Modern Atheism in the Balance of Critique (part one)
Abstract
Modern or New Atheism is, in fact, the narrative of a movement that entered the public intellectual arena in the early years of the present century through the publication and wide circulation of a series of bestselling books, largely as a reaction to the behaviors and actions of certain extremist groups.
Although the roots of this movement go back to distant times and its foundations and assumptions are essentially the same as those of earlier atheists, the current movement, by adopting a highly hostile and negative approach, has transformed into an aggressive and vehement current against religion and religious believers. New Atheism, known under the leadership—or so-called standard-bearership—of figures such as Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens, promotes its ideas by making use of scientific achievements and philosophical doubts.
The present study, adopting a critical approach, examines these ideas and, through a careful analysis of the components of New Atheism, clarifies its fundamental differences from classical atheism. Some of these atheists, in order to implement their objectives, have attempted to popularize and simplify sciences such as biology—especially the theory of evolution and natural selection—and have used these theories as tools to attack the beliefs of theists and believers.
Instead of relying on sound arguments or critically examining the evidence and proofs presented by believers, they take historical events and the conduct and behavior of certain extremist religious groups as the criteria for judging religion and belief in God.
Furthermore, modern atheists, without first proving their own foundations and assumptions, argue on the basis of them and suggest that religious beliefs are evolutionary phenomena that can be explained empirically and naturally through the theory of evolution.
This issue has prompted many researchers and thinkers around the world to strive to critique and highlight the weak foundations, irrational methods, religion-destructive and anti-scientific tendencies of this movement. What is somewhat lacking in this context is a fair critique of atheism and the presentation of precise responses to its doubts. Therefore, the present research examines New Atheism and challenges modern atheists on the scale of critique and analysis in an impartial and fair manner, demonstrating that:
First, naturalism, as argued by these atheists, is not a scientific theory; rather, it is a kind of worldview and metaphysical outlook.
Second, atheists have committed a clear error at this point, namely, conflating the different meanings of naturalism.
Third, contrary to their claim, there is no conflict between science and religion; rather, if any conflict exists, it is between naturalism and science.
In this study, using a descriptive-analytical method, the scientific and philosophical doubts of New Atheism are presented, and satisfactory responses are offered.
Keywords: Modern Atheism, natural selection, conflict between science and religion, theory of evolution.
Introduction
First and foremost, praise, supplication, and worship are due to the One who adorned humanity with the ornament of reason and reflection, thought and contemplation, and by virtue of this noble adornment, this precious and beneficial essence, made the human being the crown of creation, the noblest of creatures, and the very purpose of the creation of the universe. Praise is due to God, who, in order to liberate humanity from the yoke of captivity, servitude, and ignorance, and to guide it toward self-knowledge and knowledge of God, sent down religions successively and, among them, made the religion of Islam the final and most complete. He then chose, for the invitation and propagation of Islam, the Master of the universe, the leader of the saints, and the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (PBUH), so that through his noble character and virtuous nature he might save humankind from the abyss of atheism and misguidance and guide them to their ultimate destination. Endless blessings be upon the pure soul of the savior of humanity, the guide of humankind, Muhammad (PBUH), who rescued people from worldly misery in order to attain eternal felicity and assisted humanity on the path of inner purification and outward refinement.
Now, by divine grace, success has been attained and another work has been written; another chapter of knowledge and understanding has been opened, and hidden truths from the words and deeds of atheists and promoters of misguidance have been revealed, while the mask of friendship has been removed from the face of their enmity. For this, I bow my head in humility before the Divine Presence.
Religion and belief in God, since their very emergence, have always been accompanied by hostility toward religion and denial of God. In the present era, when humanity is advancing at an astonishing pace along the path of scientific and technological progress, a new intellectual movement has emerged in the field of hostility toward religion and denial of God—one that differs markedly from its predecessors. A noteworthy point, however, is that sometimes the very religious community or the behavior of certain extremist groups provides the pretext for hostility toward religion and the struggle against belief in God, which can give rise to the most dangerous form of religion-hostility.
New Atheism is a religion-hostile movement that, in the contemporary era, has found its pretext for combating belief in God in the behavior of some religious individuals.
But what is New Atheism? When did this term become prevalent? What types does it include? Why is this movement called “New Atheism,” and how does it differ from atheism in its conventional and common sense? Who are its leaders or standard-bearers, and upon what foundations and assumptions do they rely? These and similar questions constitute the end of the present work, and an effort has been made to address them here.
Throughout history, atheism has experienced many ups and downs and has always attracted only a very limited minority; however, New Atheism is a term that, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, appeared as a complete system and worldview. It should be noted that New Atheism is not a specialized scientific term with a long history and a precise and well-defined meaning in academic texts; rather, it has recently been introduced as a description of an extremist religion-hostile movement and quickly entered societies through mass media, becoming an established term.
The doubts and attacks raised against religion and belief in God in the contemporary era are, in fact, a turbulent wave of writers who seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to attack religion and religious beliefs. It must be said, however, that this suitable opportunity was provided by some extremist religious groups. Thus, a fierce and even discourteous movement emerged, employing everything at its disposal against religion and religious believers, while also harboring ambitions of power, such that, if power is required, it would determine the fate of religion and believers.
The leaders and standard-bearers of this movement have not limited themselves to skepticism and pessimism toward monotheistic religions and religious beliefs; rather, they harbor hatred toward them and openly express their aversion. It must be acknowledged that one of the distinguishing features of New Atheism compared to classical atheism is precisely this hostility and anger toward monotheistic religions. According to them, belief in God is not merely irrational but is considered dangerous and evil.
