New Atheism: Difference between revisions

The term '''''New Atheism''''' describes the positions of some [[atheist]] academics, writers, scientists, and philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Lois |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XguDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT48 |title=A Dictionary of Atheism |last2=Bullivant |first2=Stephen |date=2016-11-17 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-252013-5 |language=en |access-date=12 March 2017 |archive-date=20 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120215619/https://books.google.com/books?id=XguDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT48 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wolf |first=Gary |date=November 1, 2006 |title=The Church of the Non-Believers |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2006/11/atheism/ |access-date=2023-01-19 |issn=1059-1028 |archive-date=21 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721010426/https://www.wired.com/2006/11/atheism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> New Atheism advocates the view that [[superstition]], [[religion]], and [[irrationalism]] should not simply be tolerated. Instead, they advocate the [[antitheist]] view that the various forms of [[theism]] should be [[Criticism of religion|criticised]], [[Antireligion|countered]], examined, and challenged by [[rational]] argument, especially when they exert strong influence on the broader society, such as in government, education, and politics.<ref>{{cite web |last=Taylor |first=James E. |title=New Atheists |url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/n-atheis/ |access-date=14 April 2016 |website=The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |quote=The New Atheists are authors of early twenty-first century books promoting atheism. These authors include [[Sam Harris]], [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Daniel Dennett]], and [[Christopher Hitchens]]. The 'New Atheist' label for these critics of religion and religious belief emerged out of journalistic commentary on the contents and impacts of their books. |archive-date=26 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826001224/http://www.iep.utm.edu/n-atheis/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hooper |first=Simon |date=November 9, 2006 |title=The rise of the New Atheists |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/08/atheism.feature/index.html |access-date=16 March 2010 |archive-date=8 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408094135/http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/08/atheism.feature/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Critics have describedcharacterised New Atheism as "''[[Fundamentalism|secular [[fundamentalism]]''" or "''fundamentalist atheism''".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hedges |first=Chris |title=When Atheism Becomes Religion: America's New Fundamentalists |year=2008 |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-1-4165-7078-3 |url=https://books.google.co.ukcom/books?hl=en&lr=&id=b-f_HU9MZuYC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=new+atheism+fundamentalism&otspg=XfBFQe7x5O&sig=hRMvn4odSKaohpA58GQ9Ze5gV3Q#v=onepage&q=new%20atheism%20fundamentalism&f=falsePA1}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=McAnulla |first=Stuart |title=Secular fundamentalists? Characterising the new atheist approach to secularism, religion and politics |journal=British Politics |volume=9 |pages=124-145124–145 |year=2011 |issue=2 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |doi=10.1057/bp.2013.27 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/bp.2013.27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=LeDrew |first=Stephen |title=Relativism and Post-Truth in Contemporary Society |chapter=Scientism and Utopia: New Atheism as a Fundamentalist Reaction to Relativism |year=2018 |pages=143–155 |publisher=Springer |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-96559-8_9 |isbn=978-3-319-96558-1 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-96559-8_9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journalbook |last=Stahl |first=William |title=Religion and the New Atheism: A Critical Appraisal |chapter=One-Dimensional Rage: The Social Epistemology Of The New Atheism And Fundamentalism |year=2010 |pages=95–108 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-19053-5 |chapter-url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004190535/Bej.9789004185579.i-253_008.xml}}</ref> Major figures of New Atheism include [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Sam Harris]], [[Christopher Hitchens]], and [[Daniel Dennett]], collectively referred to as the "[[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Four Horsemen]]" of the movement, as well as [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]],<ref name=":5">{{Citationcite |title=The New Atheismjournal |datelast=2017Nall |urlfirst=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/jihad-radicalism-and-the-new-atheism/new-atheism/5971EDDFB153952A0D0C593DE26E074AJeff |worktitle=Jihad,Fundamentalist Radicalism,Atheism and theits NewIntellectual AtheismFailures |pagesjournal=95–96Humanity & Society |editor-lastvolume=Khalil32 |editor-firstissue=Mohammad Hassan3 |access-datepages=2022-12-24263–280 |placepublisher=CambridgeSage |publisheryear=Cambridge University Press2008 |doi=10.10171177/9781108377263.009016059760803200304 |isbn=978-1-108-38512-1 |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://webjournals.archivesagepub.orgcom/webdoi/20231003172043abs/https://www10.cambridge.org1177/core/books/abs/jihad-radicalism-and-the-new-atheism/new-atheism/5971EDDFB153952A0D0C593DE26E074A |url-status=live 016059760803200304}}</ref> untilMajor herfigures of New Atheism include [[ConversionRichard to Christianity|conversionDawkins]] to, [[ChristianitySam Harris]], in[[Christopher 2023.<refHitchens]], name=":12">{{Citeand web[[Daniel |last=JonesDennett]], |first=Sarahcollectively |date=2023-11-29referred |title=Theto Infidelas Turnedthe Christian"[[Four |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/ayaan-hirsi-alis-political-conversion.htmlHorsemen |access-date=2023-12-05of |website=Intelligencerthe Apocalypse|language=enFour |archive-date=18Horsemen]]" Januaryof 2024the |archive-url=https://webmovement.archive.org/web/20240118195953/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/ayaan-hirsi-alis-political-conversion.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The secular humanist [[Paul Kurtz]] (1925–2012), founder of the [[Center for Inquiry]], is often regarded as a forerunner to the New Atheism movement.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Robert |date=2012-10-22 |title=Paul Kurtz, "giant" of humanism, dead at 86 |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-kurtz-idUSBRE89L19D20121022 |access-date=2022-12-25 |archive-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228115310/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-kurtz-idUSBRE89L19D20121022 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists" /> The 2004 publication of ''[[The End of Faith|The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason]]'' by [[Sam Harris]], a bestseller in the United States, was joined over the next couple years by a series of popular best-sellers by atheist authors.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/09/hitchens200709|title=God Bless Me, It's a Best-Seller!|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher Hitchens|magazine=Vanity Fair|date=15 August 2007|access-date=14 April 2016|quote=...in the last two years there have been five atheist best-sellers, one each from Professors Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett and two from the neuroscientist Sam Harris.|archive-date=2 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002001157/http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/09/hitchens200709|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38thDwAAQBAJ |title=The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution |publisher=Random House |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-525-51195-3 |location=New York |pages=1 |access-date=20 January 2023 |archive-date=21 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230421232245/https://books.google.com/books?id=38thDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Harris was motivated by the events of [[11 September 2001]], for which he blamed Islam, while also directly criticizing [[Christianity]] and [[Judaism]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=Sam |author-link=Sam Harris |date=11 August 2004 |title=The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7432-6809-7|title-link=The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason }}</ref> Two years later, Harris followed up with ''[[Letter to a Christian Nation]]'', which was a severe criticism of Christianity.<ref>{{cite news |last=Steinfels |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Steinfels |title=Books on Atheism Are Raising Hackles in Unlikely Places |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=3 March 2007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/books/03beliefs.html |access-date=17 July 2016 |archive-date=26 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626135149/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/books/03beliefs.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Also in 2006, following his television documentary series ''[[The Root of All Evil?]]'', [[Richard Dawkins]] published ''[[The God Delusion]]'', which was on the ''New York Times'' best-seller list for 51 weeks.<ref>{{cite web |title=''The God Delusion'' One-Year Countdown |url=http://richarddawkins.net/article,1599,The-God-Delusion-One-Year-Countdown,RichardDawkinsnet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828171533/http://richarddawkins.net/article,1599,The-God-Delusion-One-Year-Countdown,RichardDawkinsnet|archive-date=28 August 2008|work=RichardDawkins.net |access-date=5 October 2007}}</ref>

In 2010, [[Tom Flynn (author)|Tom Flynn]] (1955–2021), then editor of ''[[Free Inquiry]]'', stated that the only thing new about "New Atheism" was the wider publication of atheist material by big-name publishers, books that appeared on bestseller lists and were read by millions.<ref name="Flynn2010">{{cite journal |last=Flynn |first=Tom |author-link=Thomas W. Flynn |year=2010 |title=Why I Don't Believe in the New Atheism |url=https://secularhumanism.org/volume/no-3-vol-30/ |journal=Free Inquiry |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=7–43 |access-date=28 July 2011 |archive-date=7 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407201920/https://secularhumanism.org/volume/no-3-vol-30/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Mitchell Landsberg]], covering a gathering held by the [[Council for secular humanism|Council for Secular Humanism]] in 2010, said that religious [[Skepticism|skeptics]] in attendance were at odds between "new atheists" who preferred to "encourage open confrontation with the devout" and "accommodationists" who preferred "a subtler, more tactical approach."<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Landsberg |first=Mitchell |date=2010-10-10 |title=Religious skeptics disagree on how aggressively to challenge the devout |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-oct-10-la-me-humanists-20101010-story.html |access-date=2023-01-21 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=21 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121003552/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-oct-10-la-me-humanists-20101010-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Paul Kurtz was ousted from the Center for Inquiry in the late 2000's.<ref name=":8" /><ref name="A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists" /> This was in part due to a perception that Kurtz was "on the mellower end of the spectrum" according to Flynn.<ref name=":8" />

Several keyKey figures associated with the New Atheism movement include [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Sam Harris]], [[Christopher Hitchens]], [[Daniel Dennett]], and [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]].<ref name=":552" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Blumner |first=Robyn |author-link=Robyn Blumner |date=2020-12-04 |title=Give the Four Horsemen (and Ayaan) Their Due. They Changed America. |url=https://secularhumanism.org/2020/12/give-the-four-horsemen-and-ayaan-their-due-they-changed-america/ |access-date=2022-12-24 |website=Free Inquiry |language=en-US |archive-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228145337/https://secularhumanism.org/2020/12/give-the-four-horsemen-and-ayaan-their-due-they-changed-america/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

| footer = The "Four Horsemen of the New Atheism" (clockwise from top left): [[Richard Dawkins]] (b. 1941), [[Christopher Hitchens]] (1949–2011), [[Daniel Dennett]] (1942–2024), and [[Sam Harris]] (b. 1967).

Harris wrote several bestselling non-fiction books including ''[[The End of Faith]]'', ''[[Letter to a Christian Nation]]'', ''[[The Moral Landscape]]'', and ''[[Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion|Waking Up]]'', along with two shorter works (initially published as e-books) ''Free Will'' and ''Lying''.<ref name="Free Will">{{cite book|last=Harris|first=Sam|author-link=Sam Harris (author)|year=2012|title=Free Will|publisher=The Free Press|isbn=978-1451683400|page=[https://archive.org/details/freewill00harr_0/page/96 96]|id={{ASIN|1451683405|country=uk}}|url=https://archive.org/details/freewill00harr_0/page/96}}</ref> <ref name=Lying>{{cite book|last=Harris |first=Sam|title=Lying|year=2013|publisher=Four Elephants Press|isbn=978-1940051000|page=108|id= {{ASIN|1940051002|country=uk}}}}</ref> He is a co-founder of the Reason Project.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} Dawkins, the author of ''[[The God Delusion]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Dawkins |first=Richard |title=The God Delusion|year=2007|publisher=Black Swan|isbn=978-0-552-77429-1|title-link=The God Delusion }}</ref> and director of a [[Channel 4]] television documentary titled ''[[The Root of All Evil?]],'' is the founder of the [[Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science]]. He wrote: "I don't object to the horseman label, by the way. I'm less keen on 'new atheist': it isn't clear to me how we differ from old atheists."<ref>[[Richard Dawkins]], ''[[The God Delusion]]'', 10th anniversary edition, Black Swan, 2016, page I15 (new introduction for the 10th anniversary edition).</ref>

[[File:Ayaan Hirsi Ali by Gage Skidmore.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]] (born 1969) in 2016]]

* [[Dan Barker]] (b. 1949), author of ''[[Godless (Barker book)|Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists]]''<ref>{{cite web |last=Wainwright |first=Jon |date=2010 |title=The Not So New Atheists? |url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/The_Not_So_New_Atheists |access-date=27 August 2022 |work=Philosophy Now |archive-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630005810/https://philosophynow.org/issues/78/The_Not_So_New_Atheists |url-status=live }}</ref>

* [[Peter Boghossian]] (b. 1966), philosopher and author of ''[[A Manual for Creating Atheists]]''<ref name="daily-beast">{{cite news|last=Schulson|first=Michael|title=Atheist Philosopher Peter Boghossian's Guide to Converting Believers|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/atheist-philosopher-peter-boghossians-guide-to-converting-believers|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=2 November 2013|access-date=19 November 2020|archive-date=16 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216105714/https://www.thedailybeast.com/atheist-philosopher-peter-boghossians-guide-to-converting-believers|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[Greta Christina]] (b. 1961), author of ''Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things that Piss Off the Godless''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/defending_new_atheism_from_misdirected_leftists/|title=In Defense of New Atheism|work=Center for Inquiry|first=Ned|last=Borninski|date=30 June 2015|access-date=26 August 2022|archive-date=19 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519055401/https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/defending_new_atheism_from_misdirected_leftists/|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[Jerry Coyne]] (b. 1949), author of ''[[Faith Versus Fact|Faith Versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible]]''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berezow |first=Alex |date=October 21, 2013 |title=Jerry Coyne's Twisted History of Science and Religion |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexberezow/2013/10/21/jerry-coynes-twisted-history-of-science-religion/ |access-date=2022-11-25 |website=Forbes |archive-date=25 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125220028/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexberezow/2013/10/21/jerry-coynes-twisted-history-of-science-religion/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="midwest" />

* [[Rebecca Goldstein]] (b. 1950), philosopher and author of ''36 Arguments for the Existence of God''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/Books/2011/0210/Interview-with-Rebecca-Newberger-Goldstein-author-of-36-Arguments-for-the-Existence-of-God|title=Interview with Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of "36 Arguments for the Existence of God|first=Marjorie|last=Kehe|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=10 February 2011|access-date=27 August 2022|archive-date=7 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207144956/https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/Books/2011/0210/Interview-with-Rebecca-Newberger-Goldstein-author-of-36-Arguments-for-the-Existence-of-God|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[Michel Onfray]] (b. 1959), author of ''[[Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam]]''<ref>{{cite web |last=Dalrymple |first=Theodore |date=2007 |title=What the New Atheists Don't See |url=https://www.city-journal.org/html/what-new-atheists-don%e2%80%99t-see-13058.html?wallit_nosession=1 |access-date=27 August 2022 |work=City Journal |archive-date=10 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710183440/https://www.city-journal.org/html/what-new-atheists-don%E2%80%99t-see-13058.html?wallit_nosession=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

* [[A. C. Grayling]] (b. 1949), philosopher and author of ''[[The God Argument]]''<ref name=Catto>{{cite web|last1=Catto|first1=Rebecca|last2=Eccles|first2=Jane|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/apr/14/atheism-socialnetworking|title=Beyond Grayling, Dawkins and Hitchens, a new kind of British atheism|work=The Guardian|date=14 April 2011|access-date=27 August 2022|archive-date=31 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111231034107/http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/apr/14/atheism-socialnetworking|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="midwest" />

* [[John W. Loftus]] (b. 1954), author of ''The Outsider Test For Faith''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/loftusjohnw/status/1497969878795309056 |title=@loftusjohnw on Twitter: Why Did Randal Rauser Recommend "God and Horrendous Suffering"? Despite his high recommendation of my book Rauser is on a mission to discredit it, pejoratively calling me a "New Atheist" and a "Fundamentalist". Inquiring Minds Want to Know Why! |access-date=8 April 2022 |archive-date=8 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408072534/https://twitter.com/loftusjohnw/status/1497969878795309056 |url-status=live }}</ref>

* [[P. Z. Myers]] (b. 1957), critic of [[intelligent design]], the [[creationist]] movement, and other [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] concepts<ref name="midwest">Pigliucci, Massimo (2013). [https://philpapers.org/archive/PIGNAA.pdf New Atheism and the Scientistic Turn in the Atheism Movement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820050154/https://philpapers.org/archive/PIGNAA.pdf |date=20 August 2020 }} ''Midwest Studies In Philosophy,'' Vol. 37 (1): pp. 142-153.</ref>

In his book ''[[God: The Failed Hypothesis]]'', [[Victor J. Stenger]] argues that a God having [[omniscient]], [[omnibenevolent]], and [[omnipotent]] attributes, which he termed a ''3O God'', cannot [[logic]]ally exist.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stenger |first=Victor J. |title=God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist |publisher=Prometheus Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1591026525 |edition=with new foreword by Christopher Hitchens |location=Amherst (New York) |chapter=}}</ref> A similar series of alleged logical disproofs of the existence of a God with various attributes can be found in [[Michael Martin (philosopher)|Michael Martin]] and Ricki Monnier's ''The Impossibility of God'',<ref>{{cite book |author-link1=Michael Martin (philosopher) |first1=Michael |last1=Martin |first2=Ricki |last2=Monnier |title=The Impossibility of God |publisher=Prometheus Books |date= 2003 }}</ref> or [[Theodore M. Drange]]'s article, "Incompatible-Properties Arguments: A Survey".<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Theodore M. Drange |title=Incompatible-Properties Arguments: A Survey |url=http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/incompatible.html |journal=[[Philo (journal)|Philo]] |date=1998 |issue=2 |pages=49–60 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |via=The Secular Web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206205407/https://infidels.org/library/modern/theodore-drange-incompatible/}}</ref>

In the context of international politics, the principles of New Atheism establish no particular stance in and of themselves.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Kettell |first1=Steven |title=Faithless: The politics of new atheism |journal=Secularism and Nonreligion |date=21 November 2013 |volume=2 |page=61 |doi=10.5334/snr.al |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[PZP. Z. Myers]] stated that New Atheism's key proponents are "a madly disorganized mob, united only by [their] dislike of the god-thing".<ref>{{cite web |author-link=PZ Myers |last1=Meyers [sic] |first1=Paul Z. [Pharyngula] |title=Atheism ≠ fascism |website=ScienceBlogs |language=en |date=June 11, 2011 |url=https://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/06/12/atheism-fascism |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401130701/https://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/06/12/atheism-fascism |url-status=live }}</ref> That said, the demographic that supports New Atheism is a markedly homogeneous one; in America and the Anglo-sphere more generally, this cohort is "more likely to be younger, male and single, to have higher than average levels of income and education, to be less [[authoritarian]], less [[dogmatic]], less prejudiced, less [[conformist]] and more tolerant and open-minded on religious issues."<ref name=":0" /> Because of this homogeneity among the group, there exists not a formal dynamic but a loose consensus on broad political "efforts, objectives, and strategies".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2014-06-18|title=New Atheism: The Politics of Unbelief|url=https://www.e-ir.info/2014/06/18/new-atheism-the-politics-of-unbelief/|access-date=2020-06-21|website=E-International Relations|archive-date=23 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623122404/https://www.e-ir.info/2014/06/18/new-atheism-the-politics-of-unbelief/|url-status=live}}</ref>

For example, one of the primary aims is to further reduce the entanglement of church and state, which derives from the "belief that religion is antithetical to liberal values, such as freedom of expression and the separation of public from private life".<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Additionally, new atheists have engaged in the campaign "to ensure legal and civic equality for atheists", in a world considerably unwelcoming to and distrustful of non-religious believers.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Schulzke |first1=Marcus |title=The Politics of New Atheism |journal=Politics and Religion |date=December 2013 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=778–799 |id={{ProQuest|2210982282}} |doi=10.1017/S1755048313000217 |s2cid=197670821 }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite journal |last1=Kettell |first1=Steven |title=What's really new about New Atheism? |journal=Palgrave Communications |date=December 2016 |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=16099 |doi=10.1057/palcomms.2016.99 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Edgell |first1=Penny |last2=Gerteis |first2=Joseph |last3=Hartmann |first3=Douglas |title=Atheists As 'Other': Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society |journal=American Sociological Review |date=April 2006 |volume=71 |issue=2 |pages=211–234 |doi=10.1177/000312240607100203 |s2cid=143818177 }}</ref> Christopher Hitchens may be the new atheist concerned most with religion's incompatibility with contemporary liberal principles, and particularly its imposed limitation on both freedom of speech and freedom of expression.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|date=December 2011|title=Why Even Hate Speech Needs to Be Protected|url=https://www.rd.com/culture/freedom-speech-most-important-first-amendment-right/|website=Reader's Digest|access-date=21 June 2020|archive-date=23 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623003725/https://www.rd.com/culture/freedom-speech-most-important-first-amendment-right/|url-status=live}}</ref> Because New Atheism's proliferation is accredited partly to the 11 September attacks and the ubiquitous, visceral response, [[Richard Dawkins]], among many in his cohort, believes that [[theism]] (in this case, [[Islam]]) jeopardizes political institutions and [[national security]], and he warns of religion's potency in motivating "people to do terrible things" against international [[Polity|polities]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Richard Dawkins On Terrorism And Religion|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/05/27/530337283/richard-dawkins-on-terrorism-and-religion|access-date=2020-06-20|website=NPR.org|date=27 May 2017|archive-date=22 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622093627/https://www.npr.org/2017/05/27/530337283/richard-dawkins-on-terrorism-and-religion|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Edward Feser]] has critiqued the new atheists' responses to arguments for the existence of God, especially Dawkins' and Dennett's.:<ref>{{cite news |last1=Feser |first1=Edward |last2=Bowman |first2=Karlyn |title=The New Philistinism |url=https://www.aei.org/articles/the-new-philistinism/ |work=American Enterprise Institute - AEI |date=26 March 2010 |access-date=1 April 2023 |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401132215/https://www.aei.org/articles/the-new-philistinism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

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