Is the "New atheism" really so new?
Lately I have been reading a number of books by several newly best-selling authors and self-minted spokespersons for the "new atheist" movement. These unapologetic maverick figures include evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, neurology scholar Sam Harris, and libertarian-leaning pundit Christopher Hitchens.
All three of these guys have had one or more national best-selling books with a common theme of why God a) is cruel, sadistic and unjust b) reminds them of their absentee, abusive or deadbeat dad, and c) doesn't (or at least probably doesn't) exist.
Some interesting coincidences:
Richard Dawkins was sent to a strict, repressive boarding school run by mentally and physically abusive clergy in England. In chapter 9 of his book "The God Delusion" entitled "Childhood Abuse and the Escape from Religion," he goes into detail about this personal trauma and disillusionment with the religious leaders he encountered as a child.
Sam Harris' mother was Jewish and emotionally distant father was Quaker. Sam refused to be bar-mitzvahed. Instead he dabbled in eastern new age spirituality, and the designer drug ecstasy. Instead of finding enlightenment, apparently he has only become more jaded and angry. He insists that Reason is supreme, and anything that is to be believed must be able to be proven scientifically or it must be false. He also lumps religious believers generally into one of two categories- fundamentalists, or moderates who enable fundamentalists. His scathing, venomous attacks on any organized religion and religious people have been described as "anti-theist"- going beyond not believing in a divine creator or religion to being almost militantly and vociferously opposed to even the notion of there being a higher power.
Christopher Hitchens, libertarian columnist recently wrote a book entitled "God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything." The book has been a runaway bestseller- which apparently attests to the fact that this is a message that many people in the general public want to hear. Hitchens was also sent to a strict, authoritarian Brittish boarding school at an early age by his emotionally distant parents. As a young man he became a socialist activist in college, where he was a "third class honors" student leading a relatively undistinguished and short-lived academic career. He is widely regarded as coining the derogatory label "Islamofascism" in the weeks and months after 9/11/2001.
Bill Maher, a strongly left-leaning TV political satirist and comedian has also become a leading anti-religionist media voice. He was raised in his father's strict Irish Catholic religion, while his mother was Jewish, but not practicing. He rebelled against what he considered to be the hypocrisy of organized religion. His anti-religionist rants on his late-night program on HBO are a common theme of his. He apparently has a film coming out in which he travels around different parts of the world trying to show the worst aspects of religion. He does not seem to totally rule out the possibility of there being some sort of greater spiritual reality, but he rejects any notion of there being a benevolent, active or real deity or creator. Maher does have a social conscience, though, as well as a seeming concern for "the least of these"- at least in his public rhetoric.
Well, as it turns out, these are not original or compelling ideas. Buddhism, interestingly enough is a spiritual tradition that is atheistic- focusing on right living and enlightenment without believing in a God or higher spiritual power. Many figures throughout the course of history have expressed atheistic views- including Socrates and Epicurus in ancient times; Machiavelli in the mediaeval era; Hobbes in the pre-enlightenment era, whom all leaned toward atheistic perspectives. Thomas Jefferson, an American founding father, and deist (think divine clockmaker theory), systematically removed every reference to the miraculous or supernatural in the Bible, calling this tamed version of defaced scripture "The Jefferson Bible."
In the 19th century, post-enlightenment era, Ludwig Feuerbach considered God a human invention and religion nothing more than mere "wish fulfillment." Friederich Nietsche, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Bertrand Russell would all pick up on this theme. Reason in the form of scientifically provable, quanitifiable fact was seen by these figures as the only source of real, believable claims of ultimate meaning.
Interestingly enough, each and every one of these above-mentioned figures had a negative experience either with their father figure or an abusive, authoritarian clergyman at a very early age.
I find this fascinating.
One of the primary fatal flaws with atheism and anti-theism is that they both seem to over-simplify religion and spirituality, and over-idealize human reason. In essence, the leading proponents of atheism essentially make reason itself a sort of idol that they then idealize and claim is the only way to any sort of meaningful life or discovery.
This narrow, reductive perspective, amounts to a sort of secular fundamentalism in many cases, I think. It fails to acknowledge that there are deeper truths that surpass and will always surpass human ability to measure and fathom. If we can't measure something at this time, does that mean it is not real or true?
What ever happened to the place of mystery and faith? The major stumbling block for many self-proclaimed "atheists" is that belief in a greater reality beyond human measurement or logic requires trust and what Soren Kirkegaard, the great Danish existential philosopher called a "leap of faith." Those persons who bear the emotional and mental scars of negative early experiences with parents and religious leaders find it next to impossible to even conceive of taking a "leap of faith" or exploring the mystery of the divine. Instead, people who have been hurt in this way often find themselves mired in fear, hurt, and anger- using rationalization as a means of assuaging their discomfort with the possibility of there being a reality or being greater than their human ability to comprehend.
This is a fascinating topic for me, because I believe that one's spiritual belief and faith must be rigorously questioned, tested, probed and explored. Shedding light only reveals what is real and true. The danger in this, I suppose is that we may be afraid of, or not like what we see when we shine that light on the deep inner recesses of the human spirit.
Peace on the journey,
John
All three of these guys have had one or more national best-selling books with a common theme of why God a) is cruel, sadistic and unjust b) reminds them of their absentee, abusive or deadbeat dad, and c) doesn't (or at least probably doesn't) exist.
Some interesting coincidences:
Richard Dawkins was sent to a strict, repressive boarding school run by mentally and physically abusive clergy in England. In chapter 9 of his book "The God Delusion" entitled "Childhood Abuse and the Escape from Religion," he goes into detail about this personal trauma and disillusionment with the religious leaders he encountered as a child.
Sam Harris' mother was Jewish and emotionally distant father was Quaker. Sam refused to be bar-mitzvahed. Instead he dabbled in eastern new age spirituality, and the designer drug ecstasy. Instead of finding enlightenment, apparently he has only become more jaded and angry. He insists that Reason is supreme, and anything that is to be believed must be able to be proven scientifically or it must be false. He also lumps religious believers generally into one of two categories- fundamentalists, or moderates who enable fundamentalists. His scathing, venomous attacks on any organized religion and religious people have been described as "anti-theist"- going beyond not believing in a divine creator or religion to being almost militantly and vociferously opposed to even the notion of there being a higher power.
Christopher Hitchens, libertarian columnist recently wrote a book entitled "God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything." The book has been a runaway bestseller- which apparently attests to the fact that this is a message that many people in the general public want to hear. Hitchens was also sent to a strict, authoritarian Brittish boarding school at an early age by his emotionally distant parents. As a young man he became a socialist activist in college, where he was a "third class honors" student leading a relatively undistinguished and short-lived academic career. He is widely regarded as coining the derogatory label "Islamofascism" in the weeks and months after 9/11/2001.
Bill Maher, a strongly left-leaning TV political satirist and comedian has also become a leading anti-religionist media voice. He was raised in his father's strict Irish Catholic religion, while his mother was Jewish, but not practicing. He rebelled against what he considered to be the hypocrisy of organized religion. His anti-religionist rants on his late-night program on HBO are a common theme of his. He apparently has a film coming out in which he travels around different parts of the world trying to show the worst aspects of religion. He does not seem to totally rule out the possibility of there being some sort of greater spiritual reality, but he rejects any notion of there being a benevolent, active or real deity or creator. Maher does have a social conscience, though, as well as a seeming concern for "the least of these"- at least in his public rhetoric.
Well, as it turns out, these are not original or compelling ideas. Buddhism, interestingly enough is a spiritual tradition that is atheistic- focusing on right living and enlightenment without believing in a God or higher spiritual power. Many figures throughout the course of history have expressed atheistic views- including Socrates and Epicurus in ancient times; Machiavelli in the mediaeval era; Hobbes in the pre-enlightenment era, whom all leaned toward atheistic perspectives. Thomas Jefferson, an American founding father, and deist (think divine clockmaker theory), systematically removed every reference to the miraculous or supernatural in the Bible, calling this tamed version of defaced scripture "The Jefferson Bible."
In the 19th century, post-enlightenment era, Ludwig Feuerbach considered God a human invention and religion nothing more than mere "wish fulfillment." Friederich Nietsche, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud and Bertrand Russell would all pick up on this theme. Reason in the form of scientifically provable, quanitifiable fact was seen by these figures as the only source of real, believable claims of ultimate meaning.
Interestingly enough, each and every one of these above-mentioned figures had a negative experience either with their father figure or an abusive, authoritarian clergyman at a very early age.
I find this fascinating.
One of the primary fatal flaws with atheism and anti-theism is that they both seem to over-simplify religion and spirituality, and over-idealize human reason. In essence, the leading proponents of atheism essentially make reason itself a sort of idol that they then idealize and claim is the only way to any sort of meaningful life or discovery.
This narrow, reductive perspective, amounts to a sort of secular fundamentalism in many cases, I think. It fails to acknowledge that there are deeper truths that surpass and will always surpass human ability to measure and fathom. If we can't measure something at this time, does that mean it is not real or true?
What ever happened to the place of mystery and faith? The major stumbling block for many self-proclaimed "atheists" is that belief in a greater reality beyond human measurement or logic requires trust and what Soren Kirkegaard, the great Danish existential philosopher called a "leap of faith." Those persons who bear the emotional and mental scars of negative early experiences with parents and religious leaders find it next to impossible to even conceive of taking a "leap of faith" or exploring the mystery of the divine. Instead, people who have been hurt in this way often find themselves mired in fear, hurt, and anger- using rationalization as a means of assuaging their discomfort with the possibility of there being a reality or being greater than their human ability to comprehend.
This is a fascinating topic for me, because I believe that one's spiritual belief and faith must be rigorously questioned, tested, probed and explored. Shedding light only reveals what is real and true. The danger in this, I suppose is that we may be afraid of, or not like what we see when we shine that light on the deep inner recesses of the human spirit.
Peace on the journey,
John
posted by John at
Saturday, October 13, 2007
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