The only difference between a New Atheist and an Old Atheist is that New Atheists live in a time when it’s socially acceptable to be an Atheist, and Old Atheists lived in a time when it wasn’t. I draw the line in the early 2000’s when authors like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins made it cool to be an Atheist.
Dates aside though, New and Old Atheist’s have the same core ideology (or lack thereof). They believe there is no God, and religion is mythology. At least, that’s what a linguist would tell you, but New Atheism isn’t just a word in a dictionary. It’s a social movement. It’s a meme, and it’s evolving at the speed of society.
After 100 years of evolution, I believe Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins will be rolling in their graves as New Atheism will come to resemble the the ugly religious movements it takes so much pride in distinguishing itself from now.
Religion is defined:
“1: a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially (but not exclusively) when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2: a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects”
I challenge you to go on an Atheist chat board and declare Atheism is a religion and see what happens. Every argument you find on the internet for why Atheism isn’t a religion may be technically true, but outside of the debate chambers something interesting is happening:

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll also like these:
Agnosticism
- Why do people believe life is meaningless, and what do you do with your life if that’s true?
- How can the universe and life exist without God? What’s the purpose?
- Do agnostics fear death?
- Do agnostics ask, “Why is God is so cruel?”
- An agnostic take on God
- An agnostic take on Pascal’s Wager
- An agnostic take on intelligent design
- This Was Your Life: The Agnostic (Comic)
- An Old Man From Jersey Explains The Chicken And the Egg (Comic)
Atheism
Secular Living
- So you don’t believe in God. What do you do now
- Should science be legally recognized as a religion?
- The non-believers’ 7 deadly sins
- The non-believers’ 10 “commandments”
- 9 reasons to be kind outside of religion
- You already have ethics without religion
- My secular theory on ethics
- Karma ghosts (My secular theory on Karma)
- An Old Man From Jersey Explains The Difference Between Right and Wrong (Comic)
Islam
The Bible is mythology
- How I became a Christian and then lost my faith
- You need to consider the possibility your religion is mythology
- The mythology test
- A short summary of the Bible
- 10 scriptures that show the Bible is mythology
- 3 Signs the Bible is mythology
- 46 Questions Christians have to struggle with that non-believers can answer in 4 words
- 4 questions every Christian needs to answer about Exodus 21
- A more realistic take on the 10 commandments
- What I think about Satan
- This Was Your Life: The Satanist (Comic)
- This Was Your Life: The Jew (Comic)
- And Old Man From Jersey Explains Religion (Comic)
Christianity is Harmful to Society
- Why you should not respect religious beliefs
- 11 ways the Bible ruins society
- 10 ways the Bible will drive you insane
- 7 ways the Bible will make you an immoral person
- 12 things Christians have to worry about the nonbelievers don’t
- 10 benefits of Christianity you can achieve without believing in mythology
- 3 Reasons Christianity was largely responsible for The Holocaust
- It’s time to stop mutilating baby boys’ genitals
- It’s time to stop celebrating Easter
- It’s time to stop celebrating Christmas
- Never Forget Chick-Fil-A’s Inequality Appreciation Day
- The power of prayer
- The Island of Mana: A Story About Colonialization (Comic)
Preaching, witnessing and arguing with Christians
- 21 reasons it’s impossible to argue with Christians
- 15 mind control techniques both churches and cults use
- Christian billboards I wish Atheists would make
- 10 ways to be a better Christian witness on the internet
Christian Culture
- 10 signs you should stop pretending to be Christian
- Believing in Christianity is always absurd, but more so for certain ethnic groups
- American Christians, you don’t believe or practice what the Bible says about marriage
- Traditional Christian values are neither Christian or traditional
- Christians, you believe in science
- This Was Your Life: A Christian Woman (Comic)
- This Was Your Life: A Christian Man (Comic)
- This Was Your Life: The Puritan (Comic)
- This Was Your Life: Santa (Comic)
My Tweets About Religion
February 13th, 2018 at 3:21 pm
I agree that the “new atheism” is morphing into a social movement, but don’t you think you’re engaging in a slippery slope fallacy by contending that we are seeing the first stones being laid on the path to an atheist religion? Isn’t it more likely that what we are presently embroiled in is a shift in social consciousness as a consequence of the relative anonymity that social media affords as well as the dissemination of information via the internet? (i.e. the truth regarding the origins of religious thought and the tenuous documents upon which they’re based & the ability to opine on them, at will?) If the “weak” and the “stupid” find solidarity and social cohesion with groups of other atheists-something I find unlikely given how today’s young generation barely interacts outside of social media-the problem then would be to lift the general intelligence of the masses through teaching correct thinking skills, something religious groups never encourage because in it lay the seeds of its own destruction, as we are seeing come to fruition now.
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