Deep Thoughts is not about religion, it is not about Atheism, it is not even about the cult of personality that drives much of our world. Deep Thoughts is about Fundamentalism in all forms. True, I am an out of the closet Atheist and I actively promote atheism as an alternative to fundamentalism and religion. However, converting the religious peoples of the world is not in scope so to speak. I have no desire to change the faith of my religious friends or relations. Coexistence and tolerance seems a reasonable objective. Supplanting all religions with science and atheism seems more like evanagelical fundamentalism.
Care of CotG #53 we have Phil for Humanity's take on New Atheism. It looks like Phil falls into the "supplanting religion" family of Atheism.
As a result, the world's intellectuals are slowly moving away from traditional atheism towards New Atheism for the betterment of mankind. Unfortunately, most of the world's population is too set in their ways to convert easily. New Atheists should instead concentrate on converting two types of people. First, it would be easiest, through direct reasoning, to convert agnostics who are already closest to atheists. These are the people who are our scientists, engineers, doctors, and professors who are already educated in the scientific discipline. Second, the next generations of children are still open minded enough to embrace science and reason instead of religious superstition. Science classes in schools should teach that science and reasoning are the opposite of religious faith. This will help break the cycle of children who are brainwashed at a very early age.
I must admit that my position is based on a weak intellectual exercise. I have not read Dawkins yet, and I have only just finished Sam Harris's Letter to a Christian Nation. So, before I come down in strong opposition to New Atheism, I must do my research, read, think, and discuss this with the people in my life who I deeply respect. At this point, I'll have to say, I'm not aligned with the New Atheism movement.
A short story for consideration:
I know a Christian family well. They are happy, well adjusted, caring and giving. They embrace science in a way that would make most secular people scratch their heads in wonder. For them, science describes the physical world, religion describes the metaphysical world, when there is a conflict between the bible and science, science wins. The love each other and their community, they serve humanity through charitable works, donations, and direct involvement with the lives of people who need help. They are even open to discussion and have evolving attitudes on social issues. We don't agree on all issues, but the common ground is large. Why would I want to change these people? Only an intractable fundamentalist philosophy would prompt me to do so. I would rather focus my energy on the evil that is James Dobson.
A closing thought:
One of the things that bothers me about New Atheism is that it appears to be a reaction to Christianism. New Atheism appears to be opportunistic in that it is timed to take advantage of the disillusionment many religious people are feeling now that the full range of President Bush's inept evangelical fundamentalism is coming to light. Does anyone else see this as a possible motivating factor in the movement?
