What I find chiefly offensive about them is not that they are skeptics or atheists; rather, it is that they are not skeptics at all and have purchased their atheism cheaply, with the sort of boorish arrogance that might make a man believe himself a great strategist because his tanks overwhelmed a town of unarmed peasants, or a great lover because he can afford the price of admission to a brothel.

Christian writer Dan Hart wonders if New Atheism might just be a passing fad. [more inside]
posted by circular on May 14, 2010 - 539 comments

[pdf] Clergymen in the closet -- not because they are gay; because they don't believe in God. Here's a followup.
posted by grumblebee on Mar 20, 2010 - 162 comments

In God we doubt.

This is not an intellectual game. Even if we know what is true – and we don’t – you cannot reduce life to a set of provable realities. Humanity is too complex for that. In the end, it comes down to whether the world would be a better place without religion; and that is a matter of judgment, not certainty.

posted by veedubya on Sep 2, 2007 - 241 comments

The Godless Celebrity: As a list, it seems no better or worse than the God-fearing crowd. But the world needs atheists, if only for keeping - or trying to keep - the believers from ripping each other's heads off in the name of the various exclusivist true faiths. As Woody Allen said, it's scary that there are so many groups who are convinced they have a direct line to God. I wonder how many religious people respect and believe in the usefulness, political and intellectual, of the atheist. [Via Bifurcated Rivets]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jun 23, 2003 - 173 comments