Book a Week in 2014 - BW49

[hornblower]

I love SH. I, too, feel hesitant about the title of his book but I've really enjoyed all his others. 

 

What exactly is a "New Atheist"? 

 

I think somewhere in the 70's or 80's there was this view that it was probably ok to BE an atheist but you shouldn't really talk about it or shove it in people's faces. It was like a don't ask don't tell thing.  Polite people just didn't talk about it. But a bit later than that, there gradually developed a view that not only is it ok to be one & to support each other (ie people who already were atheists) but that we should be talking to non atheists about it & carving a space in the public discourse.

 

New atheists believe that this is not just a personal issue. They also often believe that not only is religion not a good thing, or perhaps a neutral thing ("ok, some bad stuff but some good stuff so it balances"), but that it's actually a really bad thing for society. So, they actively pursue discussing what they perceive to be the negatives of religions. It is in some ways a response to proselytizing & sometimes it's actually called 'evangelical atheism'.

 

 Some of the new atheists are notably snarky and sarcastic. The trio most associated with the term new atheism are Hitchens, Dawkins & Harris. Harris is usually noted to be the most polite....

 

There are many new voices. Hitchens died (& was an incredibly difficult dude to really like, much as I liked some of what he wrote & said). Dawkins has run afoul of atheist feminists on a regular basis in the last few years & I pretty much actively avoid him now which is sad because I really enjoyed God is Not Great. Of the 3 Harris is still my favorite mostly because he's annoyed me less than the others LOL. 

 

I see Rosie said argumentative LOL. I guess that's accurate in the sense that they're not content to just quietly live without a belief in deity. They insist on talking about it.

 

 

 

[Robin M]

Link to week 50 - please continue conversation in new thread