The New Atheist? …….. There Is Nothing New About Atheism

New Atheism is described as :-

A social and political movement in favour of Atheism and Secularism promoted by a collection of modern Atheist writers who have advocated the view that “religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticised and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises”

SO NEW ATHEISM IS OLD ATHEISM THEN?

Don’t you just hate the labels that get banded around within the theistic society? Am I the only one who sees Atheism pure and simple? Simply put we hold the viewpoint that truth should be formed on the basis of logic, reason and empiricism, rather than on authority, tradition and a variety of dogmas. Hell! Have I been doing it wrong for the last 48 years?

In the Uk the increase in Atheist groups, student societies, publications and public appearances coincides with Atheism being the largest growing demographic followed by Islam and then Anglicanism.

THE FOUR HORSEMAN OF THE NON APOCALYPSE

• Richard Dawkins
• Christopher Hitchens
• Sam Harris
• Daniel Dennett

More labelling by the religious, don’t they love to departmentalise within their own rule book.  They cannot allow for the  free thinkers having a mind of their own that is not included in their theological dogma.  As anyone on twitter knows the four great atheist writers above are often attacked my theists and atheist idiots alike for standing up for free thought. I encourage you to check out the slightly deranged and Sam Harris obsessed @cjwerleman who in a lot of his posts sees atheists (new) as :-

New Atheists enthusiastically, and often unintentionally promote Western Imperialism, and any individual who supports an erroneous narrative , by design attempts to justify White Supremacism. ( C J Werleman)

Please check out this @cjwerleman as he sees new atheists as :-

collectively they not only espouse white supremacy but they also speak in a language that is every bit as crude and racist and fascist as neo-nazi movements. Whilst they don’t use racial epithets of say the Ku Klux Klan or Pergida they use terms like ‘barbarians’, ‘backwards’ and ‘violent” (C J Werleman)

He is a little confused, as I am sure not all atheists are white or maybe he has not travelled enough around America or watched the religious television channels to see white supremacists in action. He must be a great friend of the Westboro Baptist Church … spouting the drivel he is accusing us of! Going by the rule book of CJ atheists should keep quiet and not criticise religion. Ahem, I’m guessing CJ is in denial and is in actual fact a closet christian/muslim. Take your pick CJ and make your bloody mind up!

As Christopher Hitchen’s said :-

I refuse to be told what to think or how , let alone what to say or write by anybody. But most certainly not by people who claim the authority of fabricated works of primeval myth and fiction and want me to believe these are divine….

THEISTS SEE NEW ATHEISM AS A RELIGION

Harris, Dawkins and Hitchens are “religious fanatics” and that in their quest to bludgeon society with their beliefs about secularism, they have actually adopted the state religion – one that, though void of prayers and rituals, demands that its followers blindly support the whims of politicians – Noam Chomsky

My answer?. Move along and re think Chomsky .

NOMA ( another view of the die hard religious)

Non overlapping Magisteria – a view advocated by Stephen Jay Gould that science and religion each represent different areas of inquiry, fact vs values.  To which he says they each have a “legitimate magisterial” or domain in their own right and do not overlap.

Of course this is simply bullshit. After all, values or morals involve ‘human behaviour’ an observable phenomenon, of which science is the study of observable phenomenon.  There is substantial research on evolutionary origins of ethics and morality. As I often say , religion simply hijacked the morality high ground.

WE ARE ACCUSED OF ISLAMAPHOBIA

Short paragraph… bullshit! See previous blogs on this subject as Im done with that theory.

WE ARE ACCUSED OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR AND A HATRED OF GODS

Wow, if a religion cannot stand up to a voice or an article when in some cases it uses guns and abuse to push its own agenda, then it has no right being in the ring!

With regards hatred towards the thousands of gods on this planet… we don’t waste our time on hatred of non existent beings. For the record I also don’t hate Santa, the Tooth Fairy or the Pink Unicorn. If you wanna check out the reality of hatred for gods i suggest you check out the following and do your bloody homework :-

• MISOTHEISM – and you thought it was a Japanese soup right? 😉 – This is the hatred of god or gods. In some varieties of Polytheism it is considered possible to punish gds by ceasing to worship them.
• DYSTHEISM – Is the belief that god exists but is not wholly good, or that he might even be evil
• DUALISM  – Is the belief that the think worshipped as god in this world is actually an evil imposter, but that a true  “god”  exists beyond this world.

PUBLICATIONS I WOULD SAY ARE MUST READS FOR ANY FREETHINKER ARE :-

• The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason – Sam Harris (2004
• Infidel – Ayaan Hirsi Ali (2007)
• The God Delusion- Richard Dawkins (2006)
• Breaking The Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon – Daniel Dennett (2006)
• God: The Failed Hypothesis – How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist – Victor J Spenger (2007)
• God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything – Christopher Hitchens (2007)
• The God Argument – A C Grayling (2013)

IN CONCLUSION

In conclusion the various labels are ridiculous. There is no New Atheism, its the same programme since the beginning of time. Dawkins, Dennett and Hitchens etc are not telling us anything new, but they are encouraging us all to search for our own answers.

However, what I do feel is that  because of the huge numbers who are waking up from their religious dogma, they are trying to keep some of their comfort blanket. The “Atheist Church” puzzles the hell out of me and I find it creepily disturbing. I do understand that I as a born atheist and non indoctrinated individual I am never going to understand the need you have for a service of some kind bringing you within a group. The very essence for me of atheism is that we only have the simple ‘no god’ in common. End of discussion.

End of the day being an atheist doesn’t define me, I am an historian with a fascination for all  of mythologies both past and present as a study of mankind through the ages …..i am an “Old Atheist” thank you very much and  have a great Sunday tweeps

Imagine a world of freethinkers…….

ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE IS EVIDENCE OF ABSENCE

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