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Intellectually impoverished atheism
Atheists like to think of themselves as both rationally and intellectually sound. Regrettably, this is not always the case.
Take a moment to call to mind some of the atheists you’ve met. With some luck, you will have come across some wonderful secular humanists, who are kind, reasonable and psychologically well-balanced. But, odds are, you’ve also likely come across another type of atheist: the smug, self-assured jerk who is perhaps not quite the intellectual powerhouse they consider themselves to be.
Now, let me get a few caveats out of the way: I consider myself as either an atheist or an agnostic depending on matters of definitional nuance. I am both a strong advocate of secularism and humanism, and have worked for various humanitarian organisations over the years. And I do not believe it is particularly difficult to be ‘good without God’ (given certain pre-conditions).
What I would like to critique here is a particular kind of atheist — arrogant, argumentative, and intellectually incurious. You’ll often find them wielding statements like “religion is a disease” or “God is a delusion” like magical talismans removing the need for rigorous argumentation.
To these individuals, I would like to suggest that citing Richard Dawkins memes does not constitute adequate intellectual effort in the question of religion. Let me explain why.
Firstly, most of the New Atheist crew have not bothered to do their homework. They have not engaged with the long philosophical tradition of critiquing religious metaphysics, nor have they bothered to look up contemporary debates about the nature of religion or spiritual practise. In matters of religion, they are polemicists rather than not intellectuals or philosophers, and we should recognise their short-comings.
Generally, the New Atheist critique proceeds from one core assumption: that the best way to judge the value of religion is to undertake a literal reading of holy texts, and see whether they are ‘true’ or ‘false’.
Here’s an example: the Adam and Eve creation story conflicts with our scientific understanding of the birth of the universe, therefore it is wrong, and religion is stupid.
