New Atheism
nisbetmc | August 2, 2007The philosopher Paul Kurtz has published a new position booklet that addresses much of what I have been arguing is missing--and so deeply troubling--about the New Atheist movement. Below is a press release from the Council for Secular Humanism.
Secular Humanism's Elder Statesman Responds to "The New Atheism"
Council for Secular Humanism founder and chairman Paul Kurtz has responded to the recent cultural phenomenon known as "The New Atheism" with a position booklet titled "What Is Secular Humanism?"
"The New Atheism" is a term created by a handful of pundits and journalists to describe…
nisbetmc | July 19, 2007Pew has released an analysis of the most frequently used words at the most popular sections of the presidential candidate Web sites, their candidate biographies. The findings are somewhat surprising, in that candidates overwhelmingly avoid discussing God, religion, or morality. Far less surprising is that the Dems avoid labeling themselves as liberals or progressives.
Clear winners for all the candidates appear to be the unifying focus on children, family, and country. Isn't that Apple Pie?
nisbetmc | July 17, 2007As I've argued, one of the reasons I find the New Atheist PR campaign so troubling is that it is has radicalized a movement that feeds on anger and fear and that offers little more than complaints and attacks. New Atheism turns on a binary discourse of us vs. them. In the rhetoric of the New Atheist movement, you're either with us or your against us.
The New Atheists risk alienating moderately religious Americans who otherwise agree with secularists on many important issues. Moreover, the movement lacks any kind of positive message for what it means to live life without religion. Other…
nisbetmc | July 5, 2007In an essay at the Web site of Skeptic magazine, David Sloan Wilson, author of Darwin's Cathedral, concludes that when it comes to a scientific understanding of religion, Dawkins is "just another angry atheist, trading on his reputation as an evolutionist and spokesperson for science to vent his personal opinions about religion."
Wilson's critique of the science in Dawkins' God Delusion pulls no punches. It deserves a careful read. From the introduction:
In Darwin's Cathedral I attempted to contribute to the relatively new field of evolutionary religious studies. When Dawkins' The God…
nisbetmc | June 28, 2007One of the common claims that has been amplified by the Dawkins/Hitchens PR campaign is that "atheism is a civil rights issue." (For an example, see the comments section of this recent post.)
This false spin serves as a very effective frame device for radicalizing a base of atheists into an ever more militant "us versus them" rhetoric, an interpretation that is used to justify sophomoric and polarizing attacks on religious Americans.
Indeed, "atheism is a civil rights issue" is a familiar catchphrase that comes up in the feeding frenzy of complaints and insults that typify the echo chamber…
nisbetmc | June 20, 2007Today I received the latest issue of Dartmouth Alumni magazine to discover inside an interesting poll of graduating seniors at my alma mater. Long branded a conservative campus--with notable right wing alumni from the 1980s including Dinesh D'Souza and Laura Ingraham--perception these days doesn't seem to fit the reality of the student body.
According to the survey, when asked "Do you believe in God?," 42% of those surveyed answered "No." When then asked "Have your religious views changed while you've been at Dartmouth?," 25% answered "Yes."
In terms of partisan identity, among seniors…