ |archive-date=December 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206133048/http://www.project-reason.org/archive/item/the_right_to_offend_a_speech_by_ayaan_hirsi_ali/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hirsi Ali |first=Ayaan |title=Muslim Rage and the Last Gasp of Islamic Hate |magazine=Newsweek |date=17 September 2012 |url=http://mag.newsweek.com/2012/09/16/ayaan-hirsi-ali-on-the-islamists-final-stand.html |access-date=3 November 2013 |archive-date=23 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423014351/http://mag.newsweek.com/2012/09/16/ayaan-hirsi-ali-on-the-islamists-final-stand.html |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Writing in a column in November 2023, Ali announced her conversion to the Christian faith, saying the Judeo-Christian tradition is the only answer to the problems of the modern world.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Sarah |date=2023-11-29 |title=The Infidel Turned Christian |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/ayaan-hirsi-alis-political-conversion.html |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Intelligencer |language=en |archive-date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118195953/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/ayaan-hirsi-alis-political-conversion.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ali |first=Ayaan Hirsi |date=11 November 2023 |title=Why I am now a Christian |work=UnHerd |url=https://unherd.com/2023/11/why-i-am-now-a-christian/}}</ref> |
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===Others=== |
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<!-- Do NOT add a name to this section without a source describing the figure as a _NEW_ Atheist, not just an atheist --> |
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Others have either self-identified as or been classified by some commentators as new atheists: |
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* [[Dan Barker]] (b. 1949), author of ''[[Godless (Barker book)|Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists]]''<ref>{{cite web |last=Wainwright |first=Jon |date=2010 |title=The Not So New Atheists? |url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/The_Not_So_New_Atheists |access-date=27 August 2022 |work=Philosophy Now |archive-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630005810/https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/The_Not_So_New_Atheists |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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* [[Peter Boghossian]] (b. 1966), philosopher and author of ''[[A Manual for Creating Atheists]]''<ref name="daily-beast">{{cite news|last=Schulson|first=Michael|title=Atheist Philosopher Peter Boghossian's Guide to Converting Believers|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/atheist-philosopher-peter-boghossians-guide-to-converting-believers|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=2 November 2013|access-date=19 November 2020|archive-date=16 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216105714/https://www.thedailybeast.com/atheist-philosopher-peter-boghossians-guide-to-converting-believers|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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* [[Greta Christina]] (b. 1961), author of ''Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things that Piss Off the Godless''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/defending_new_atheism_from_misdirected_leftists/|title=In Defense of New Atheism|work=Center for Inquiry|first=Ned|last=Borninski|date=30 June 2015|access-date=26 August 2022|archive-date=19 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519055401/https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/defending_new_atheism_from_misdirected_leftists/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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* [[Jerry Coyne]] (b. 1949), author of ''[[Faith Versus Fact|Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible]]''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berezow |first=Alex |date=October 21, 2013 |title=Jerry Coyne's Twisted History of Science and Religion |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexberezow/2013/10/21/jerry-coynes-twisted-history-of-science-religion/ |access-date=2022-11-25 |website=Forbes |archive-date=25 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125220028/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexberezow/2013/10/21/jerry-coynes-twisted-history-of-science-religion/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="midwest">Pigliucci, Massimo (2013). [https://philpapers.org/archive/PIGNAA.pdf New Atheism and the Scientistic Turn in the Atheism Movement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820050154/https://philpapers.org/archive/PIGNAA.pdf |date=20 August 2020 }} ''Midwest Studies In Philosophy,'' Vol. 37 (1): pp. 142-153.</ref> |
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* [[Rebecca Goldstein]] (b. 1950), philosopher and author of ''36 Arguments for the Existence of God''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/Books/2011/0210/Interview-with-Rebecca-Newberger-Goldstein-author-of-36-Arguments-for-the-Existence-of-God|title=Interview with Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of "36 Arguments for the Existence of God|first=Marjorie|last=Kehe|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=10 February 2011|access-date=27 August 2022|archive-date=7 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207144956/https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/Books/2011/0210/Interview-with-Rebecca-Newberger-Goldstein-author-of-36-Arguments-for-the-Existence-of-God|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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* [[Michel Onfray]] (b. 1959), author of ''[[Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam]]''<ref>{{cite web |last=Dalrymple |first=Theodore |date=2007 |title=What the New Atheists Don't See |url=https://www.city-journal.org/html/what-new-atheists-don%e2%80%99t-see-13058.html?wallit_nosession=1 |access-date=27 August 2022 |work=City Journal |archive-date=10 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710183440/https://www.city-journal.org/html/what-new-atheists-don%E2%80%99t-see-13058.html?wallit_nosession=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
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* [[Michael Schmidt-Salomon]] (b. 1967) author of ''[[Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism]]'' and identified as [[Germany|Germany's]] "Chief Atheist"<ref>"...sagte Michael Schmidt-Salomon, Vorstand der Giordano-Bruno-Stiftung und damit so etwas wie Deutschlands Chef-Atheist." ("...said Michael Schmidt-Salomon, [who is] chairman of the Giordano Bruno Foundation, and therefore something of a 'chief atheist' for Germany.") [http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,485459,00.html Chef-Atheist im Chat: "Gynäkologen, die an die Jungfrauengeburt glauben"], ''Spiegel Online'', 29 May 2007 (Accessed 6 April 2008)</ref> |
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* [[TJ Kirk]] (b. 1985), [[YouTube]] personality and podcast host known for his YouTube Channel ''Amazing Atheist''<ref>{{cite web|title=Joe Rogan and T.J. Kirk on Milo Yiannopoulos|work=[[The Joe Rogan Experience]]|via=YouTube|first=Joe|last=Rogan|date=March 15, 2017|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcLh4Hwb0FU|accessdate=17 March 2017}}</ref> |
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* [[Rebecca Watson]] (b. 1980), author of the blog ''Skepchick''<ref name="Johnstone-Louis 2013">{{cite book |last1=Johnstone-Louis |first1=Mary |editor1-last=Rinallo |editor1-first=Diego |editor2-last=Scott |editor2-first=Linda M. |editor3-last=Maclaran |editor3-first=Pauline |title=Consumption and Spirituality |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-88911-7 |page=57 |chapter=No Gods. No Masters?: The 'New Atheist' Movement and the Commercialization of Unbelief}}</ref> |
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* [[Victor J. Stenger]] (1935–2014), author of ''[[God: The Failed Hypothesis]]''<ref>{{Cite web |title=New Atheists |url=https://iep.utm.edu/n-atheis/ |access-date=2023-01-20 |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |language=en-US |archive-date=21 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221102742/https://www.iep.utm.edu/n-atheis/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stenger |first=Victor J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQSJ5l24cQMC |title=The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason |date=2009-12-04 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61592-344-1 |language=en |access-date=20 January 2023 |archive-date=21 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421214640/https://books.google.com/books?id=GQSJ5l24cQMC |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Some writers sometimes classified as new atheists by others have explicitly distanced themselves from the label: |
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* [[A. C. Grayling]] (b. 1949), philosopher and author of ''[[The God Argument]]''<ref name=Catto>{{cite web|last1=Catto|first1=Rebecca|last2=Eccles|first2=Jane|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/apr/14/atheism-socialnetworking|title=Beyond Grayling, Dawkins and Hitchens, a new kind of British atheism|work=The Guardian|date=14 April 2011|access-date=27 August 2022|archive-date=31 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231034107/http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/apr/14/atheism-socialnetworking|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="midwest" /> |
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* [[John W. Loftus]] (b. 1954), author of ''The Outsider Test For Faith''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/loftusjohnw/status/1497969878795309056 |title=@loftusjohnw on Twitter: Why Did Randal Rauser Recommend "God and Horrendous Suffering"? Despite his high recommendation of my book Rauser is on a mission to discredit it, pejoratively calling me a "New Atheist" and a "Fundamentalist". Inquiring Minds Want to Know Why! |access-date=8 April 2022 |archive-date=8 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408072534/https://twitter.com/loftusjohnw/status/1497969878795309056 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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* [[P. Z. Myers]] (b. 1957), writer and [[biologist]]. Author of the blog [[Pharyngula (blog)|Pharyngula]] |
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==Perspective== |
==Perspective== |
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The New Atheists write mainly from a scientific perspective. Unlike previous writers, many of whom thought that science was indifferent, or even incapable of dealing with the "[[God]]" concept, Dawkins argues to the contrary, claiming the "God Hypothesis" is a valid [[hypothesis|scientific hypothesis]],<ref>{{cite book | authorlink = Richard Dawkins | first = Richard | last = Dawkins | title = The God Delusion | location = Boston | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | year = 2008 }}</ref> having effects in the physical universe, and like any other hypothesis can be tested and [[falsifiability|falsified]]. Other New Atheists such as [[Victor Stenger]] propose that the personal [[Abrahamic religions#The Supreme Deity|Abrahamic God]] is a scientific hypothesis that can be tested by standard methods of science. Both Dawkins and Stenger conclude that the hypothesis fails any such tests,<ref>Stenger, 2008</ref> and argue that [[naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]] is sufficient to explain everything we observe in the universe, from the most distant galaxies to the [[abiogenesis|origin of life]], species, and the inner workings of the brain and [[consciousness]]. Nowhere, they argue, is it necessary to introduce God or the [[supernatural]] to understand reality. New Atheists have been associated with the [[argument from divine hiddenness]] and the idea that "absence of evidence is evidence of absence" when evidence can be expected. |
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[[File:ScarletLetter.svg|thumb|upright|The scarlet A, symbol of [[Out Campaign]]]] |
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Many contemporary atheists write from a scientific perspective. Unlike previous writers, many of whom thought that science was indifferent or even incapable of dealing with the "[[God]]" concept, Dawkins argues to the contrary, claiming the "God Hypothesis" is a valid [[hypothesis|scientific hypothesis]],<ref>{{cite book| first=Richard | last=Dawkins | title=The God Delusion |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |date=2008}}</ref> having effects in the physical universe, and like any other hypothesis can be tested and [[falsifiability|falsified]]. [[Victor Stenger]] proposed that the personal [[God in Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic God]] is a scientific hypothesis that can be tested by standard methods of science. Both Dawkins and Stenger conclude that the hypothesis fails any such tests,<ref>Stenger, 2008</ref> and argue that [[naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]] is sufficient to explain everything we observe. They argue that nowhere is it necessary to introduce God or the [[supernatural]] to understand reality. |
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===Scientific testing of religion=== |
===Scientific testing of religion=== |
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Non-believers (in religion and the supernatural) assert that many religious or supernatural claims (such as the [[virgin birth of Jesus]] and the [[afterlife]]) are scientific claims in nature. For instance, they argue, as do [[deists]] and [[Progressive Christianity|Progressive Christians]], that the issue of Jesus' supposed parentage is a question of scientific inquiry, rather than "values" or "morals".<ref name=freeinquiry>{{cite magazine |first=Richard |last=Dawkins |url=https://secularhumanism.org/1998/04/when-religion-steps-on-sciences-turf/ |title=When Religion Steps on Science's Turf: The Alleged Separation Between the Two Is Not So Tidy |magazine=Free Inquiry |volume=18 |issue=2 Spring |date=1998 |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=16 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316083637/http://secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=dawkins_18_2 |url-status=live }}</ref> Rational thinkers believe science is capable of investigating at least some, if not all, supernatural claims.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fishman |first1=Yonatan I. |title=Can Science Test Supernatural Worldviews? |journal=Science & Education |date=June 2009 |volume=18 |issue=6–7 |pages=813–837 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11191-007-9108-4 |doi=10.1007/s11191-007-9108-4 |bibcode=2009Sc&Ed..18..813F |s2cid=20246250 |archive-date=5 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605094850/http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/Yon/test_supernatural2007.pdf}}</ref> Institutions such as the [[Mayo Clinic]] and [[Duke University]] have conducted [[empiricism|empirical]] studies to try to identify whether there is [[Studies on intercessory prayer|evidence for the healing power of intercessory prayer]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mm-gold.azureedge.net/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.html |date=12 February 2006 |title=Darwin Day Celebration: An International Celebration of Science and Humanity − ''"Supernatural Science"'' |first=Victor J. |last=Stenger |author-link= Victor J. Stenger |website=Mukto-Mona |access-date=11 March 2010 |archive-date=14 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314220817/https://mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/supernatural_science300106.htm}}</ref> According to Stenger, the experiments found no evidence that intercessory [[prayer]] worked.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stenger|first=Victor J.|title=The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason |date=2009 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=[[Amherst, New York]] |isbn=978-1-59102-751-5 |page=70}}</ref> |
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===Logical arguments=== |
===Logical arguments=== |
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In his book ''[[God: The Failed Hypothesis]]'', [[Victor Stenger]] argues that a God having [[omniscient]], [[omnibenevolent]], and [[omnipotent]] attributes, which he termed a ''3O God'', cannot [[logic]]ally exist.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stenger |first=Victor J. |title=God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist |publisher=Prometheus Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1591026525 |edition=with new foreword by Christopher Hitchens |location=Amherst (New York) |chapter=}}</ref> A similar series of alleged logical disproofs of the existence of a God with various attributes can be found in [[Michael Martin (philosopher)|Michael Martin]] and Ricki Monnier's ''The Impossibility of God'',<ref>{{cite book |author-link1=Michael Martin (philosopher) |first1=Michael |last1=Martin |first2=Ricki |last2=Monnier |title=The Impossibility of God |publisher=Prometheus Books |date= 2003 }}</ref> or [[Theodore Drange]]'s article, "Incompatible-Properties Arguments: A Survey".<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Theodore M. Drange |title=Incompatible-Properties Arguments: A Survey |url=http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/incompatible.html |journal=[[Philo (journal)|Philo]] |date=1998 |issue=2 |pages=49–60 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |via=The Secular Web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206205407/https://infidels.org/library/modern/theodore-drange-incompatible/}}</ref> |
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===Views on |
===Views on non-overlapping magisteria=== |
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Richard Dawkins has been particularly critical of the conciliatory view that science and religion are not in conflict, noting, for example, that the Abrahamic religions constantly dabble in scientific matters.<ref name=freeinquiry /> In a 1998 article published in ''Free Inquiry'' magazine,<ref name=freeinquiry /> and later in his 2006 book ''The God Delusion'', Dawkins expresses disagreement with the view advocated by [[Stephen Jay Gould]] that science and religion are two [[non-overlapping magisteria]] (NOMA), each existing in a "domain where one form of teaching holds the appropriate tools for meaningful discourse and resolution".<ref name=freeinquiry /> |
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The New Atheists are particularly critical of the two [[non-overlapping magisteria]] (NOMA) view advocated by [[Stephen Jay Gould]] regarding the existence of a "domain where one form of teaching holds the appropriate tools for meaningful discourse and resolution".<ref>{{Cite book | authorlink = Stephen Jay Gould | first = Stephen Jay | last = Gould | title = Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life, The Library of Contemporary Thought | location = New York | publisher = Ballantine Pub. Group | year = 1999 }}</ref> In Gould's proposal, science and religion should be confined to distinct non-overlapping domains: science would be limited to the empirical realm, including theories developed to describe observations, while religion would deal with questions of ultimate meaning and [[morality|moral value]]. The New Atheism leaders contend that NOMA does not describe empirical facts about the intersection of science and religion. In an article published in ''Free Inquiry'' magazine,<ref name=freeinquiry/> and later in his 2006 book ''The God Delusion'', Richard Dawkins writes that the Abrahamic religions constantly deal in scientific matters. [[Massimo Pigliucci]], in his book ''Nonsense on Stilts'', wrote that Gould attempted to redefine religion as [[ethics|moral philosophy]]. [[Matt Ridley]] notes that religion does more than talk about ultimate meanings and morals, and science is not proscribed from doing the same. After all, morals involve [[human behavior]], an observable phenomenon, and science is the study of observable phenomena. Ridley notes that there is substantial scientific research on evolutionary origins of ethics and morality.<ref>{{cite book | authorlink = Matt Ridley | first = Matt | last = Ridley | title = The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation | publisher = Penguin | year = 1998 }}</ref> |
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In Gould's proposal, science and religion should be confined to distinct non-overlapping domains: science would be limited to the empirical realm, including theories developed to describe observations, while religion would deal with questions of ultimate meaning and [[morality|moral value]]. Dawkins contends that NOMA does not describe empirical facts about the intersection of science and religion. He argued: "It is completely unrealistic to claim, as Gould and many others do, that religion keeps itself away from science's turf, restricting itself to morals and values. A universe with a supernatural presence would be a fundamentally and qualitatively different kind of universe from one without. The difference is, inescapably, a scientific difference. Religions make existence claims, and this means scientific claims."<ref name=freeinquiry /> |
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===Science and morality=== |
===Science and morality=== |
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{{main|Science of morality}} |
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Popularized by Sam Harris and widely endorsed by prominent New Atheists is the view that science and thereby currently unknown objective facts may instruct human morality in a globally comparable way. Harris’ book ''The Moral Landscape''<ref>{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=The Moral Landscape|year=2012|publisher=Black Swan|isbn=0552776386|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Moral-Landscape-Sam-Harris/dp/0552776386/ref=pd_sim_b_7}}</ref> and accompanying TED Talk ''How Science can Determine Moral Values''<ref>{{cite web|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=How Science can Determine Moral Values|url=http://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_science_can_show_what_s_right.html}}</ref> proposes that human well-being and conversely suffering may be thought of as a landscape with peaks and valleys representing numerous ways to achieve extremes in human experience, and that there are objective states of well-being. |
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Harris considers that the [[well-being]] of conscious creatures forms the basis of morality. In ''[[The Moral Landscape]]'', he argues that science can in principle answer moral questions and help maximize well-being.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=The Moral Landscape|year=2012|publisher=Black Swan|isbn=978-0552776387|id= {{ASIN|0552776386|country=uk}}}}</ref> Harris also criticizes [[Cultural relativism|cultural]] and [[moral relativism]], arguing that it prevents people from making objective moral judgments about practices that clearly harm human well-being, such as [[female genital mutilation]]. Harris contends that we can make scientifically-based claims about the negative impacts of such practices on human welfare, and that withholding judgment in these cases is tantamount to claiming complete ignorance about what contributes to human well-being.<ref>{{cite web|last=Harris|first=Sam|title=How Science can Determine Moral Values|url=http://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_science_can_show_what_s_right.html|access-date=2 November 2013|archive-date=27 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227021657/http://www.ted.com/talks/sam_harris_science_can_show_what_s_right.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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===Politics=== |
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In the context of international politics, the principles of New Atheism establish no particular stance in and of themselves.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Kettell |first1=Steven |title=Faithless: The politics of new atheism |journal=Secularism and Nonreligion |date=21 November 2013 |volume=2 |page=61 |doi=10.5334/snr.al |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[P. Z. Myers]] stated that New Atheism's key proponents are "a madly disorganized mob, united only by [their] dislike of the god-thing".<ref>{{cite web |author-link=PZ Myers |last1=Meyers [sic] |first1=Paul Z. [Pharyngula] |title=Atheism ≠ fascism |website=ScienceBlogs |language=en |date=June 11, 2011 |url=https://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/06/12/atheism-fascism |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401130701/https://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/06/12/atheism-fascism |url-status=live }}</ref> That said, the demographic that supports New Atheism is a markedly homogeneous one; in America and the Anglo-sphere more generally, this cohort is "more likely to be younger, male and single, to have higher than average levels of income and education, to be less [[authoritarian]], less [[dogmatic]], less prejudiced, less [[conformist]] and more tolerant and open-minded on religious issues."<ref name=":0" /> Because of this homogeneity among the group, there exists not a formal dynamic but a loose consensus on broad political "efforts, objectives, and strategies".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2014-06-18|title=New Atheism: The Politics of Unbelief|url=https://www.e-ir.info/2014/06/18/new-atheism-the-politics-of-unbelief/|access-date=2020-06-21|website=E-International Relations|archive-date=23 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623122404/https://www.e-ir.info/2014/06/18/new-atheism-the-politics-of-unbelief/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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For example, one of the primary aims is to further reduce the entanglement of church and state, which derives from the "belief that religion is antithetical to liberal values, such as freedom of expression and the separation of public from private life".<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Additionally, new atheists have engaged in the campaign "to ensure legal and civic equality for atheists", in a world considerably unwelcoming to and distrustful of non-religious believers.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Schulzke |first1=Marcus |title=The Politics of New Atheism |journal=Politics and Religion |date=December 2013 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=778–799 |id={{ProQuest|2210982282}} |doi=10.1017/S1755048313000217 |s2cid=197670821 }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite journal |last1=Kettell |first1=Steven |title=What's really new about New Atheism? |journal=Palgrave Communications |date=December 2016 |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=16099 |doi=10.1057/palcomms.2016.99 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Edgell |first1=Penny |last2=Gerteis |first2=Joseph |last3=Hartmann |first3=Douglas |title=Atheists As 'Other': Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society |journal=American Sociological Review |date=April 2006 |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=211–234 |doi=10.1177/000312240607100203 |s2cid=143818177 }}</ref> Hitchens may be the atheist concerned most with religion's incompatibility with contemporary liberal principles, and particularly its imposed limitation on both freedom of speech and freedom of expression.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|date=December 2011|title=Why Even Hate Speech Needs to Be Protected|url=https://www.rd.com/culture/freedom-speech-most-important-first-amendment-right/|website=Reader's Digest|access-date=21 June 2020|archive-date=23 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623003725/https://www.rd.com/culture/freedom-speech-most-important-first-amendment-right/|url-status=live}}</ref> Because New Atheism's proliferation is accredited partly to the 11 September attacks and the ubiquitous, visceral response, [[Richard Dawkins]], among many in his cohort, believes that [[theism]] (in this case, [[Islam]]) jeopardizes political institutions and [[national security]], and he warns of religion's potency in motivating "people to do terrible things" against international [[Polity|polities]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Richard Dawkins On Terrorism And Religion|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/05/27/530337283/richard-dawkins-on-terrorism-and-religion|access-date=2020-06-20|website=NPR.org|date=27 May 2017|archive-date=22 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622093627/https://www.npr.org/2017/05/27/530337283/richard-dawkins-on-terrorism-and-religion|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Criticisms== |
==Criticisms== |
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{{See also|Criticism of atheism#New Atheism}} |
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[[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[William Levada]] believes that New Atheism has misrepresented the doctrines of the church.<ref>{{cite web|title=Catholics need a 'new apologetics' to defend faith|url=http://www.catholicleader.com.au/news.php/world-news/catholics-need-a-new-apologetics-to-defend-faith_56964|publisher=The Catholic Leader|accessdate=2 November 2012}}</ref> He described New Atheism as "aggressive", and he believed it to be the primary source of discrimination against Christians.<ref>{{cite news|author=Nick Squires and Martin Beckford|title=Pope visit: Cardinal drops out after calling UK 'Third World |
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According to [[Nature (journal)|''Nature'']], "Critics of new atheism, as well as many new atheists themselves, contend that in philosophical terms it differs little from earlier historical forms of atheist thought."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kettell |first1=Steven |title=What's really new about New Atheism? |journal=Palgrave Communications |date=December 2016 |volume=2 |issue=1 |doi=10.1057/palcomms.2016.99 |doi-access=free }}</ref> |
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|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/8004493/Pope-visit-Cardinal-drops-out-after-calling-UK-Third-World.html|accessdate=2 November 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph}}</ref> |
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===Scientism, accusations of evangelicalism and fundamentalism=== |
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The theologians Jeffrey Robbins and Christopher Rodkey take issue with what they regard as "the evangelical nature of the new atheism, which assumes that it has a Good News to share, at all cost, for the ultimate future of humanity by the conversion of as many people as possible." They believe they have found similarities between new atheism and evangelical Christianity and conclude that the all-consuming nature of both "encourages endless conflict without progress" between both extremities.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jeffrey Robbins and Christopher Rodkey|title=Religion and the New Atheism A Critical Appraisal.|year=2010|publisher=Haymarket Books|isbn=9781608462032|pages=35|editor=Amarnath Amarasingam|chapter=Beating 'God' to Death: Radical Theology and the New Atheism}}</ref> Sociologist William Stahl said "What is striking about the current debate is the frequency with which the New Atheists are portrayed as mirror images of religious fundamentalists."<ref>{{cite book|last=William Stahl|title=Religion and the New Atheism A Critical Appraisal.|year=2010|publisher=Haymarket Books|isbn=9781608462032|pages=97–108|editor=Amarnath Amarasingam|chapter=One-Dimensional Rage: The Social Epistemology of the New Atheism and Fundamentalism}}</ref> |
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Critics of the movement described it as ''militant atheism'' and ''fundamentalist atheism''<!-- Bold per [[MOS:BOLDSYN]] -->.{{efn|The term is sometimes used benignly, for example by atheists such as Frans de Waal.<ref name=DeWaal/>}}<ref name=DeWaal>{{cite news |last1=De Waal |first1=Frans |author-link1=Frans de Waal |title=Has militant atheism become a religion? |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/03/25/militant_atheism_has_become_a_religion/ |work=Salon.com |access-date=9 March 2017 |date=25 March 2013 |quote=Why are the 'neo-atheists' of today so obsessed with God's nonexistence that they go on media rampages, wear T-shirts proclaiming their absence of belief, or call for a militant atheism? What does atheism have to offer that's worth fighting for? As one [[philosopher]] put it, being a militant atheist is like 'sleeping furiously.' |archive-date=9 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609130521/http://www.salon.com/2013/03/25/militant_atheism_has_become_a_religion/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bullivant |first1=Stephen |last2=Lee |first2=Lois |title=Militant atheism |journal=Oxford Reference |volume=1 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780191816819.001.0001 |date=2016 }}</ref><ref name="Kurtz kurtz_27_2">{{cite web |last=Kurtz |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Kurtz |date=February 2007 |title=Religion in Conflict: Are 'Evangelical Atheists' Too Outspoken? |url=https://secularhumanism.org/2007/02/religion-in-conflict/ |access-date=2023-01-20 |website=Free Inquiry |archive-date=20 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120155214/https://secularhumanism.org/2007/02/religion-in-conflict/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists">{{cite web |last1=Hagerty |first1=Barbara Bradley |title=A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113889251 |publisher=NPR |date=19 October 2009 |access-date=2017-02-12 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401042651/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113889251 |url-status=live }}</ref> Theologians Jeffrey Robbins and Christopher Rodkey take issue with what they regard as "the [[evangelical]] nature of the New Atheism, which assumes that it has a Good News to share, at all cost, for the ultimate future of humanity by the conversion of as many people as possible", and believe they have found similarities between New Atheism and evangelical Christianity and conclude that the all-consuming nature of both "encourages endless conflict without progress" between both extremities.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jeffrey Robbins|author2=Christopher Rodkey|title=Religion and the New Atheism A Critical Appraisal |year=2010|publisher=Haymarket Books|isbn=978-1-60846-203-2|page=35|editor=Amarnath Amarasingam|chapter=Beating 'God' to Death: Radical Theology and the New Atheism}}</ref> Political philosopher [[John Gray (philosopher)|John Gray]] asserts that New Atheism, [[humanism]], and [[scientism]] are extensions of religion, particularly Christianity.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gray|first= John|year= 2019|title=Seven types of atheism|publisher= Picador|isbn=978-1-250-23478-0|oclc=1137728757}}</ref> Sociologist William Stahl said, "What is striking about the current debate is the frequency with which the New Atheists are portrayed as mirror images of religious [[fundamentalists]]."<ref>{{cite book|last=William Stahl|title=Religion and the New Atheism A Critical Appraisal.|year=2010|publisher=Haymarket Books|isbn=978-1-60846-203-2|pages=97–108|editor=Amarnath Amarasingam|chapter=One-Dimensional Rage: The Social Epistemology of the New Atheism and Fundamentalism}}</ref> |
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Some commentators have accused the New Atheist movement of [[Islamophobia]].<ref>{{cite news | first = Jerome | last = Taylor | url = http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/atheists-richard-dawkins-christopher-hitchens-and-sam-harris-face-islamophobia-backlash-8570580.html | title = Atheists Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris face Islamophobia backlash | work = The Independent | accessdate = April 16, 2013 | location=London | date=April 12, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author = FP Staff | url = http://www.firstpost.com/politics/unholy-war-atheists-and-the-politics-of-muslim-baiting-684377.html | title = Unholy war: Atheists and the politics of Muslim-baiting | publisher = First Post | accessdate = April 16, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="tandfonline">{{cite journal | last1 = Jacoby | first1 = Wade | last2 = Yavuz | first2 = Hakan | url = http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602000802080486 | title = Modernization, Identity and Integration: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Islam in Europe | journal = [[Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs]] | volume = 28 | issue = 1 | pages = 1 | date = April 2008 | year = 2008 | doi = 10.1080/13602000802080486}}</ref><ref name="ext.sagepub">{{cite journal | last = Emilsen | first = William | url = http://ext.sagepub.com/content/123/11/521.abstract | title = The New Atheism and Islam | journal = The Expository Times | volume = 123 | issue = 11 | pages = 521 | date = August 2012 | year = 2012 | doi = 10.1177/0014524612448737}}</ref> Wade Jacoby and Hakan Yavuz assert that "a group of 'new atheists' such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens" have "invoked [[Samuel P. Huntington|Samuel Huntington]]'s '[[The Clash of Civilizations|clash of civilizations]]' theory to explain the current political contestation" and that this forms part of a trend toward "Islamophobia [...] in the study of Muslim societies".<ref name="tandfonline" /> William W. Emilson argues that "the 'new' in the new atheists' writings is not their aggressiveness, nor their extraordinary popularity, nor even their scientific approach to religion, rather it is their attack not only on militant Islamism but also on Islam itself under the cloak of its general critique of religion".<ref name="ext.sagepub" /> Ali A. Rizvi, a secular Muslim, defends the New Atheists against charges of anti-Muslim bigotry.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-a-rizvi/an-atheist-muslims-perspective-on-the-root-causes-of-islamist-jihadism-and-the-politics-of-islamophobia_b_3159286.html|title=An Atheist Muslim's Perspective on the 'Root Causes' of Islamist Jihadism and the Politics of Islamophobia|date=May 3, 2013|newspaper=Huffington Post|author=Ali A. Rizvi}}</ref> |
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The atheist philosopher of science [[Michael Ruse]] states that Richard Dawkins would fail "introductory" courses on the study of "[[philosophy]] or [[religion]]" (such as courses on the [[philosophy of religion]]), courses which are offered, for example, at many educational institutions such as colleges and universities around the world.<ref name="DoughertyGage">{{cite book|author1=Dougherty, T|author2=Gage, LP|editor1-last=Oppy|editor1-first=Graham|title=The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon, UK; New York |isbn=978-1-84465-831-2 |quote-pages=52–53|chapter=4/ New Atheist Approaches to Religion|pages=51–62|quote=Michael Ruse (2009) said that Dawkins would fail 'any philosophy or religion course'; and for this reason Ruse says ''The God Delusion'' made him 'ashamed to be an atheist'}}</ref><ref name="RuseBiologosBeliefnet">{{cite web|last1=Ruse|first1=Michael|title=Why I Think the New Atheists are a Bloody Disaster|url=http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/scienceandthesacred/2009/08/why-i-think-the-new-atheists-are-a-bloody-disaster.html|website=Beliefnet|publisher=The BioLogos Foundation as a columnist of Beliefnet|access-date=19 August 2015|date=August 2009|quote=... I believe the new atheists do the side of science a grave disservice ... these people do a disservice to scholarship ... Richard Dawkins in ''The God Delusion'' would fail any introductory philosophy or religion course. Proudly he criticizes that whereof he knows nothing ... the poor quality of the argumentation in Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, and all of the others in that group ..." [...] "the new atheists are doing terrible political damage to the cause of Creationism fighting. Americans are religious people ... They want to be science-friendly, although it is certainly true that many have been seduced by the Creationists. We evolutionists have got to speak to these people. We have got to show them that Darwinism is their friend not their enemy. We have got to get them onside when it comes to science in the classroom. And criticizing good men like Francis Collins, accusing them of fanaticism, is just not going to do the job. Nor is criticizing everyone, like me, who wants to build a bridge to believers – not accepting the beliefs, but willing to respect someone who does have them." [...] "''The God Delusion'' makes me ashamed to be an atheist. ... They are a bloody disaster and I want to be on the front line of those who say so.|archive-date=9 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109082532/http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/scienceandthesacred/2009/08/why-i-think-the-new-atheists-are-a-bloody-disaster.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ruse also says that the movement of New Atheism—which is perceived by him to be "a bloody disaster"—makes him ashamed, as a professional philosopher of science, to be among those holding to an atheist position, particularly as New Atheism, as he sees it, does science a "grave disservice" and does a "disservice to scholarship" at a more general level.<ref name="DoughertyGage" /><ref name="RuseBiologosBeliefnet" /> [[Paul Kurtz]], editor in chief of ''[[Free Inquiry]]'', founder of [[Prometheus Books]], was critical of many of the new atheists.<ref name="Kurtz kurtz_27_2" /> He said, "I consider them atheist fundamentalists... They're anti-religious, and they're mean-spirited, unfortunately. Now, there are very good atheists and very dedicated people who do not believe in God. But you have this aggressive and militant phase of atheism, and that does more damage than good."<ref name="A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists" /> [[Jonathan Sacks]], author of ''The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning'', feels the new atheists miss the target by believing the "cure for bad religion is no religion, as opposed to good religion". He wrote:{{blockquote|Atheism deserves better than the new atheists whose methodology consists of criticizing religion without understanding it, quoting texts without contexts, taking exceptions as the rule, confusing folk belief with reflective theology, abusing, mocking, ridiculing, caricaturing, and demonizing religious faith and holding it responsible for the great crimes against humanity. Religion has done harm; I acknowledge that. But the cure for bad religion is good religion, not no religion, just as the cure for bad science is good science, not the abandonment of science.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sacks |first1=Jonathan |title=The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning |date=2011 |publisher=Schocken |location=New York |isbn=978-0-805-24301-7 |page=11 }}</ref>}} |
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In August 2013, Richard Dawkins attracted criticism after [[Twitter|Tweeting]] "All the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though." Many responded with outrage, including political commentator [[Owen Jones (writer)|Owen Jones]], who replied "How dare you dress your bigotry up as atheism. You are now beyond an embarrassment." Dawkins said he singled out Muslims because "we so often hear boasts about (a) their total numbers and (b) their science."<ref>{{cite news | first = Heather | last = Saul | url = http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/muslim-jibe-from-richard-dawkins-sparks-twitter-backlash-8753837.html | title = Richard Dawkins Muslim jibe sparks Twitter backlash | work = The Independent | accessdate = August 9, 2013 | location=London | date=August 9, 2013}}</ref> |
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The philosopher [[Massimo Pigliucci]] contends that the new atheist movement overlaps with scientism, which he finds to be philosophically unsound. He writes: "What I do object to is the tendency, found among many New Atheists, to expand the definition of science to pretty much encompassing anything that deals with 'facts', loosely conceived ... it seems clear to me that most of the New Atheists (except for the professional philosophers among them) pontificate about philosophy very likely without having read a single professional paper in that field ... I would actually go so far as to charge many of the leaders of the New Atheism movement (and, by implication, a good number of their followers) with anti-intellectualism, one mark of which is a lack of respect for the proper significance, value, and methods of another field of intellectual endeavor."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pigliucci|first1=Massimo|title=New Atheism and the Scientistic Turn in the Atheism Movement|date=2013|publisher=Midwest Studies in Philosophy|pages=151–152}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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{{Portal|Atheism|Philosophy of science|Social movements|Religion}} |
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In ''[[The Evolution of Atheism]]'', Stephen LeDrew wrote that New Atheism is fundamentalist and scientist; in contrast to atheism's tradition of [[social justice]], it is [[right-wing]] and serves to defend "the position of the white middle-class western male".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-19-022517-9|title=''The Evolution of Atheism'' (Review)|work=[[Publishers Weekly]]|date=19 October 2015|accessdate=9 April 2022|archive-date=9 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409215533/https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-19-022517-9|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Review of ''The Evolution of Atheism''|journal=Secularism and Nonreligion|last=Sullivan|first=Marek|year=2016|volume=5|issue=1|page=5|doi=10.5334/snr.73|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://secularhumanism.org/2016/03/cont-the-evolution-of-atheism-the-politics-of-a-modern-movement/|title=''The Evolution of Atheism'' (Review)|last=Flynn|first=Tom|journal=[[Free Inquiry]]|volume=36|issue=3|year=2016|access-date=10 April 2022|archive-date=10 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810221150/https://secularhumanism.org/2016/03/cont-the-evolution-of-atheism-the-politics-of-a-modern-movement/|url-status=live}}</ref> Atheist professor [[Jacques Berlinerblau]] has criticised the new atheists' mocking of religion as being inimical to their goals and claims that they have not achieved anything politically.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/professor-jacques-berlinerblau-tells-atheists-stop-whining/2012/09/14/0fdaf7f4-feab-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html|title=Professor Jacques Berlinerblau tells atheists: Stop whining!|newspaper=The Washington Post|first=Kimberly|last=Winston|date=17 September 2012|access-date=31 October 2017|archive-date=12 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112100142/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/professor-jacques-berlinerblau-tells-atheists-stop-whining/2012/09/14/0fdaf7f4-feab-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Roger Scruton]] has extensively criticized New Atheism on various occasions, generally on the grounds that they do not consider the social effects and impacts of religion in enough detail. He has said, "Look at the facts in the round and it seems likely that humans without a sense of the sacred would have died out long ago. For that same reason, the hope of the new atheists for a world without religion is probably as vain as the hope for a society without aggression or a world without death."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scruton |first=Roger |date=31 May 2014 |title=Humans hunger for the sacred. Why can't the new atheists understand that? |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/humans-hunger-for-the-sacred-why-can-t-the-new-atheists-understand-that/ |access-date=30 January 2022 |work=The Spectator |archive-date=8 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508152718/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/humans-hunger-for-the-sacred-why-can-t-the-new-atheists-understand-that/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He has also complained of the new atheists' idea that they must "set people free from religion", calling it "naive" because they "never consider that they might be taking something away from people".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzW4NEEJI48 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/MzW4NEEJI48 |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|title=Roger Scruton on New Atheism and Religion|via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref> |
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{{Columns-list|2| |
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*[[Antireligion]] |
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===Criticisms of responses to theistic arguments=== |
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*[[Antitheism]] |
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[[Edward Feser]] has critiqued the new atheists' responses to arguments for the existence of God:<ref>{{cite news |last1=Feser |first1=Edward |last2=Bowman |first2=Karlyn |title=The New Philistinism |url=https://www.aei.org/articles/the-new-philistinism/ |work=American Enterprise Institute - AEI |date=26 March 2010 |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401132215/https://www.aei.org/articles/the-new-philistinism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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*[[Atheist feminism]] |
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*[[Brights movement]] |
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{{Blockquote |text=It can safely be said that if you haven't both understood [[Thomas Aquinas|Aquinas]] and answered him – not to mention [[Anselm of Canterbury|Anselm]], [[Duns Scotus]], [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]], [[Samuel Clarke]], and so on, but let that pass – then you have hardly "made your case" against religion. Yet Dawkins is the only "New Atheist" to offer anything even remotely like an attempt to answer him, feeble as it is. |author=Edward Feser |source=''The Last Superstition'' (2008) }} |
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*[[Conflict thesis]] |
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*[[Continuity thesis]] |
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===Criticism from David Bentley Hart=== |
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*[[Critical thinking]] |
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''[[Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies]]'' by [[David Bentley Hart]] was published by [[Yale University Press|Yale]] in 2009. Philosopher [[Anthony Kenny]] called Hart's book "the most able counsel for the defence in recent years".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.truthdig.com/articles/anthony-kenny-on-atheist-delusions/ |title=Anthony Kenny on 'Atheist Delusions' |website=[[The Times Literary Supplement]] and [[Truthdig]] |date=14 May 2010 |access-date=23 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109041146/https://www.truthdig.com/articles/anthony-kenny-on-atheist-delusions/ |archive-date=9 November 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Writing for [[Commonweal (magazine)|''Commonweal'']], poet Michael Robbins described the book as "an unanswerable and frequently hilarious demolition of the shoddy thinking and historical illiteracy of the so-called New Atheists."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/he-who |title=He Is Who Is |website=[[Commonweal (magazine)|Commonweal]] |date=27 January 2014 |access-date=23 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226002731/https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/he-who |archive-date=26 December 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On 27 May 2011, Hart's book was awarded the Michael Ramsey Prize in Theology by the Archbishop of Canterbury, [[Rowan Williams]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/2052/winner-of-10000-theology-prize-announced |title=Winner of £10,000 Theology Prize Announced |website=The Archbishop of Canterbury |date=May 2011 |access-date=4 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704201744/http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/2052/winner-of-10000-theology-prize-announced |archive-date=4 July 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-05/david-b-hart-wins-2011-michael-ramsay-prize |title=David B. Hart wins the 2011 Michael Ramsay prize |website=[[The Christian Century]] |date=27 May 2011 |access-date=22 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118095958/https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2011-05/david-b-hart-wins-2011-michael-ramsay-prize |archive-date=18 January 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Hart argues positively that Christianity was a progressive factor in human history and the only factor that "can be called in the fullest sense" a revolution. In his negative case against New Atheism, Hart argues that the Enlightenment was actually "a reactionary flight back toward a comfortable, but dehumanizing, mental and moral servitude to elemental nature."<ref>{{cite book |last=Hart |first=David Bentley |author-link=David Bentley Hart |date=2009 |title=Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies |chapter=Introduction |location=New Haven, CT |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300164299}}</ref> |
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*[[Criticism of religion]] |
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*[[Faith and rationality]] |
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===Accusations of bigotry=== |
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*[[Freethought]] |
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{{See also|Elevatorgate}} |
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*[[History of atheism]] |
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The New Atheist movement has been accused of sexism, especially prominent figures such as [[Richard Dawkins]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Winston |first1=Kimberly |title=Leading atheist, accused of sexual misconduct, speaks out |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/09/06/americas-leading-atheist-accused-of-sexual-misconduct-speaks-out/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=6 September 2018 |access-date=13 July 2022 |archive-date=6 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906224359/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/09/06/americas-leading-atheist-accused-of-sexual-misconduct-speaks-out/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Bianco |first=Marcie |date=2016-02-12 |title=Brazen sexism is pushing women out of America's atheism movement |url=https://qz.com/613270/brazen-sexism-is-pushing-women-out-of-americas-atheism-movement/ |access-date=2022-07-21 |website=Quartz |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709020912/https://qz.com/613270/brazen-sexism-is-pushing-women-out-of-americas-atheism-movement/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, Sam Harris said that New Atheism was "to some degree intrinsically male".<ref name=":4" /> [[Sebastian Milbank]] of [[The Critic (modern magazine)|''The Critic'']] stated that [[Anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom|anti-Catholic]] rhetoric by the New Atheist movement reached its pinnacle in 2010, during the [[state visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom]], where "many mainstream newspapers (especially ''[[The Guardian]]'') engaged in more or less naked anti-Catholic rhetoric of a sort that seemed more suited to the eighteenth century than the twenty-first".<ref name="milbank 2022">{{Cite magazine |last=Milbank |first=Sebastian |date=2022-06-15 |title=The strange afterlife of New Atheism |url=https://thecritic.co.uk/the-strange-afterlife-of-new-atheism/ |access-date=2022-06-16 |magazine=[[The Critic (modern magazine)|The Critic]] |archive-date=15 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615082848/https://thecritic.co.uk/the-strange-afterlife-of-new-atheism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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*[[Metaphysical naturalism]] |
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*[[Misotheism]] |
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Some commentators have accused the New Atheist movement of [[Islamophobia]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Jerome|last=Taylor|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/atheists-richard-dawkins-christopher-hitchens-and-sam-harris-face-islamophobia-backlash-8570580.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/atheists-richard-dawkins-christopher-hitchens-and-sam-harris-face-islamophobia-backlash-8570580.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Atheists Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris face Islamophobia backlash|work=The Independent|date=13 April 2013|access-date=30 January 2022}}</ref><ref>FP Staff [http://www.firstpost.com/politics/unholy-war-atheists-and-the-politics-of-muslim-baiting-684377.html "Unholy war: Atheists and the politics of Muslim-baiting] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608144450/http://www.firstpost.com/politics/unholy-war-atheists-and-the-politics-of-muslim-baiting-684377.html |date=8 June 2017 }}". ''First Post''. Retrieved April 16, 2013.</ref><ref name="Jacoby Yavuz">{{cite journal |last1=Jacoby |first1=Wade |last2=Yavuz |first2=Hakan |title=Modernization, Identity and Integration: An Introduction to the Special Issue on Islam in Europe |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=1 | date=April 2008 |doi=10.1080/13602000802080486 |s2cid=144021468}}</ref><ref name="emilsen 2012">{{cite journal |last = Emilsen | first = William |title =The New Atheism and Islam |journal=The Expository Times |volume=123 |issue=11 |pages=521–528 |date=August 2012 |doi=10.1177/0014524612448737 |s2cid=171036043}}</ref> Wade Jacoby and Hakan Yavuz assert that "a group of 'new atheists' such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens" have "invoked Samuel Huntington's 'clash of civilizations' theory to explain the current political contestation" and that this forms part of a trend toward "Islamophobia{{nbsp}}... in the study of Muslim societies".<ref name="Jacoby Yavuz" /> William W. Emilson argues that "the 'new' in the new atheists' writings is not their aggressiveness, nor their extraordinary popularity, nor even their scientific approach to religion, rather it is their attack not only on militant Islamism but also on Islam itself under the cloak of its general critique of religion."<ref name="emilsen 2012" /> |
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*[[Psychology of religion]] |
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*[[Scientism]] |
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== See also == |
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*[[Skepticism]] |
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{{Col-begin}} |
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*[[Sociology of religion]] |
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{{Col-break}} |
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*[[Theory of religious economy]] |
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* [[Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief|''A Brief History of Disbelief'']] – 3-part [[PBS|PBS series]] (2007) |
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}} |
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* [[Antireligion]] |
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* [[Atheist feminism]] |
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* [[Brights movement]] |
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* [[Conflict thesis]] |
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* [[Critical thinking]] |
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* [[Criticism of religion]] |
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* [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]] |
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* [[Freethought]] |
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* [[History of atheism]] |
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{{Col-break}} |
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* [[Metaphysical naturalism]] |
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* [[Misotheism]] |
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* [[Materialism]] |
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* [[Parody religion]] |
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* [[Public awareness of science]] |
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* [[Relationship between religion and science]] |
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* [[Secular movement]] |
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* [[Social movement]] |
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{{Col-end}} |
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== References == |
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'''Informational notes''' |
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{{Notelist}} |
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'''Citations''' |
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{{Reflist}} |
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== External links == |
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* {{citation |url= https://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism? |title= Richard Dawkins, "Militant atheism" |work= [[TED talk]] |date= 2002 }} |
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{{New Atheism}} |
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{{Irreligion}} |
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{{Theism}} |
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{{Criticism of religion}} |
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{{Portal bar|Religion|Philosophy|Science|Society}} |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist|2}} |
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{{Atheism}} |
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{{Belief systems}} |
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[[Category:New Atheism| ]] |
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[[Category:Antitheism]] |
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[[Category:Atheism]] |
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[[Category:Freethought]] |
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[[Category:History of ideas]] |
Latest revision as of 21:08, 4 December 2024
Part of a series on |
Atheism |
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The term New Atheism describes the positions of some atheist academics, writers, scientists, and philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries.[1][2] New Atheism advocates the view that superstition, religion, and irrationalism should not be tolerated. Instead, they advocate the antitheist view that the various forms of theism should be criticised, countered, examined, and challenged by rational argument, especially when they exert strong influence on the broader society, such as in government, education, and politics.[3][4] Critics have characterised New Atheism as "secular fundamentalism" or "fundamentalist atheism".[5][6][7][8][9] Major figures of New Atheism include Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett, collectively referred to as the "Four Horsemen" of the movement.
History
[edit]The secular humanist Paul Kurtz (1925–2012), founder of the Center for Inquiry, is often regarded as a forerunner to the New Atheism movement.[10][11] The 2004 publication of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris, a bestseller in the United States, was joined over the next couple years by a series of popular best-sellers by atheist authors.[12][13] Harris was motivated by the events of 11 September 2001, for which he blamed Islam, while also directly criticizing Christianity and Judaism.[14] Two years later, Harris followed up with Letter to a Christian Nation, which was a severe criticism of Christianity.[15] Also in 2006, following his television documentary series The Root of All Evil? Richard Dawkins published The God Delusion, which was on the New York Times best-seller list for 51 weeks.[16]
In 2010, Tom Flynn (1955–2021), then editor of Free Inquiry, stated that the only thing new about "New Atheism" was the wider publication of atheist material by big-name publishers, books that appeared on bestseller lists and were read by millions.[17] Mitchell Landsberg, covering a gathering held by the Council for Secular Humanism in 2010, said that religious skeptics in attendance were at odds between "new atheists" who preferred to "encourage open confrontation with the devout" and "accommodationists" who preferred "a subtler, more tactical approach."[18] Kurtz was ousted from the Center for Inquiry in the late 2000's.[18][11] This was in part due to a perception that Kurtz was "on the mellower end of the spectrum" according to Flynn.[18]
In November 2015, The New Republic published an article entitled "Is the New Atheism dead?"[19] In 2016, the atheist and evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson (b. 1949) wrote: "The world appears to be tiring of the New Atheism movement."[20] In 2017, PZ Myers, who formerly considered himself a new atheist, publicly renounced the New Atheism movement.[21] The book The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution was released in 2019.[22][13]
Legacy
[edit]In a January 2019 retrospective article, Steven Poole of The Guardian observed: "For some, New Atheism was never about God at all, but just a topical subgenre of the rightwing backlash against the supposedly suffocating atmosphere of 'political correctness'."[23] In November 2019, Scott Alexander argued that New Atheism did not disappear as a political movement but instead turned to social justice as a new cause to fight for.[24]
In an April 2021 interview, Natalie Wynn, a left-wing YouTuber who runs the channel ContraPoints, commented: "The alt-right, the manosphere, incels, even the so-called SJW Internet and LeftTube all have a genetic ancestor in New Atheism."[25] In a June 2021 retrospective article, Émile P. Torres of Salon argued that prominent figures in the New Atheist movement had aligned themselves with the far-right.[26]
In a June 2022 retrospective article, Sebastian Milbank of The Critic stated that, as a movement, "New Atheism has fractured and lost its original spirit", that "much of what New Atheism embodied has now migrated rightwards", and that "another portion has moved leftwards, embodied by the 'I Fucking Love Science' woke nerd of today."[27] Following the conversion of writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to Christianity in 2023, the columnist Sarah Jones wrote in New York magazine that the New Atheism movement was in "terminal decline".[28]
Prominent figures
[edit]Key figures associated with New Atheism include Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.[29][30]
"Four Horsemen"
[edit]On 30 September 2007, Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, and Dennett met at Hitchens' residence in Washington, D.C., for a private two-hour unmoderated round table discussion. The event was videotaped and titled "The Four Horsemen".[31] During "The God Debate" in 2010 with Hitchens versus Dinesh D'Souza, the group was collectively referred to as the "Four Horsemen of the Non-Apocalypse",[32] an allusion to the biblical Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation.[33] The four have been described by critics as "evangelical atheists".[34]
Dawkins, the author of The God Delusion,[35] and director of a Channel 4 television documentary titled The Root of All Evil?, is the founder of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. He wrote: "I don't object to the horseman label, by the way. I'm less keen on 'new atheist': it isn't clear to me how we differ from old atheists."[36]
Harris wrote several bestselling non-fiction books including The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, and Waking Up, along with two shorter works (initially published as e-books) Free Will and Lying.[37] [38]
Hitchens, the author of God Is Not Great,[39] was named among the "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by Foreign Policy and Prospect magazines. He served on the advisory board of the Secular Coalition for America. In 2010, Hitchens published his memoir Hitch-22 (a nickname provided by close personal friend Salman Rushdie, whom Hitchens always supported during and following The Satanic Verses controversy).[40] Shortly after its publication, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, which led to his death in December 2011.[41] Before his death, Hitchens published a collection of essays and articles in his book Arguably;[42] a short edition, Mortality,[43] was published posthumously in 2012. These publications and numerous public appearances provided Hitchens with a platform to remain an astute atheist during his illness, even speaking specifically on the culture of deathbed conversions and condemning attempts to convert the terminally ill, which he opposed as "bad taste".[44][45]
Dennett was the author of Darwin's Dangerous Idea and Breaking the Spell.[46][47] He had been a vocal supporter of The Clergy Project,[48] an organization that provides support for clergy in the US who no longer believe in God and cannot fully participate in their communities any longer.[49] He was also a member of the Secular Coalition for America advisory board,[50] and a member of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, as well as an outspoken supporter of the Brights movement. He did research into clerics who are secretly atheists and how they rationalize their works. He found what he called a "don't ask, don't tell" conspiracy because believers did not want to hear of loss of faith. This made unbelieving preachers feel isolated, but they did not want to lose their jobs and church-supplied lodgings. Generally, they consoled themselves with the belief that they were doing good in their pastoral roles by providing comfort and required ritual.[51] The research, with Linda LaScola, was further extended to include other denominations and non-Christian clerics.[52] The research and stories Dennett and LaScola accumulated during this project were published in their 2013 co-authored book, Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind.[53]
"Plus one horse-woman"
[edit]Ayaan Hirsi Ali was a central figure of New Atheism[29] until she announced her conversion to Christianity in November 2023.[54] Hirsi Ali, originally scheduled to attend the 2007 meeting,[55] later appeared with Dawkins, Dennett, and Harris at the 2012 Global Atheist Convention, where she was referred to as the "plus one horse-woman" by Dawkins.[56] Robyn Blumner, CEO of the Center for Inquiry, described Hirsi Ali as the "Fifth" horseman.[30]
Hirsi Ali was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, fleeing in 1992 to the Netherlands in order to escape an arranged marriage.[57] She became involved in Dutch politics, rejected faith, and became vocal in opposing Islamic ideology, especially concerning women, as exemplified by her books Infidel and The Caged Virgin.[58]
Hirsi Ali was later involved in the production of the film Submission, for which her friend Theo van Gogh was murdered with a death threat to Hirsi Ali pinned to his chest.[59] This event resulted in Hirsi Ali's hiding and later emigrating to the United States, where she resides and remains a prolific critic of Islam.[60] She regularly speaks out against the treatment of women in Islamic doctrine and society[61] and is a proponent of free speech and the freedom to offend.[62][63]
Writing in a column in November 2023, Ali announced her conversion to the Christian faith, saying the Judeo-Christian tradition is the only answer to the problems of the modern world.[64][65]
Others
[edit]Others have either self-identified as or been classified by some commentators as new atheists:
- Dan Barker (b. 1949), author of Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists[66]
- Peter Boghossian (b. 1966), philosopher and author of A Manual for Creating Atheists[67]
- Greta Christina (b. 1961), author of Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things that Piss Off the Godless[68]
- Jerry Coyne (b. 1949), author of Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible[69][70]
- Rebecca Goldstein (b. 1950), philosopher and author of 36 Arguments for the Existence of God[71]
- Michel Onfray (b. 1959), author of Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam[72]
- Michael Schmidt-Salomon (b. 1967) author of Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism and identified as Germany's "Chief Atheist"[73]
- TJ Kirk (b. 1985), YouTube personality and podcast host known for his YouTube Channel Amazing Atheist[74]
- Rebecca Watson (b. 1980), author of the blog Skepchick[75]
- Victor J. Stenger (1935–2014), author of God: The Failed Hypothesis[76][77]
Some writers sometimes classified as new atheists by others have explicitly distanced themselves from the label:
- A. C. Grayling (b. 1949), philosopher and author of The God Argument[78][70]
- John W. Loftus (b. 1954), author of The Outsider Test For Faith[79]
- P. Z. Myers (b. 1957), writer and biologist. Author of the blog Pharyngula
Perspective
[edit]Many contemporary atheists write from a scientific perspective. Unlike previous writers, many of whom thought that science was indifferent or even incapable of dealing with the "God" concept, Dawkins argues to the contrary, claiming the "God Hypothesis" is a valid scientific hypothesis,[80] having effects in the physical universe, and like any other hypothesis can be tested and falsified. Victor Stenger proposed that the personal Abrahamic God is a scientific hypothesis that can be tested by standard methods of science. Both Dawkins and Stenger conclude that the hypothesis fails any such tests,[81] and argue that naturalism is sufficient to explain everything we observe. They argue that nowhere is it necessary to introduce God or the supernatural to understand reality.
Scientific testing of religion
[edit]Non-believers (in religion and the supernatural) assert that many religious or supernatural claims (such as the virgin birth of Jesus and the afterlife) are scientific claims in nature. For instance, they argue, as do deists and Progressive Christians, that the issue of Jesus' supposed parentage is a question of scientific inquiry, rather than "values" or "morals".[82] Rational thinkers believe science is capable of investigating at least some, if not all, supernatural claims.[83] Institutions such as the Mayo Clinic and Duke University have conducted empirical studies to try to identify whether there is evidence for the healing power of intercessory prayer.[84] According to Stenger, the experiments found no evidence that intercessory prayer worked.[85]
Logical arguments
[edit]In his book God: The Failed Hypothesis, Victor Stenger argues that a God having omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent attributes, which he termed a 3O God, cannot logically exist.[86] A similar series of alleged logical disproofs of the existence of a God with various attributes can be found in Michael Martin and Ricki Monnier's The Impossibility of God,[87] or Theodore Drange's article, "Incompatible-Properties Arguments: A Survey".[88]
Views on non-overlapping magisteria
[edit]Richard Dawkins has been particularly critical of the conciliatory view that science and religion are not in conflict, noting, for example, that the Abrahamic religions constantly dabble in scientific matters.[82] In a 1998 article published in Free Inquiry magazine,[82] and later in his 2006 book The God Delusion, Dawkins expresses disagreement with the view advocated by Stephen Jay Gould that science and religion are two non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA), each existing in a "domain where one form of teaching holds the appropriate tools for meaningful discourse and resolution".[82]
In Gould's proposal, science and religion should be confined to distinct non-overlapping domains: science would be limited to the empirical realm, including theories developed to describe observations, while religion would deal with questions of ultimate meaning and moral value. Dawkins contends that NOMA does not describe empirical facts about the intersection of science and religion. He argued: "It is completely unrealistic to claim, as Gould and many others do, that religion keeps itself away from science's turf, restricting itself to morals and values. A universe with a supernatural presence would be a fundamentally and qualitatively different kind of universe from one without. The difference is, inescapably, a scientific difference. Religions make existence claims, and this means scientific claims."[82]
Science and morality
[edit]Harris considers that the well-being of conscious creatures forms the basis of morality. In The Moral Landscape, he argues that science can in principle answer moral questions and help maximize well-being.[89] Harris also criticizes cultural and moral relativism, arguing that it prevents people from making objective moral judgments about practices that clearly harm human well-being, such as female genital mutilation. Harris contends that we can make scientifically-based claims about the negative impacts of such practices on human welfare, and that withholding judgment in these cases is tantamount to claiming complete ignorance about what contributes to human well-being.[90]
Politics
[edit]In the context of international politics, the principles of New Atheism establish no particular stance in and of themselves.[91] P. Z. Myers stated that New Atheism's key proponents are "a madly disorganized mob, united only by [their] dislike of the god-thing".[92] That said, the demographic that supports New Atheism is a markedly homogeneous one; in America and the Anglo-sphere more generally, this cohort is "more likely to be younger, male and single, to have higher than average levels of income and education, to be less authoritarian, less dogmatic, less prejudiced, less conformist and more tolerant and open-minded on religious issues."[91] Because of this homogeneity among the group, there exists not a formal dynamic but a loose consensus on broad political "efforts, objectives, and strategies".[93]
For example, one of the primary aims is to further reduce the entanglement of church and state, which derives from the "belief that religion is antithetical to liberal values, such as freedom of expression and the separation of public from private life".[93][94][95] Additionally, new atheists have engaged in the campaign "to ensure legal and civic equality for atheists", in a world considerably unwelcoming to and distrustful of non-religious believers.[94][95][96] Hitchens may be the atheist concerned most with religion's incompatibility with contemporary liberal principles, and particularly its imposed limitation on both freedom of speech and freedom of expression.[94][97] Because New Atheism's proliferation is accredited partly to the 11 September attacks and the ubiquitous, visceral response, Richard Dawkins, among many in his cohort, believes that theism (in this case, Islam) jeopardizes political institutions and national security, and he warns of religion's potency in motivating "people to do terrible things" against international polities.[98]
Criticisms
[edit]According to Nature, "Critics of new atheism, as well as many new atheists themselves, contend that in philosophical terms it differs little from earlier historical forms of atheist thought."[99]
Scientism, accusations of evangelicalism and fundamentalism
[edit]Critics of the movement described it as militant atheism and fundamentalist atheism.[a][100][101][102][11] Theologians Jeffrey Robbins and Christopher Rodkey take issue with what they regard as "the evangelical nature of the New Atheism, which assumes that it has a Good News to share, at all cost, for the ultimate future of humanity by the conversion of as many people as possible", and believe they have found similarities between New Atheism and evangelical Christianity and conclude that the all-consuming nature of both "encourages endless conflict without progress" between both extremities.[103] Political philosopher John Gray asserts that New Atheism, humanism, and scientism are extensions of religion, particularly Christianity.[104] Sociologist William Stahl said, "What is striking about the current debate is the frequency with which the New Atheists are portrayed as mirror images of religious fundamentalists."[105]
The atheist philosopher of science Michael Ruse states that Richard Dawkins would fail "introductory" courses on the study of "philosophy or religion" (such as courses on the philosophy of religion), courses which are offered, for example, at many educational institutions such as colleges and universities around the world.[106][107] Ruse also says that the movement of New Atheism—which is perceived by him to be "a bloody disaster"—makes him ashamed, as a professional philosopher of science, to be among those holding to an atheist position, particularly as New Atheism, as he sees it, does science a "grave disservice" and does a "disservice to scholarship" at a more general level.[106][107] Paul Kurtz, editor in chief of Free Inquiry, founder of Prometheus Books, was critical of many of the new atheists.[102] He said, "I consider them atheist fundamentalists... They're anti-religious, and they're mean-spirited, unfortunately. Now, there are very good atheists and very dedicated people who do not believe in God. But you have this aggressive and militant phase of atheism, and that does more damage than good."[11] Jonathan Sacks, author of The Great Partnership: Science, Religion, and the Search for Meaning, feels the new atheists miss the target by believing the "cure for bad religion is no religion, as opposed to good religion". He wrote:
Atheism deserves better than the new atheists whose methodology consists of criticizing religion without understanding it, quoting texts without contexts, taking exceptions as the rule, confusing folk belief with reflective theology, abusing, mocking, ridiculing, caricaturing, and demonizing religious faith and holding it responsible for the great crimes against humanity. Religion has done harm; I acknowledge that. But the cure for bad religion is good religion, not no religion, just as the cure for bad science is good science, not the abandonment of science.[108]
The philosopher Massimo Pigliucci contends that the new atheist movement overlaps with scientism, which he finds to be philosophically unsound. He writes: "What I do object to is the tendency, found among many New Atheists, to expand the definition of science to pretty much encompassing anything that deals with 'facts', loosely conceived ... it seems clear to me that most of the New Atheists (except for the professional philosophers among them) pontificate about philosophy very likely without having read a single professional paper in that field ... I would actually go so far as to charge many of the leaders of the New Atheism movement (and, by implication, a good number of their followers) with anti-intellectualism, one mark of which is a lack of respect for the proper significance, value, and methods of another field of intellectual endeavor."[109]
In The Evolution of Atheism, Stephen LeDrew wrote that New Atheism is fundamentalist and scientist; in contrast to atheism's tradition of social justice, it is right-wing and serves to defend "the position of the white middle-class western male".[110][111][112] Atheist professor Jacques Berlinerblau has criticised the new atheists' mocking of religion as being inimical to their goals and claims that they have not achieved anything politically.[113] Roger Scruton has extensively criticized New Atheism on various occasions, generally on the grounds that they do not consider the social effects and impacts of religion in enough detail. He has said, "Look at the facts in the round and it seems likely that humans without a sense of the sacred would have died out long ago. For that same reason, the hope of the new atheists for a world without religion is probably as vain as the hope for a society without aggression or a world without death."[114] He has also complained of the new atheists' idea that they must "set people free from religion", calling it "naive" because they "never consider that they might be taking something away from people".[115]
Criticisms of responses to theistic arguments
[edit]Edward Feser has critiqued the new atheists' responses to arguments for the existence of God:[116]
It can safely be said that if you haven't both understood Aquinas and answered him – not to mention Anselm, Duns Scotus, Leibniz, Samuel Clarke, and so on, but let that pass – then you have hardly "made your case" against religion. Yet Dawkins is the only "New Atheist" to offer anything even remotely like an attempt to answer him, feeble as it is.
— Edward Feser, The Last Superstition (2008)
Criticism from David Bentley Hart
[edit]Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies by David Bentley Hart was published by Yale in 2009. Philosopher Anthony Kenny called Hart's book "the most able counsel for the defence in recent years".[117] Writing for Commonweal, poet Michael Robbins described the book as "an unanswerable and frequently hilarious demolition of the shoddy thinking and historical illiteracy of the so-called New Atheists."[118] On 27 May 2011, Hart's book was awarded the Michael Ramsey Prize in Theology by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.[119][120] Hart argues positively that Christianity was a progressive factor in human history and the only factor that "can be called in the fullest sense" a revolution. In his negative case against New Atheism, Hart argues that the Enlightenment was actually "a reactionary flight back toward a comfortable, but dehumanizing, mental and moral servitude to elemental nature."[121]
Accusations of bigotry
[edit]The New Atheist movement has been accused of sexism, especially prominent figures such as Richard Dawkins.[122][123] In 2014, Sam Harris said that New Atheism was "to some degree intrinsically male".[123] Sebastian Milbank of The Critic stated that anti-Catholic rhetoric by the New Atheist movement reached its pinnacle in 2010, during the state visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom, where "many mainstream newspapers (especially The Guardian) engaged in more or less naked anti-Catholic rhetoric of a sort that seemed more suited to the eighteenth century than the twenty-first".[27]
Some commentators have accused the New Atheist movement of Islamophobia.[124][125][126][127] Wade Jacoby and Hakan Yavuz assert that "a group of 'new atheists' such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens" have "invoked Samuel Huntington's 'clash of civilizations' theory to explain the current political contestation" and that this forms part of a trend toward "Islamophobia ... in the study of Muslim societies".[126] William W. Emilson argues that "the 'new' in the new atheists' writings is not their aggressiveness, nor their extraordinary popularity, nor even their scientific approach to religion, rather it is their attack not only on militant Islamism but also on Islam itself under the cloak of its general critique of religion."[127]
See also
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References
[edit]Informational notes
Citations
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Michael Ruse (2009) said that Dawkins would fail 'any philosophy or religion course'; and for this reason Ruse says The God Delusion made him 'ashamed to be an atheist'
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