Godless grifters: How the New Atheists merged with the far right

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

New Atheism appeared to offer moral clarity, it emphasized intellectual honesty and it embraced scientific truths about the nature and workings of reality. It gave me immense hope to know that in a world overflowing with irrationality, there were clear-thinking individuals with sizable public platforms willing to stand up for what's right and true — to stand up for sanity in the face of stupidity.

Fast-forward to the present: What a grift that was! Many of the most prominent New Atheists turned out to be nothing more than self-aggrandizing, dogmatic, irascible, censorious, morally compromised people who, at every opportunity, have propped up the powerful over the powerless, the privileged over the marginalized......

https://www.salon.com/2021/06/05/how-the-new-atheists-merged-with-the-far-right-a-story-of-intellectual-grift-and-abject-surrender/

Some people are looking to get rich. Some love power. Some, as the article illustrates, are misogynists or racists.

I judge people by their actions, not their professed positions.

[hunter]

1. Authoritarians all hang out in the same clubs.

Religious or areligious isn't so important to them.

Personally I'm most irritated by those atheists who have abandoned religion by name but kept all the baggage.

[blm]

2. Good point.

[guillaumeb]

3. Great finish.

And an excellent observation.

[shrike3]

12. There's a darkness in man that always emerges somewhere.

Religion has never stopped it, but neither has lack of a religion.

[Doodley]

4. At least they believe in science and have an evidence-based belief system. They aren't so likely to

go along with all these right-wing anti-science conspiracy theories.

[guillaumeb]

5. Generally they do follow science, however....

Arguably the progenitor of New Atheism, Harris was for me one of the more entertaining atheists. More recently, though, he has expended a prodigious amount of time and energy vigorously defending the scientific racism of Charles Murray. He believes that IQ is a good measure of intelligence. He argued to Josh Zepps during a podcast interview not only that black people are less intelligent than white people, but that this is because of genetic evolution.

[hunter]

6. Anti-intellectual religions and anti-intellectual atheism walk hand in hand.

That's the greatest, perhaps fatal, flaw of the U.S.A...

...our tolerance of anti-intellectualism.

There's no good reason to tolerate these cruel stupid and ignorant people.

[Doc Sportello]

7. As an atheist I found Harris presumptuous

In his first best seller he took on philosophical questions that some of the titans like Bertrand Russell spent entire tomes on - but HE answered them in a few paragraphs. As I remember, his whole resume to that point was that of a master's level student. I think there was a growing wave of atheism when he came along and he took advantage as one of its leading voices. Unfortunately it appears his hubris has allowed a certain intellectual laziness, which is manifesting itself as he tries to get on another wave, one that is dangerous.

[guillaumeb]

8. In my view, intolerance is the issue.

It does not matter if the person is a theist or an atheist, intolerance is the issue. Racism is simply one manifestation of intolerance.

[Doodley]

9. The definition of New atheist doesn't include "one who is racist."

[guillaumeb]

10. No, it does not.

But in practice, racists can be found everywhere.

[shrike3]

13. Reminds me of "It Can't Happen Here."

I've read the book, and one character actually says that the coming battle will be between tolerance and intolerance.

[Act_of_Reparation]

14. Yeah, we see what you did there.

But it's laughably reductive.

[guillaumeb]

15. It is reductive,

and simplistic, but intolerance of difference is the basis of all struggle.

And the larger point is that no group is free of intolerance. In this case, thieves will use their perceived identity to help them steal from members of their group. Like the millionaire pastors.

[Act_of_Reparation]

16. No, it isn't.

Saying something doesn't make it true, my dude.

[guillaumeb]

17. My reply was: "And the larger point is that no group is free of intolerance."

Reality bears out that observation.

[Act_of_Reparation]

18. Look, I know you *think* it does.

I'm telling you it doesn't.

[LostOne4Ever]

11. I prefer Rebecca Watson and Zinnia Jones.

I don't know if Julia Serano is a non-believer or not but I love her too!

[old as dirt]

19. When they came for the Muslims, ...

When they came for the Muslims, I was not a Muslim, so I did not speak out.

When they came for the Immigrants, I was not an Immigrant, so I did not speak out.

When they came for the Atheists, there was no one left to speak out.

As Harris once put it, with many of us naively agreeing, "We are at war with Islam." (Note: This was a dangerous and xenophobic lie that helped get Donald Trump elected. As Harris said in 2006, anticipating how his brand of Islamophobia would enable Trump's rise, "the people who speak most sensibly about the threat that Islam poses to Europe are actually fascists.&quot

[guillaumeb]

20. Exactly.

No one is advocating that we should accept, or tolerate, hate groups, but we must accept that we can all have different viewpoints in matters of faith, or non-faith.