New Atheism Essay

Q: What’s ‘new’ about new atheism?

Introduction

Religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods, a particular system of faith and worship or a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion (Oxford Dictionary, 2014). From religion, many new groups, communities and further derived religions have formed. Closely related to religion and with endless controversies surrounding it’s classification as a religion is the concept of Atheism- which is defined as the disbelief or rejection of a deity. Descending from this is a social and political movement in favour of secularism known as New Atheism. Understanding the historical content concerning the emergence of atheism, this essay will

From a more philosophical approach on the religion and God, new atheism now focuses more on arguments from design, arguing from the precision, complexity and efficiency of the organism in the natural world (2012, 147). Furthermore, it has also been understood that the rise of new atheism is one of the significant cultural features of the 21st century. Refuting those who believe in God with scientific arguments largely based on the notion of evolution, new atheists emphasise their arguments and devotion on the extermination of religion and its negative effects and influences that it has brought upon society (Davies, 2010, 19). This section will discuss the development of the social and political movement of new atheism through the main perceptions, arguments, ideals and structure of the prominent new atheists- the four horsemen of the non

With the similar belief as traditional atheists regarding the rejection of God, Hitchens however further conveys his concern that religious ideologies are forced upon children. He stated, “If religion instruction were not allowed until the child had attained the age of reason, we would be living in quite a different world”. Unlike the previous atheistic arguments presented by the naturalist and materialistic monist John Dewey who denied the existence of God or immortality, Hitchens’ dominating concern and approach is more so in relation to the effects of religion on society. As every publication, many critics have voiced that Hitchens’ book has various downfalls. Another identified atheist, Curtis White expresses that Hitchens’ book has several misrepresentations, one of the main being his classification of ‘Eastern religions’. White highlights that Hinduism and Buddhism are not the same religion and Hitchens’ refusal to acknowledge previous philosophical traditions in history is another facet to be reconsidered (2013, 3). This example is able to demonstrate another aspect that has developed over the centuries. Similar to history, writers had always