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margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #fa0000; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#fa0000"><b>Going One God Further</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Atheism" title="Atheism"><font size="4" color="White"><b>Atheism</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#ffe5e5;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheism" title="Category:Atheism"><img alt="Icon atheism.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/b/b0/Icon_atheism.svg/100px-Icon_atheism.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/b/b0/Icon_atheism.svg/150px-Icon_atheism.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/b/b0/Icon_atheism.svg/200px-Icon_atheism.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#fa0000; text-align:center;"><b>Key Concepts</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffe5e5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Atheism" title="Atheism">Atheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Agnosticism" title="Agnosticism">Agnosticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Antitheism" title="Antitheism">Antitheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/FAQ_for_the_Newly_Deconverted" title="FAQ for the Newly Deconverted">FAQ for the Newly Deconverted</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#fa0000; text-align:center;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheism" title="Category:Atheism"><font color="white">Articles to not believe in</font></a></b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffe5e5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Letter_to_a_Christian_Nation" title="Letter to a Christian Nation">Letter to a Christian Nation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Necessity_of_Atheism" title="The Necessity of Atheism">The Necessity of Atheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/%C2%AB_J%27%C3%A9tais_ath%C3%A9e_autrefois_%C2%BB" title="« J'étais athée autrefois »">« J'étais athée autrefois »</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Leo_Igwe" title="Leo Igwe">Leo Igwe</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#fa0000; text-align:center;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheists" title="Category:Atheists"><font color="white">Notable heathens</font></a></b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffe5e5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/AronRa" title="AronRa">AronRa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/A._Philip_Randolph" title="A. Philip Randolph">A. Philip Randolph</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hunter_Avallone" title="Hunter Avallone">Hunter Avallone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bal_Thackeray" title="Bal Thackeray">Bal Thackeray</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Atheism" title="Template:Atheism">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Atheism" title="Template talk:Atheism">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Atheism&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>New Atheism</b> was a contemporary intellectual movement uniting outspoken <a href="/wiki/Atheists" class="mw-redirect" title="Atheists">atheists</a>. The New Atheists' philosophies and arguments were generally consistent with those of their predecessor-atheists; what was "new" was the profitability and the style. Most of the prominent New Atheists had written at least one book which has become a bestseller — an almost unheard of achievement for atheistic authors in the past. New Atheists consider belief in <a href="/wiki/God" title="God">God</a> erroneous as well as detrimental to human <a href="/wiki/Society" title="Society">society</a>, and espouse their views frequently and publicly. In the 21st century, many <a href="/wiki/Antitheism" title="Antitheism">anti-religious</a> thinkers have become the subject of media attention, although many reject the "New Atheist" label. While some prefer to call New Atheism a trend manufactured by the media (specifically, in a 2006 article featured in <i>Wired</i><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup>) rather than a real organized movement, others later came to openly adopt the term, notably with the publication of <a href="/wiki/Victor_J._Stenger" title="Victor J. Stenger">Victor J. Stenger</a>'s 2009 book <i>The New Atheism</i> (<a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59102-751-5" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-59102-751-5">ISBN 978-1-59102-751-5</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> </p><p>The term sometimes functions as a <a href="/wiki/Straw_man" title="Straw man">straw man</a>, as commentators can use it to characterize the tactics or personal beliefs of non-believers <a href="/wiki/Stereotype" title="Stereotype"><i>en masse</i></a>, ignoring internal differences and tensions within <a href="/wiki/Irreligion" title="Irreligion">irreligion</a>. </p><p>One may contrast New Atheists with <a href="/wiki/Accommodationism" title="Accommodationism">accomodationists</a>, who argue that common ground may be found between the non-religious and those who have more moderate religious beliefs. Your typical New Atheist might respond that if religious moderates truly cared about social issues and public acceptance of science, they would ally themselves with atheists on such issues without demanding unilateral self-censorship on the part of the non-religious. </p><p>Some "non-New" Atheists (such as <a href="/wiki/PZ_Myers" title="PZ Myers">PZ Myers</a>) have criticized those who are agreed upon as being associated with this movement, due to its neglect for issues associated with that which could be seen as a consequence of some of religion's advances, such as racism and sexism, and have proposed alternative Atheist movements to counter this. In this same vein, others have also criticized its increasing association with right-wing politics. </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#The_definitions"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">The definitions</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#The_trend"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">The trend</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#The_New_Atheists"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">The New Atheists</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#.22The_Four_Horsemen.22"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext"><i>"The Four Horsemen"</i></span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="#Other_.22new.22_atheists"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Other "new" atheists</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="#Absolutely_not_one_of_them"><span class="tocnumber">3.3</span> <span class="toctext">Absolutely not one of them</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#YouTube_atheists"><span class="tocnumber">3.4</span> <span class="toctext">YouTube atheists</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="#Not_New_Atheists"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Not New Atheists</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9"><a href="#Criticisms"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Criticisms</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="#Straw_man"><span class="tocnumber">5.1</span> <span class="toctext">Straw man</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11"><a href="#Morality_and_the_social_role_of_religion"><span class="tocnumber">5.2</span> <span class="toctext">Morality and the social role of religion</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><a href="#Islam_and_terrorism"><span class="tocnumber">5.3</span> <span class="toctext">Islam and terrorism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13"><a href="#Sexism"><span class="tocnumber">5.4</span> <span class="toctext">Sexism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14"><a href="#Miscellaneous_criticism"><span class="tocnumber">5.5</span> <span class="toctext">Miscellaneous criticism</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15"><a href="#Religion_vs._Ideology"><span class="tocnumber">5.6</span> <span class="toctext">Religion vs. Ideology</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16"><a href="#Far_Right"><span class="tocnumber">5.7</span> <span class="toctext">Far Right</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17"><a href="#Bibliography"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Bibliography</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-19"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-20"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">9</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-21"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">10</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="The_definitions">The definitions</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: The definitions">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Beyond the occasional use of capital letters, the actual distinction between New Atheists and atheists in general is unclear. The term "New Atheism" is generally only used in blogs and opinion columns, and is more of a pejorative than a self-descriptor for the New Atheists, some of whom have taken the <a href="/wiki/Meme" title="Meme">meme</a> up and go as far as satirising the term by coining a new one, "Gnu Atheists."<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> </p><p>Suggested distinctives of a New Atheist include that they are "angry", "shrill", or "forceful", or possibly <a href="/wiki/Blood_libel" title="Blood libel">"eat children"</a>. It is true that <a href="/wiki/Richard_Dawkins" title="Richard Dawkins">Richard Dawkins</a> is quite uncompromising in his atheist writings, but he's not the entire universe of all who are labeled as New Atheists. Victor Strenger has defined it as the "harder line".<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup> New Atheists, to be blunt, don't know what the hell they are talking about: Andrew Brown observes "They are none of them philosophers,"<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[note 1]</a></sup> and notes that "most are scientists, none study psychology, history, the sociology of religion, or any other discipline which might cast light on the objects of their execration."<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[5]</a></sup> This would all be well and good if they limited their perorations to gaseous emanations of nebulae or bumblebee flight, but instead, the New Atheists freely pronounce on matters of actual consequence, such as those noted by Brown, clearly outside the overlap of their magisteria. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="The_trend">The trend</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: The trend">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:295px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Militant_atheist.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/3/39/Militant_atheist.jpg" decoding="async" width="293" height="355" class="thumbimage" data-file-width="293" data-file-height="355" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Militant_atheist.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Because <i>opposing</i> <a href="/wiki/ISIS" class="mw-redirect" title="ISIS">ISIS</a>... <a href="/wiki/Guilt_by_association" class="mw-redirect" title="Guilt by association"><i>makes you</i></a> ISIS. And not a <a href="/wiki/False_equivalency" class="mw-redirect" title="False equivalency">false equivalency</a> in sight!</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>I got kicked out of barnes and noble once for moving all the bibles into the fiction section.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<[TN]FBMachine><sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[6]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>"New Atheists" don't actually exist, have never existed, and even if they had existed <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.stupidatheist.com/2016/01/12/the-new-atheists-arent/">they wouldn't be "new" anymore</a>.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—/u/hurricanelantern, writing in retrospect in 2017.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[7]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The "new atheist" phenomenon may not really be a set of <i>people</i> which have come into a new existence (so-called "second generation" atheists that grew up in non-religious households), but rather a media trend in which outspoken atheist views, particularly views explicitly critical of religion, have become more acceptable to print. This has caused an increase in atheistic writing breaking through into mainstream periodicals, prominent display in bookstores, and at least one documentary film on the <a href="/wiki/BBC" title="BBC">BBC</a> — the whole thing can actually be quite a lucrative business, which is possibly the cause of a lot of the harsh criticism of the authors.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[8]</a></sup> The need for the media to provoke and attract attention may have driven this; religion has always been a touchy and controversial topic, and books with titles such as <i><a href="/wiki/God_Is_Not_Great" class="mw-redirect" title="God Is Not Great">God Is Not Great</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/The_God_Delusion" title="The God Delusion">The God Delusion</a></i> certainly attract the sort of hard-hitting controversy that sells well — even if their contents aren't as angry as the titles suggest. </p><p>This has been explained — in the US, at least, but also perhaps worldwide — as a backlash response to the massively unpopular <a href="/wiki/George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a> presidency, with its <a href="/wiki/Fundamentalist" class="mw-redirect" title="Fundamentalist">fundamentalist</a> religious base; stories that "<a href="/wiki/God" title="God">God</a> told <a href="/wiki/Bush" title="Bush">Bush</a> to invade <a href="/wiki/Iraq" title="Iraq">Iraq</a>" didn't help. The raising of fundamentalist religion into the mainstream consciousness was also assisted by the <a href="/wiki/9/11" title="9/11">September 11th</a> attacks on the World Trade Center, which cemented into popular perception how powerful belief can be and how it can be twisted into an excuse to hate, maim, and kill. The prominent highlighting of these negative aspects of religion most certainly aided the increased acceptance of religious criticism, and by extension, atheism and anti-theism. The <a href="/wiki/Atheist_Bus_Campaign" title="Atheist Bus Campaign">Atheist Bus Campaign</a>, where the phrase "<i>There's probably no God - Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.</i>" was displayed on prominent adverts, was originally invented as a response to jesussaid.org being advertised on buses and the tube (particularly the ads <a href="/wiki/Bait-and-switch" title="Bait-and-switch">conveniently neglecting to mention</a> that the website itself promotes the idea of <a href="/wiki/Divine_retribution" title="Divine retribution">God’s wrath</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hell" title="Hell">eternal punishment</a>).<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[9]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="The_New_Atheists">The New Atheists</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: The New Atheists">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>A group of authors and speakers who came to prominence after the year 2000 are generally considered to be "New Atheists" — the top four in particular are sometimes referred to as "the four horsemen". They are also joined, in theory, by numerous individuals on <a href="/wiki/YouTube" title="YouTube">YouTube</a> who have used the medium of the Internet to publicize their views more easily and widely than was possible before the start of the 21st Century. A large number of atheistic websites and articles also appeared on the web during this same period.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[10]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span id=""The_Four_Horsemen""></span><span class="mw-headline" id=".22The_Four_Horsemen.22"><i>"The Four Horsemen"</i></span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: "The Four Horsemen"">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Richard_dawkins_lecture.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Richard_dawkins_lecture.jpg/120px-Richard_dawkins_lecture.jpg" decoding="async" width="95" height="120" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Richard_dawkins_lecture.jpg/250px-Richard_dawkins_lecture.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="1731" data-file-height="2194" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Richard Dawkins </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:22px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Christopher_Hitchens_crop.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Christopher_Hitchens_crop.jpg/120px-Christopher_Hitchens_crop.jpg" decoding="async" width="120" height="106" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Christopher_Hitchens_crop.jpg/180px-Christopher_Hitchens_crop.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Christopher_Hitchens_crop.jpg/240px-Christopher_Hitchens_crop.jpg 2x" data-file-width="616" data-file-height="545" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Christopher Hitchens </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:32.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Daniel_dennett_Oct2008.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Daniel_dennett_Oct2008.JPG/120px-Daniel_dennett_Oct2008.JPG" decoding="async" width="120" height="85" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Daniel_dennett_Oct2008.JPG/250px-Daniel_dennett_Oct2008.JPG 1.5x" data-file-width="3101" data-file-height="2201" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Daniel Dennett </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Sam_Harris_01.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Sam_Harris_01.jpg/120px-Sam_Harris_01.jpg" decoding="async" width="96" height="120" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Sam_Harris_01.jpg/250px-Sam_Harris_01.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="2393" data-file-height="3000" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Sam Harris </p> </div> </div></li> </ul> <p>In 2008, four prominent atheist authors got together to discuss religion and their positions. The DVD was entitled "The Four Horsemen" (in reference to the "Four Horsemen of the <a href="/wiki/Book_of_Revelation" title="Book of Revelation">Apocalypse</a>"), and ever since they have been referred to by this title. They are: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Richard_Dawkins" title="Richard Dawkins">Richard Dawkins</a> - as Death</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens" title="Christopher Hitchens">Christopher Hitchens</a> - as Famine</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sam_Harris" title="Sam Harris">Sam Harris</a> - as Pestilence</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Daniel_Dennett" title="Daniel Dennett">Daniel Dennett</a> - as War</li></ul> <p>Hitchens enthusiastically endorsed the <a href="/wiki/Iraq_War" title="Iraq War">invasion of Iraq</a> up to his death, writing prolifically to support the warmongering of <a href="/wiki/George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a>. Sam Harris's unabashed Islamophobia and his disgusting and reprehensible cultural appropriation of East Asian Buddhism should be well known to all who are familiar with the concerns of this website. Richard Dawkins's bad name speaks for itself. He has testified plainly against himself with his reprehensible character assassination of <a href="/wiki/Rebecca_Watson" title="Rebecca Watson">Rebecca Watson</a>. Daniel Dennett never publicly denounced the other three idiots on this list, choosing instead to pretend that compromise with pure evil is possible. He is thus no better than Hitchens, the advocate of the murder of hundreds of thousands, or Harris, the slanderer of "all Muslims" and suckup to <a href="/wiki/Bill_Maher" title="Bill Maher">Bill Maher</a>, or Dawkins, who is, well, Richard Dawkins. </p> <h3><span id="Other_"new"_atheists"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Other_.22new.22_atheists">Other "new" atheists</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Other "new" atheists">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Victor_J._Stenger" title="Victor J. Stenger">Victor J. Stenger</a>, physicist, author of <i><a href="/wiki/God:_The_Failed_Hypothesis" title="God: The Failed Hypothesis">God: The Failed Hypothesis</a></i>, and one of <a href="/wiki/Huffington_Post" class="mw-redirect" title="Huffington Post">HuffPo</a>'s few non-<a href="/wiki/Woo" title="Woo">woo</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victor-stenger">bloggers</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jerry_Coyne" title="Jerry Coyne">Jerry Coyne</a>, evolutionary biologist, author of <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jerrycoyne.uchicago.edu/">Why Evolution is True</a></i> and proprietor of <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/">a blog of the same name.</a> He also coined the term "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/gnu-atheism/">gnu atheism</a>" in reference to the fact that "New" Atheism isn't really new.</li></ul> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Absolutely_not_one_of_them">Absolutely not one of them</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Absolutely not one of them">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/PZ_Myers" title="PZ Myers">PZ Myers</a> distanced himself from the movement in 2019 due to its alt-right ideology.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[11]</a></sup></li></ul> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="YouTube_atheists">YouTube atheists</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: YouTube atheists">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>As well as "professional" atheists who are published authors or who often give talks at conferences such as <a href="/wiki/James_Randi" title="James Randi">James Randi</a>'s The Amazing Meeting, and those who get involved in campaigns such as the Atheist Bus Campaign, there are a large number of outspoken "amateurs" that have used the Internet to achieve prominence. As the popularity of these individuals rises, the line becomes more blurred between them and the New Atheist authors above. <a href="/wiki/AronRa" title="AronRa">AronRa</a> and <a href="/wiki/Dprjones" title="Dprjones">dprjones</a> from The Magic Sandwich Show attended the World Atheist Conference in Dublin, sharing stage time with the likes of Richard Dawkins. Scott Clifton, who is primarily known for being a US soap actor (believe it or not), also hosts his own YouTube channel, under the pseudonym of Theoretical Bullshit, to discuss philosophy with a breadth and depth of knowledge that would make the Big Four of the New Atheism movement cry. Meanwhile, <a href="/wiki/Thunderf00t" title="Thunderf00t">Thunderf00t</a> continues to branch out by securing interviews with the likes of <a href="/wiki/Ray_Comfort" title="Ray Comfort">Ray Comfort</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church" class="mw-redirect" title="Westboro Baptist Church">Westboro Baptist Church</a>. Although not published or frequently appearing on television documentaries, many of these broadcasters have subscriber lists longer than most religious figures, and their video views and audience reach can rival many of the "professional" atheists. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Not_New_Atheists">Not New Atheists</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Not New Atheists">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Reality" title="Reality">reality</a>, outspoken <a href="/wiki/Atheism" title="Atheism">atheism</a> is nothing new. But the publicity thrown upon "new" atheists often clouds the scholarship preceding them. </p><p>Assuming <a href="/wiki/Time_travel" title="Time travel">time travel</a> is off the table, the following people died before New Atheism rose to prominence: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anacharsis_Cloots" title="Anacharsis Cloots">Anacharsis Cloots</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ludwig_Feuerbach" title="Ludwig Feuerbach">Ludwig Feuerbach</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Baron_d%27Holbach" title="Baron d'Holbach">Baron d'Holbach</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin" title="Vladimir Lenin">Vladimir Lenin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche" title="Friedrich Nietzsche">Friedrich Nietzsche</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx">Karl Marx</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/H.L._Mencken" title="H.L. Mencken">H.L. Mencken</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean_Meslier" title="Jean Meslier">Jean Meslier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O%27Hair" class="mw-redirect" title="Madalyn Murray O'Hair">Madalyn Murray O'Hair</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ayn_Rand" title="Ayn Rand">Ayn Rand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bertrand_Russell" title="Bertrand Russell">Bertrand Russell</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mark_Twain" title="Mark Twain">Mark Twain</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_G._Ingersoll" class="extiw" title="wp:Robert G. Ingersoll" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Robert G. Ingersoll">Robert G. Ingersoll</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> (technically agnostic, but for most of his writings it makes little difference)</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Criticisms">Criticisms</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Criticisms">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Nü Atheism is an adolescent movement. The adults who follow it have adolescent (or pre-adolescent) temperaments and personalities (Maher, Dawkins, Gervais, Myers etc) and it's grown in popularity since you have a large generational cohort reaching young adulthood and seeking to set themselves apart from their parents. But it's reactionary and petulant. A pose, not a philosophy. The Christian churches helped it along by cynically allying themselves with partisan political interests...Same aggressive polarity, different party.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Christopher Loring Knowles<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[12]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Straw_man">Straw man</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Straw man">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>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.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<a href="/wiki/Paul_Kurtz" title="Paul Kurtz">Paul Kurtz</a><sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[13]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Critics have contended that New Atheists tend to paint all religions and all people within those religions with the same brushstroke, making a bit of a <a href="/wiki/Straw-man" class="mw-redirect" title="Straw-man">straw-man</a> out of what is an otherwise complex range of beliefs about God, god, or gods.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[14]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[15]</a></sup> Furthermore, they have been criticized for painting all theists as religious fundamentalists.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[16]</a></sup> </p><p>Some (<a href="/wiki/Massimo_Pigliucci" title="Massimo Pigliucci">Massimo Pigliucci</a>) maintain that the general problem for New Atheists is their failure to distinguish the use of religion as a tool (for control, violence, etc.) from religion itself, and then claiming religion is the problem. The desire for control, the use of violence for power and wealth, would exist regardless of religion's presence in the world. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Morality_and_the_social_role_of_religion">Morality and the social role of religion</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Morality and the social role of religion">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>They have been criticized for misunderstanding the social role of religion by psychologist <a href="/wiki/Jonathan_Haidt" title="Jonathan Haidt">Jonathan Haidt</a>, anthropologist Scott Atran, and biologist David Sloan Wilson. Haidt and Wilson contend that sociological and psychological data demonstrate that religion can be a force for good and evil. They argue that religions that help their followers bind into "moral communities" can be socially beneficial. Wilson specifically rejects Dawkins' argument that religion is an <a href="/wiki/Evolution" title="Evolution">evolutionary</a> by-product, and advocates a group selection<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[17]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Hypothesis" title="Hypothesis">hypothesis</a> that religion played an adaptive role in human evolution. Atran disagrees with Wilson and sides with Dawkins on the by-product hypothesis, viewing religion as the natural manifestation of innate moral and cognitive biases;<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19">[18]</a></sup> therefore, he stresses the persistence of human irrationality due to such biases and the limitations of scientific <a href="/wiki/Rationalism" title="Rationalism">rationalism</a> in resolving political conflicts.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20">[19]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21">[20]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Islam_and_terrorism">Islam and terrorism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Islam and terrorism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>I <i>was</i> a New Atheist. I promoted it, I happily wore the label, I was initially optimistic that we were going to change the culture, I was naive and stupid. I swallowed some of my early reservations — is this just a reaction against Bush fueled by xenophobia inspired by the September 11th bombings? — but figured that would pass, that people would step in the door and then find enduring meaning in science and evidence-based reasoning. Boy, was I wrong.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—PZ Myers<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22">[21]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Amarnath Amarasingam contends that they often fall prey to the fundamental attribution error, an observation in social psychology that individuals "downplay situational reasons for the actions of others while overestimating the significance of dispositional causes."<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23">[22]</a></sup> This observation particularly singles out Sam Harris' claim<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24">[23]</a></sup> that all it takes for someone to become a suicide bomber is to have "perfect faith" when, in fact, causes are far more complicated than that and even, as noted by Robert Pape,<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25">[24]</a></sup> strategic and <a href="/wiki/Secular" title="Secular">secular</a> in influence. Atran also criticizes the New Atheists on this point, singling out Dawkins and Harris. He argues that the New Atheists overlook or downplay the role of American <a href="/wiki/Imperialism" title="Imperialism">imperialism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Globalization" title="Globalization">globalization</a> as causes of terrorism. He also points out that suicide bombers have little to no religious education but often do have training in a science or engineering discipline — they are largely self-indoctrinating. His social network analysis reveals that religious education is actually a negative predictor of suicide bombing while the best predictor is having a friend involved in jihadi activity, leading to self-indoctrination and a "band-of-brothers" social dynamic.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26">[25]</a></sup> </p><p>Former radicalized Muslim Mubin Shaikh — who now assists the Canadian government in preventing terrorist attacks — finds it "ironic that ISIS and New Atheist types, or anti-Muslim types, quote the same verses in the exact same way." As an example, he states:<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27">[26]</a></sup> </p> <blockquote class="letter" style="width:auto; background:#f8f8ff; border:1px solid #C9C9CF;"> <p>I also used to cherry pick and misquote the verses the same way both of them do it. So in Chapter 9, Verse 5, I used to say the same thing. I said, "Look, the verse says, 'Kill the kuffar, wherever they are.'" Now, in fact, that's not what it says. I mean, it's a portion of a longer verse. And that portion actually says, "Al-Mushrikin," it talks about polytheists. So when the scholar in Syria was trying to de-radicalize me, he said to me, "Tell me, do you normally begin reading chapters from verse 5? Maybe you should start with verse 1. I don't know, it's just a thought." </p><p>So Verse 1 talks about "The polytheists... This is in regards to the polytheists with whom you made a treaty and have violated the treaty." If you look at Verse 4, which directly precedes Verse 5, it says, "Not included in these instructions are those polytheists who kept the covenant, the treaty, and did not assault you and participate in violence against you. Then keep the term of your contract with them." So it makes it very clear. The content is very specific, it's those people who are actually fighting you unlawfully, because you're a Muslim. </p> </blockquote> <p>Shaikh also argues that New Atheist claims about radicalized Muslims are frequently reductive, ignoring the actual political grievances they have. He observes that the terrorists come out of a larger social movement that has a "grievance narrative" which is "based in fact". So, it is wrong, and possibly dangerous, to dismiss Islamic terrorist motives as merely or purely religious. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Sexism">Sexism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Sexism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>That Bill Maher and Richard Dawkins are the voice of atheism is basically the only evidence I’ve ever seen that there is a God.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Tabatha Southey<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28">[27]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Many observers have noted a strain of aggressive <a href="/wiki/Sexism" title="Sexism">sexism</a> in New Atheist circles.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29">[28]</a></sup> When Skepchik writer <a href="/wiki/Rebecca_Watson" title="Rebecca Watson">Rebecca Watson</a> blogged about receiving unwanted sexual advances at the 2011 World Atheist Convention in Dublin, misogynist Richard Dawkins wrote a <a href="/wiki/Elevatorgate#The_reaction" title="Elevatorgate">very graphic open letter</a> condemning her for bringing the issue to light instead of staying on message and only condemning sexual violence in religious communities. He would apologize for this several years later.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30">[29]</a></sup> Much more direct misogyny has come from <a href="/wiki/Sam_Harris" title="Sam Harris">Sam Harris</a>, who told a Washington Post reporter in 2014 that "There’s something about that critical posture that is to some degree intrinsically male and more attractive to guys than to women. The atheist variable just has this – it doesn’t obviously have this nurturing, coherence-building extra estrogen vibe that [women] would want.”<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31">[30]</a></sup> Many early leaders of <a href="/wiki/Gamergate" title="Gamergate">Gamergate</a>, most prominently <a href="/wiki/Thunderf00t" title="Thunderf00t">Phil Mason</a>, also had their beginnings in atheist communities online. There have been serious and widespread complaints about aggressive and unwelcome sexual attention some women receive at atheist conferences and online. Online those who attack harassment of women appear to outnumber people who commit it or tolerate it. But to be fair, most conference organizers now have sexual harassment policies which they try to enforce.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32">[31]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Miscellaneous_criticism">Miscellaneous criticism</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Miscellaneous criticism">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Massimo_Pigliucci" title="Massimo Pigliucci">Massimo Pigliucci</a> has criticized them for sloppy philosophical arguments on a number of issues, including religion, the scope and limitations of science, and <a href="/wiki/Free_will" title="Free will">free will</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Michael_Ruse" title="Michael Ruse">Michael Ruse</a> believes New Atheists to be intolerant of anyone who disagrees with them or does not believe all religious people are fanatics, and that their resulting invective and shoddy philosophy is counter productive to the cause of keeping creationism out schools.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33">[32]</a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sikivu_Hutchinson" title="Sikivu Hutchinson">Sikivu Hutchinson</a> criticizes them in her book <i>Moral Combat</i> for inadequate sociological analyses of religion and blind spots concerning <a href="/wiki/Race" title="Race">race</a> and <a href="/wiki/Gender" title="Gender">gender</a> equality.</li> <li>Chris Hedges said that Harris, Dawkins, and Hitchens externalized evil and then unloaded as much religious zeal on 'the enemy' (Islam) as was done by their neoconservative religious counterparts, that Harris's argument for torture was absurdly vile (a point with which many New Atheists concur), and that trying to debate Hitchens was akin to stabbing his brain with a fork.</li></ul> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Religion_vs._Ideology">Religion vs. Ideology</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Religion vs. Ideology">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>New Atheism raises a question: <i>Why take it for granted that religious ideologies, by virtue of being termed "religions", are fundamentally different from secular ideologies and therefore to be singled out as an evil that stands apart?</i> </p><p>If what are decried as the evils of religion are actually the evils of a larger class of ideologies — aggressive varieties of utopianism, for example — then an excessive focus on <i>religion</i>, traditionally defined, may blind us to those same evils when they arise in ideologies that are <i>not</i> religions as traditionally defined. (<a href="/wiki/Fascism" title="Fascism">Fascism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Communism" title="Communism">Communism</a> are most commonly invoked in this connection, because they're easy, safe, and obvious targets, but the question should not end there.) </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Far_Right">Far Right</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Far Right">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>New atheism has been criticized by <i>Salon</i> as being a far-right movement. As Phil Torres (from <i>Salon</i>) writes, "It's a real shame that New Atheism, now swallowed up by the <a href="/wiki/Intellectual_Dark_Web" title="Intellectual Dark Web">IDW</a> and the far right, turned out to be just as prejudiced, racist, dogmatic, ethnocentric, closed-minded and authoritarian as many of the religious groups they initially deplored."<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34">[33]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Bibliography">Bibliography</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Bibliography">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li> <i>Religion and the New Atheism A Critical Appraisal</i>. Amarnath Amarasingam (ed.). Haymarket Books. <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781608462032" title="Special:BookSources/9781608462032">ISBN 9781608462032</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Accommodationism" title="Accommodationism">Accommodationism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Atheist_Bus_Campaign" title="Atheist Bus Campaign">Atheist Bus Campaign</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Antitheism" title="Antitheism">Antitheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Atheist_fundamentalism" title="Atheist fundamentalism">Atheist fundamentalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Brights" class="mw-redirect" title="Brights">Brights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Everlasting_No" title="Everlasting No">Everlasting No</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alt.atheism" class="mw-redirect" title="Alt.atheism">alt.atheism</a>: A Usenet newsgroup, somewhat comparable to <a href="/wiki/Talk.origins" title="Talk.origins">talk.origins</a>, yet focuses a lot more on nontheism, and religion. And, a lot more cranks.</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2074076,00.html"><i>The New Atheists loathe religion far too much to plausibly challenge it</i></a>, The Guardian, Monday May 7, 2007</li> <li>Culture Watch: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.damaris.org/content/content.php?type=5&id=508"><i>New Atheism</i></a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://newatheism.org/">New Atheism.org - a collection of links and articles on the subject</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://richarddawkins.net/articles/4599">Richard Dawkins discusses "new atheism"</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=flynn_30_3">Why I Don't Believe in the New Atheism</a>, Tom Flynn, Council for Secular Humanism</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://newhumanist.org.uk/2690/dissing-god">Dissing God</a>, Jonathan Ree, <i>New Humanist</i></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.skepdic.com/newatheism.html">New Atheism</a>, <a href="/wiki/The_Skeptic%27s_Dictionary" title="The Skeptic's Dictionary">The Skeptic's Dictionary</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=3911">The New Atheists and Their Critics: A Bibliograpy</a>, Common Sense Atheism</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/n-atheis/">The New Atheists</a>, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/atheism.html"><i>The Church of the Non-Believers</i></a>, Wired, Issue 14.11, 2006</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Victor Stenger. (2009) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/battle.html"><i>The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason</i>.</a> Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://pharyngula.wikia.com/wiki/Gnu_Atheists">Gnu Atheists</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2009/11/understanding-new-atheism-interview.html">Debunking Christianity - Understanding the New Atheism, an Interview with Victor Stenger</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2008/dec/29/religion-new-atheism-defined">http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2008/dec/29/religion-new-atheism-defined</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.bash.org/?406373">http://www.bash.org/?406373</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-8">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/6qdabw/from_the_enlightenment_to_the_dark_ages_how_new/dkwgl43/?st=jbhnyn1x&sh=94cc81c8">https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/6qdabw/from_the_enlightenment_to_the_dark_ages_how_new/dkwgl43/?st=jbhnyn1x&sh=94cc81c8</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-9">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010341">the Wall Street Journal - New Atheism</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-10">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.atheistbus.org.uk/i-cant-think-up-yet-another-bus-pun-headline/">The website I took issue with was JesusSaid.org, advertised on buses and tube cards in June last year, which — as you can read here — promotes the idea of God’s wrath and eternal punishment.</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.other-voices.net/skepticism.html">Atheism on the Web</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2019/01/25/the-train-wreck-that-was-the-new-atheism/">The train wreck that was the New Atheism</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://secretsun.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-church-and-black-swan.html">"The Church and the Black Swan"</a>, <i>The Secret Sun</i> 3.28.15.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113889251">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113889251</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-15">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv4kXlRfr2k">Hitchens calls religions</a> (all religions) a "plague", yet his descriptions of religions are clearly based only on the monotheistic, Abrahamic religions.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-16">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://richarddawkins.net/articles/118-religion-39-s-real-child-abuse">Dawkins uses the very real issue of child abuse by religious leaders</a> to not just admonish, but dismiss all religions as dangerous.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Lightning Peter Jay. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/etd_hon_theses/316/">Misunderstanding Religion: A Critique of the New Atheists.</a> Wesleyan University Honors College theses, paper 316.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-18">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://bioteaching.com/on-group-selection/">On group selection</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-19">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://books.google.com/books/about/In_Gods_We_Trust.html?id=BH08DwAAQBAJ">[1]</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-20">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.src.ox.ac.uk/Researcher%20bio%20and%20pubs/Religion_Atheists.pdf">Religion and the New Atheists: A Scientific Critique</a>, Lena Groeger</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-21">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://truman.academia.edu/TanerEdis/Papers/1413270/Against_All_Faith_Scientific_Naturalism_and_the_New_Popular_Atheism">Against All Faith: Scientific Naturalism and the New Popular Atheism</a>, Taner Edis, Truman State University</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-22">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2019/01/25/the-train-wreck-that-was-the-new-atheism/">The Train Wreck that was the New Atheism</a>, PZ Myers</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-23">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Amarnath Amarasingam. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://wlu-ca.academia.edu/AmarnathAmarasingam/Papers/464212/To_Err_in_their_Ways_The_Attribution_Biases_of_the_New_Atheists">To Err in their Ways:The Attribution Biases of the New Atheists.</a> <i>Studies in Religion</i> 39(4), 2010, 573–588</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-24">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/172702">Sam Harris quotes</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-25">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_to_Win:_The_Strategic_Logic_of_Suicide_Terrorism" class="extiw" title="wp:Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism" rel="nofollow">Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-26">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Scott Atran. (2010) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/gray_12_10.html"><i>Talking to the Enemy</i>.</a> See <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=FJjzUbVM3_EC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=dawkins&f=false">pp. 411-426</a> for criticisms of Dawkins and Harris.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-27">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.vice.com/read/we-spoke-to-a-former-toronto-jihadist-about-how-young-people-are-radicalized?utm_source=vicetwitterus">http://www.vice.com/read/we-spoke-to-a-former-toronto-jihadist-about-how-young-people-are-radicalized?utm_source=vicetwitterus</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-28">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://twitter.com/TabathaSouthey/status/834393902207610881">Damn</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-29">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"> Salon: Atheism’s Shocking Woman Problem<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.salon.com/2014/10/03/new_atheisms_troubling_misogyny_the_pompous_sexism_of_richard_dawkins_and_sam_harris_partner/">[2]</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-30">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Daylight Atheism: Is Richard Dawkins Evolving?<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2014/08/is-richard-dawkins-evolving/">[3]</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-31">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2014/09/12/can-atheist-sam-harris-become-a-spiritual-figure">[4]</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-32">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/markoppenheimer/will-misogyny-bring-down-the-atheist-movement#.gcyAQXMmn">Will Misogyny Bring Down The Atheist Movement?</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-33">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/scienceandthesacred/2009/08/why-i-think-the-new-atheists-are-a-bloody-disaster.html">Why I Think the New Atheists Are a Bloody Disaster</a>, Michael Ruse</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-34">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.salon.com/2021/06/05/how-the-new-atheists-merged-with-the-far-right-a-story-of-intellectual-grift-and-abject-surrender/">Godless grifters: How the New Atheists merged with the far right</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=New_Atheism&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">His article does not include an examination of Daniel Dennett.</span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" 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