Tag Archives: Christopher Hitchens

A long essay worth reading: Michael Ruse on the intolerance, hero-worship, and self-righteousness of New Atheists

Posted on 15/10/2012 by

Curb your enthusiasm: High priests, holy writ and excommunications — how did Humanism end up acting like a religion? The New Atheists believe that science replaces the claims about the world that religion makes — and therefore makes religion redundant. … Continue reading →

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Quote of the day: Peter Hitchens on the Christopher Hitchens Atheist Fan Club

Posted on 01/10/2012 by

‘For some of these people, since the very things they admire him for are the very things that I most specifically reject, the idea that I am closely related to him, have a similar education and background, is close to … Continue reading →

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Quote of the day: Philosopher and former atheist Edward Feser on Richard Dawkins, et al.

Posted on 28/03/2012 by

‘The rhetoric of the New Atheist  writers — Richard Dawkins, Daniel  Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher  Hitchens among the most  prominent — sounds much more like that of a  fundamentalist preacher than  like anything I read during my atheist days.  … Continue reading →

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God save us from whinging, moaning New Atheists

Posted on 09/03/2012 by

God save us from atheist whining, writes Nathalie Rothschild. This idea that closet atheists need to be coaxed out into the open, and that they need to claim the right to rally together as proud non-believers, has become a central … Continue reading →

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“Dawkins really did try — you could almost hear the wobbling jowls”

Posted on 14/02/2012 by

Dawkins really did try – you could almost hear the wobbling jowls Dawkins really did try – you could almost hear the wobbling jowls — but he simply couldn’t.  “On the Origin of Species . . . er . . . with, oh God … Continue reading →

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Quote of the day: Stephen Pollard on Richard Dawkins’ arrogant and “cringemaking radio performance”

Posted on 14/02/2012 by

‘If you were trying to come up with a definition of misplaced intellectual arrogance, you could not do better than having the planet’s most famous atheist issuing diktats on who does and doesn’t count as a proper Christian. . . . … Continue reading →

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Richard Dawkins suffers logic failure; falls flat on his face while debating a Christian, embarrasses other Atheists

Posted on 14/02/2012 by

Dawkins failure to remember title of Darwin’s book proves he’s no atheist, according to his own logic Richard Dawkins is accused of being an embarrassment to atheism tonight for failing to remember the full title of Darwin’s ‘The Origin of … Continue reading →

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How atheism became a religion in all but name

Posted on 04/02/2012 by

It was only a matter of time before someone proposed an ‘atheist temple’, given the religious-like zealotry and dogma of the New Atheists, writes Frank Furedi. With their zealous denunciation of religion, the so-called New Atheists often resemble medieval moral crusaders.  … Continue reading →

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Ed West on Alain de Botton, alcohol-free lager and temples for atheists

Posted on 03/02/2012 by

Ed West writes: Religious social pressure certainly nudges the not-so-kind-hearted into behaving correctly.  At the very least religion meant that once a week a City banker had to attend a church where they had to mingle with the ordinaries.  Today’s … Continue reading →

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People who constantly force their religious beliefs down my throat

Posted on 02/02/2012 by
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Quote of the day: John Haldane on Christopher Hitchens

Posted on 05/01/2012 by

‘[Christopher Hitchens'] fluency made him a compelling speaker to listen to, but it also raised a question: was his an acute analytical mind, dissecting and composing reasoned arguments, or was he a rhetorician sustaining a mellifluous but often merely associative flow … Continue reading →

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Why are atheists so mean? A warm-hearted atheist is difficult to find, notes Janie B. Cheaney

Posted on 05/01/2012 by

Janie B. Cheaney asks out loud what a lot of us have quietly thought: Why are Atheists So Mean? [Novelist Meg Rosoff] claims to have been an atheist since the age of 7, and “if I could have been an … Continue reading →

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Religious violence: One of the many topics that the late Christopher Hitchens was wrong about

Posted on 01/01/2012 by

Why Christopher Hitchens was wrong about religious violence by William Cavanaugh

Posted in Atheism, History, Politics, World Events, Secularism | Tagged ,

Is the slick, superficial New Atheist bubble about to burst in 2012?

Posted on 29/12/2011 by

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.1324331373.html The appeal of Richard Dawkins, outside his hardcore fan base, seems to be fading, certainly judging by the fact that his Magic of Reality book is nowhere to be seen in the New York Times Bestsellers List, 2011. This year has also … Continue reading →

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Some worthwhile New Atheist reading for the Christmas holidays

Posted on 26/12/2011 by

Richard Dawkins: the atheist who tried to steal Christmas Christopher Hitchens: more concerned with self-promotion than actual ideas

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Christopher Hitchens: “the anti-Semite . . . under all our noses” and his problem with the Jews

Posted on 23/12/2011 by

The Trouble with Hitchens by Benjamin Kerstein The tone of unrestrained invective in these passages is part of Hitchens’s cachet as a writer.  The substance, however, is very ugly stuff indeed, composed out of some of the most barbarous and … Continue reading →

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A refreshingly truthful obituary for Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011

Posted on 21/12/2011 by

Father Raymond J. de Souza: Christopher Hitchens lived in service of plain hatred Christopher Hitchens is dead.  By his own lights, he is utterly defunct, decomposing more rapidly than yesterday’s newspaper.  I take a different view, and do sincerely pray … Continue reading →

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Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011

Posted on 19/12/2011 by

It strikes me that Christopher Hitchens was the sort who would loudly proclaim that he neither wanted nor expected any praise from Christians after his death, all the time knowing that he would get plenty of posthumous words of praise from them … Continue reading →

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A truly Christian response to Christopher Hitchens’ death: Mother Teresa’s order prays “for him and his family”

Posted on 16/12/2011 by

Mother Teresa’s order prays for atheist Christopher Hitchens’ soul India’s Missionaries of Charity order said it would pray for British writer Christopher Hitchens’ soul, despite his aggressive campaign against its Nobel prize-winning founder, Mother Teresa. “We will pray for him … Continue reading →

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Philosopher Edward Feser breaks down the varieties of atheism and explains why New Atheists are irrational

Posted on 17/09/2011 by

Some varieties of atheism I find that atheists who fall on the most negative ends of these scales — A1 territory — are invariably the ones who are the least well-informed about what the religions they criticize actually believe, and … Continue reading →

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The “New Atheists” by Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J.

Posted on 03/08/2011 by

The “New Atheists” by Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. The secularists and naturalists have created the myth that there is a war going on between science and religion.  There never has been a war between religion and true science.  In fact, … Continue reading →

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Historian Tim Stanley on the 9/11 cross and “The bizarre fundamentalism of American atheists”

Posted on 28/07/2011 by

The attack on the 9/11 cross exposes the bizarre fundamentalism of American atheists America’s culture war took an unpleasant turn this week.  A group of atheists filed a suit to take down a cross erected at the Lower Manhattan memorial … Continue reading →

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Quote of the day: John Dickson on the ‘Jesus mythicism’ embraced by Richard Dawkins and the New Atheists

Posted on 15/06/2011 by

‘Michel Onfray, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins all suggest that the very existence of Jesus is still in doubt among the historians.  Dawkins cites an authority who has made what he describes as a “serious historical case that Jesus never … Continue reading →

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Atheist Christopher Hitchens admits that he has a fawning cult following of disciples and acolytes

Posted on 27/03/2011 by

I’ve posted about the Cult of Christopher Hitchens before, see here, and now Hitchens himself has admitted his cult status.  In a recent interview he talked about his followers and acolytes: Hitchens said that he is constantly contacted by other atheists telling … Continue reading →

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Alister McGrath thanks God for the New Atheism

Posted on 29/01/2011 by

Where some seemed to think that the so-called “Four Horsemen” would achieve final closure on the issue of God, quite the reverse seems to have happened.  Cultural interest in God and religion has resurged, and the discussions are not leading … Continue reading →

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