Religion and the New Atheism

This edited volume examines the emergence and impact of the New Atheism movement, analyzing both its philosophical arguments and sociocultural significance in early twenty-first century religious discourse. Amarasingam brings together diverse scholarly perspectives to assess how figures like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett have reshaped public debates about God's existence and religion's role in society.

The collection employs intellectual-historical methods to contextualize New Atheism within broader patterns of secularization and religious criticism. Contributors trace how this movement differs from earlier forms of atheism through its militant tone, popular accessibility, and explicit linkage of religious belief to social harm. The volume examines how New Atheists deploy scientific rationalism and moral arguments to construct what amounts to a negative cumulative case against theism, arguing that naturalistic explanations better account for phenomena traditionally attributed to divine action.

Several chapters engage the problem of evil as reformulated by New Atheists, who present suffering not merely as philosophically problematic for theism but as evidence of religion's pernicious effects on human wellbeing. The book analyzes how writers like Hitchens transform classical theodicy debates into indictments of religious institutions and belief systems themselves. Contributors assess whether these arguments successfully undermine theistic responses or simply repackage familiar objections in more provocative rhetoric.

The volume's significance lies in its balanced scholarly treatment of a polarizing phenomenon. Rather than advocating for or against New Atheism, contributors analyze its intellectual genealogy, rhetorical strategies, and cultural reception. The book examines how New Atheists construct their own positive cumulative case for scientific materialism while simultaneously dismantling traditional arguments for God's existence. Chapters explore the movement's relationship to earlier secular humanist traditions, its distinctive emphasis on religion as inherently dangerous rather than merely false, and its impact on public discourse about faith and reason.

By situating New Atheism within broader intellectual and social contexts, the volume illuminates how contemporary debates about God reflect deeper cultural anxieties about authority, knowledge, and meaning in pluralistic societies. The collection demonstrates that understanding New Atheism requires examining not just its philosophical arguments but also its function as a social movement responding to perceived religious resurgence in global politics.