The authors of these books have chosen titles that re-set the stage, with new scenery, new production and new lyrics. God is Not Great, The God Delusion, The End of Faith. These titles tell the reader right away that religion is being looked at from a different, far less reverential, view.
But there is more than one kind of atheist. And even in the pool of (mostly male) writers who are called “atheist fundamentalists,” there are many differences. Don’t confuse your Sam Harris with your Daniel Dennett, and although Victor Stenger or Richard Dawkins may mostly agree with Christopher Hitchens, there are many disparities as well.
I take a different approach altogether. Although I do not believe in God, I have no interest in telling anyone else what he should or should not believe. I am more interested in dialogue, and I hope that conversation will get us to respect and understanding. I cannot see dialogue happening with someone who tells you that your core beliefs are wrong, so I refrain from telling anyone what to believe.
It isn’t that I am not angry at some believers. These days, many atheists are angry. And we should be.
“That means that they no longer consider religion off limits to criticism.”
This incorrect. It may be that some atheists do not feel free to criticise religion but there is plenty of activist criticism out there. Three of examples come to mind:
1. The lawsuit to remove the “In God we trust” from the dollar bill
2. Thw lawsuits to remove the same from the pladge of allegiance
3.
Athiests don’t speak with one voice? I don’t believe it…
(hm…that joke was funnier in my head than it came out on screen…)
Oops!
3. The lawsuits to remove the giant cross in the middle of a cemetry
somewhere in California, I believe.
A fourth would be the growing anger over the denial of the military in Iraq to allow ‘meetings’ of Atheists to meet together.
There is plenty of criticism out there. Such as, for example. meetings of friends (or strangers) where the unwritten rule is not to speak about religion or politics.
As for multiple expressions of Christianity (or, for that matter other religions), that may be true. Fror example my model on earth is Billy Graham, but my belief is not in BG or any denomination, but rather in one book, The Bible and what Jesus said or was said about Him, which does contain all Truth. It is certainly true that in western society today, attempts to speak about Christianity are met with derision, with laws against promulgation of Christianity, or with a ‘refusal to even listen and have dialogue’ about Christianity. This is true today although in some societies such as northern Nigeria, Christians face physical violence from Muslims and sometimes react in the same way.
Similarly some religions such as Islam forbid, frequently with violence, any other religion whatsoever (Saudi Arabia, for example).
“Although I do not believe in God, I have no interest in telling anyone else what he should or should not believe. I am more interested in dialogue, and I hope that conversation will get us to respect and understanding” —Nica Lalli
Sounds a bit like an Episcopal bishop, eh?
“If you could pick one living person to be the face of the entire Christian faith, who would that person be?”
Jesus Christ. Some questions are easy.