In this discussion with D.J. Grothe, acclaimed foreign correspondent Chris Hedges shares his criticism of the New Atheists, calling them "fundamentalists" in their own right. He responds to their account of the origins of Islamic religious extremism, and he accuses the New Atheists of racism. He explains his view that the New Atheists are proponents of the Neo-conservative agenda and how the American Left does advance secular values in the Muslim world. He also criticizes what he calls the "utopianism" of the New Atheists, detailing his skepticism about moral progress for humanity.Hedges' arguments are tendentious and he does his best to portray outspoken atheists like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins as utopian fundamentalists hell bent on violence to promote their views.
Hedges gets a lot of criticism from commenters at the CFI forum, some of which veers widely off topic but it's worth reading as an antidote to Hedges' confused diatribe.
[Via Ophelia Benson]
