I got a new book out of the library. It’s by Chris Hedges and it’s entitled I Don’t Believe in Atheists. I don’t know exactly what Hedges is implying with his title so I look forward to discovering it as I go along.
For me, given all the genuine Christian fundamentalism in the US and the “in your face”, cultural and political evangelical Christianism, or what one might call American religious Fascism, it’s been surprising to witness the renaissance of Atheism. Not to get too Hegelian, but I think these swings are good things. My own sense is that, globally speaking, religion has been on a not so good run lately. C’mon people! Did we really need Al Qaeda? We’ve even had the return of the evolution wars at school board meetings and in the courts.
At any rate, Hedges starts off with an overview of the past few years’ of godtalk and anti-godtalk in the media. Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the philosopher Daniel Dennett, have written books attacking religious belief. Hedges thinks some of the criticisms have been screeds; others have been thoughtful.
He criticizes Hitchens and Harris for their unfair, crude, and intolerant remarks. About Harris’ book (Letter to a Christian Nation), Hedges writes that Harris’
facile attack on a form of religious belief we all hate, his childish simplicity and ignorance of world affairs, as well as his demonization of Muslims, made the book tedious, at its best, and often idiotic and racist. (2)
I watched the CSPAN debate between Harris and Reza Aslan in 2007. I heartily recommend watching the debate on Reason and Religion. (This is just a small clip. Check out the rest on You Tube.) As for Hedges, I’ll have to keep reading to find out where he’s going.