Evangelical Atheists
A small group of evangelicals is making waves in America, writing inflammatory best-sellers and going on a media crusade to spread their message of fear and intolerance. As CSC’s Logan Gage explains in this article from The Examiner, while it may seem counter-intuitive, these rabble-rousers defy the usual caricature of pitchfork-waving fundamentalists by virtue of their atheism.
In trying to figure out what’s gotten these atheists all in a tizzy, Gage asks,
What is happening? Is it all just election-year hoopla against the religious right? I suggest another explanation. A quiet revolution is underway; and it will not be publicized.
Gage sees this rise of atheist fundamentalism as a reaction to the challenge of intelligent design:
Just as we have confidence that black holes exist, not by direct observation, but because of the movement of bodies around the blackness, so, too, can one be sure an intellectual revolution is underway when we increasingly find books on The New York Times best-seller list by evangelical atheists like Richard Dawkins.These authors are surely responding to something. That something is powerful scientific evidence challenging their worldview. Time got it right: “This debate long predates Darwin, but the anti-religion position is being promoted with increasing insistence by scientists angered by intelligent design. …”
To see the whole article, read "Evangelical atheists crusade against ‘pernicious’ religions," by Logan Gage (The Examiner, November 17, 2006).