Philosophy
Atheists have been around for a long time, but until recently, they usually tended to keep their free-thinking disbelief to themselves, both because they considered their opinion a personal matter and out of politeness for believers. The rise of increasingly extremist religious fundamentalism over the past few years, however, especially since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, has stimulated a growing numbers of nonbelievers to end their silence and publicly subject religious belief to the same kind of rational scrutiny that we all naturally tend to subject every other kind of belief.
For some, this "new atheism" is perceived as strident, militant and just as fundamentalist and dogmatic as the religions atheists tend to criticize. For others, like philosopher Daniel Dennett, this perception of fundamentalist atheism simply reflects the double-standard of deference we have historically accorded the sacred cows of religion for no particularly good rational reason other than tradition.
In the following fascinating and thought-provoking debate, Bishop of Oxford Richard Harries and journalist Charles Moore team up to defend the motion that the new atheism is the new fundamentalism. On the other corner, with a combined weight of expertise in philosophy and evolutionary biology, A.C. Grayling and Richard Dawkins oppose the motion.
Enjoy the intellectual blood bath :)
Want real fundamentalists? Get a load of the agnostics fundamentalists: The Church of the Holy Undecided :)
Oh, and this is the double-standard cartoon Professor Grayling mentioned:
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- Tribute To Christopher Hitchens
Widely considered to be one of the Four Horsemen of Atheism, Christopher Hitchens is an intellectual hero to many agnostics, skeptics and nonbelievers. I greatly admire the man's intelligence, erudition, candor, humor and eloquence, but I have to...
- Atheism Is A Religion Like Abstinence Is A Sex Position
When it comes to debates between religious folks and non-believers, it's not uncommon to hear the former claim that atheism is itself a religion ultimately based on faith. And it's not just your ordinary bible-thumping redneck either. If you've...
- The Atheism Tapes - Arthur Miller
After having explored the intellectual roots of atheism in A Brief History of Disbelief, Jonathan Miller continues his series of thought-provoking conversations with leading intellectuals. In this installment with the late playwright Arthur Miller, he...
- The Confession
The culture wars concerning religiosity and secularism are being waged all over the place. The religious argue that atheism is morally bankrupt without God as an objective basis for morality; atheists argue that believers are missing the rational part...
- Religion...intuitive And Analytic Thinkers
"Losing Your Religion: Analytic Thinking Can Undermine Belief" A series of new experiments shows that analytic thinking can override intuitive assumptions, including those that underlie religious belief by Marina Krakovsky April 26th, 2012 Scientific...
Philosophy
Is Atheism the New Fundamentalism?
Atheists have been around for a long time, but until recently, they usually tended to keep their free-thinking disbelief to themselves, both because they considered their opinion a personal matter and out of politeness for believers. The rise of increasingly extremist religious fundamentalism over the past few years, however, especially since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, has stimulated a growing numbers of nonbelievers to end their silence and publicly subject religious belief to the same kind of rational scrutiny that we all naturally tend to subject every other kind of belief.For some, this "new atheism" is perceived as strident, militant and just as fundamentalist and dogmatic as the religions atheists tend to criticize. For others, like philosopher Daniel Dennett, this perception of fundamentalist atheism simply reflects the double-standard of deference we have historically accorded the sacred cows of religion for no particularly good rational reason other than tradition.
In the following fascinating and thought-provoking debate, Bishop of Oxford Richard Harries and journalist Charles Moore team up to defend the motion that the new atheism is the new fundamentalism. On the other corner, with a combined weight of expertise in philosophy and evolutionary biology, A.C. Grayling and Richard Dawkins oppose the motion.
Enjoy the intellectual blood bath :)
Want real fundamentalists? Get a load of the agnostics fundamentalists: The Church of the Holy Undecided :)
Oh, and this is the double-standard cartoon Professor Grayling mentioned:
.
- Tribute To Christopher Hitchens
Widely considered to be one of the Four Horsemen of Atheism, Christopher Hitchens is an intellectual hero to many agnostics, skeptics and nonbelievers. I greatly admire the man's intelligence, erudition, candor, humor and eloquence, but I have to...
- Atheism Is A Religion Like Abstinence Is A Sex Position
When it comes to debates between religious folks and non-believers, it's not uncommon to hear the former claim that atheism is itself a religion ultimately based on faith. And it's not just your ordinary bible-thumping redneck either. If you've...
- The Atheism Tapes - Arthur Miller
After having explored the intellectual roots of atheism in A Brief History of Disbelief, Jonathan Miller continues his series of thought-provoking conversations with leading intellectuals. In this installment with the late playwright Arthur Miller, he...
- The Confession
The culture wars concerning religiosity and secularism are being waged all over the place. The religious argue that atheism is morally bankrupt without God as an objective basis for morality; atheists argue that believers are missing the rational part...
- Religion...intuitive And Analytic Thinkers
"Losing Your Religion: Analytic Thinking Can Undermine Belief" A series of new experiments shows that analytic thinking can override intuitive assumptions, including those that underlie religious belief by Marina Krakovsky April 26th, 2012 Scientific...