The New Atheism Movement is on Joey’s mind this week. We discuss the “new-ish” movement, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and even Kirk Cameron with special guest Rob Hunter. Music by Tin Horn Prayer and Undesirable People.

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Show Notes

Intro

Sponsors: None

Co-host: Joey Avalos

 

TOPIC – “New Atheism”

 

Introduce Guest – Rob Hunter

 

Introduce Topic:

 

New Atheism is the name given to the ideas promoted by a collection of modern atheist writers who have advocated the view that “religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises.”[1]

The term is commonly associated with individuals such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens (together called “the Four Horsemen of New Atheism” in a 2007 debate they held on their criticisms of religion, a name that has stuck),[2] along with Victor J. Stenger,[3] A.C. Grayling,[4] and P.Z. Myers.[5] Several best-selling books by these authors, published between 2004 and 2007, form the basis for much of the discussion of New Atheism.[6]

 

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1][2] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[3][4][5] Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist.[4][5][6][7] Atheism is contrasted with theism,[8][9] which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.