The New Atheist Crusaders
My friend Rich over @ Theocentric.com told me that a quote from one of my essays from SoMA found its way to Becky Garrison’s book The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail: the Misguided Quest to Destroy Your Faith. Look for it on page 59. I have not read the book yet, so no comments on my side about context or ultimate conclusions of Garrison’s analysis; however, Rich’s always insightful review can be read here.
previous post: Gramercy Tavern
next post: Best Grilled Cheese Ever
2 Responses to “The New Atheist Crusaders”
Leave a Reply
About MysteriousFaith
“If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance which does harm.”
Themes
Now Reading
Search
Favorites
Personal Writing
Theology
Categories
Meta Data
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Hey Ben, thanks for the plug. The book, actually, is not that great. It doesn’t argue for anything other than toning down the rhetoric - sort of a “let’s play fair” and “be civil” to one another, and actually dialogue rather than flame. I do think that if we look at the New Atheists in the best possible light they are actually folk who want the best for humanity and see religion as an inhumanizing or dehumanizing reality. In a post-9/11 world, religion certainly has been proven to bring destruction. What they fail to recognize is that politics, philosophy, and even science, can also bring destruction. The answer is not a complete rejection of any of these disciplines, but a recognition that all ideas are subject to distortion and hold the capacity for destruction, if they are used against humans rather than for human flourishing. This is why I love the quote at the bottom of one of the most important articles I think I have written in a long time - Humanity Matters - For this reason, I can agree with Andre Comte-Sponville, an avowed atheist who writes in The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality, who calls us to “fidelity to humanity and to our own duty to be human. … Our primary duty, the one which all the others follow, is that of living and behaving humanly.” Again, I truly believe that, for the most part, the New Atheists really want the best for humanity - and with that I give my whole-hearted assent.
March 4th, 2008 at 9:07 am
I quite agree w/ Andre. I continue to think that a better tolerance for mystery w/ respect to the big questions - those of ultimate origins which have stood unanswered for all of humanity - deserve some reverent wisdom when we discuss them, which I think is missing on both sides of this particular question. If you’re interested, Mary Beth Crain has a review of Garrison’s book at SoMA here.