[asa] NPR on New Atheism

From here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113889251

"For example, Hitchens, a columnist for Vanity Fair and author of the book God Is Not Great, told a capacity crowd at the University of Toronto, "I think religion should be treated with ridicule, hatred and contempt, and I claim that right." His words were greeted with hoots of approval. Religion is "sinister, dangerous and ridiculous," Hitchens tells NPR, because it can prompt people to fly airplanes into buildings, and it promotes ignorance. Hitchens sees no reason to sugarcoat his position."

Sounds like hate.

"The more outrageous the message the better, says PZ Myers, who writes an influential blog that calls, among other things, for the end of religion. On Blasphemy Day, Myers drove a rusty nail through a consecrated Communion wafer and posted a photo on his Web site.

 "Edgy is what young people like," Myers says. "They want to cut through the nonsense right away and want to get to the point. They want to hear the story fast, they want it to be exciting, and they want it to be fun. And I'm sorry, the old school of atheism is really, really boring.""

Sounds like proselytizing.

But the best for last:

"The new atheists counter that they believe in reason, science and freedom from religious myth. And, as Lindsay, who replaced Kurtz, puts it: "We take the high road, the low road, country roads, interstates, highways, byways, - whatever it takes to reach people.""

Sounds like hypocrisy. Basically, the New Atheists think the way to get people to embrace reason and science is to use hateful propaganda, edgy ridicule, and any other means of arousing negative emotions. Whatever it takes. New Atheists clearly do not believe in reason and science. They believe in whatever it takes.

Mike

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:35:32 -0400