Atheists Are Racists – Nothing but Angry White Men

This is going to go over so well…

We all know the names (Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens) of those angry white men who tend to antagonize the world’s believers. But the most persuasive voices for the ‘new New Atheism’ tend to be women.

A few years ago, I wrote that in America, atheism was going the way of the freak show. I was wrong. Today Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and other “New Atheists” are regulars on best-seller lists and college lecture circuits, and unbelief is enjoying a new vogue. In his inaugural address, President Obama referred to the United States as a “nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and non-believers” — a formula he repeated in his Nov. 7 radio address about the Fort Hood massacre. Recently, various humanist and free-thought groups have announced their presence on billboards across the country. “Don’t believe in God?” read bus signs in Des Moines. “You are not alone.”

Read the rest here: Column: Atheists need a different voice – Opinion – USATODAY.com.

HT

Posted on December 8, 2009 at 12:27 am by Joel · Permalink
In: Atheism, Debate/Discussion · Tagged with: , , , ,
  • rodneyathomasjr

    Joel,

    your title got my attention. And while I am aware of the gender factors playing into the “new” atheism, would it be suffice to say that atheism and its popularity is a cultural phenomenom. That there is a cultural specificity about this atheism. hint hint hint. Okay, I’ll go ahead and say it. It is believed according to statistics that I have read that between 93 and 97% of African Americans believe in God, while it was lower among white Americans. Is there cultural differences involved? Are there any famous black atheists arguing against the divine? Not that I know of. The one black theologian that became an atheist, Anthony Pinn of Rice University, now attends an AME church, and he considered himself a theologian still, putting his atheism in doubt. He preferred a humanist. Just interesting.

  • rodneyathomasjr

    Joel,

    your title got my attention. And while I am aware of the gender factors playing into the “new” atheism, would it be suffice to say that atheism and its popularity is a cultural phenomenom. That there is a cultural specificity about this atheism. hint hint hint. Okay, I’ll go ahead and say it. It is believed according to statistics that I have read that between 93 and 97% of African Americans believe in God, while it was lower among white Americans. Is there cultural differences involved? Are there any famous black atheists arguing against the divine? Not that I know of. The one black theologian that became an atheist, Anthony Pinn of Rice University, now attends an AME church, and he considered himself a theologian still, putting his atheism in doubt. He preferred a humanist. Just interesting.

  • Polycarp

    Yep…the point of the title is to attract attention:)

    I have to wonder the ration of atheist voices to academics and then we can examine the ratio of races in the academics

  • Polycarp

    Yep…the point of the title is to attract attention:)

    I have to wonder the ration of atheist voices to academics and then we can examine the ratio of races in the academics

  • http://www.biblecritic.com/ Qohelet

    The title caught my attention too. As a non-Caucasian atheist, and a member of a national (non-US) atheist group, I am a wee bit disturbed by it. But I’m not here to argue, I just would like you to know that atheism is alive and well outside the Western World. :)

  • http://www.biblecritic.com Qohelet

    The title caught my attention too. As a non-Caucasian atheist, and a member of a national (non-US) atheist group, I am a wee bit disturbed by it. But I’m not here to argue, I just would like you to know that atheism is alive and well outside the Western World. :)

  • Polycarp

    Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Polycarp

    Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

blog comments powered by Disqus