the apostles of unbelief

saturday's guardian had an interesting and surprising (for the guardian) article the athiest delusion arguing that secular athiesm has become ugly because of its fundamentalist/evangelical tone. the article ends by saying

Victorian poet Matthew Arnold wrote of believers being left bereft as the tide of faith ebbs away. Today secular faith is ebbing, and it is the apostles of unbelief who are left stranded on the beach.

i haven't read it yet but becky garrison takes these guys on as well in her book the new athiest crusaders.

Comments

[Steve Lancaster]

Hi Jonny!

This article is written by John Gray. I took a copy of his 2002 book, 'Straw Dogs', to Greenbelt last year. It packs a big punch, and a well-argued one, but not for the faint-hearted.

Yes, he is anti-secularist and pro-religionist, but only to the extent that religionists, Christians amongst them, have come to terms with the need to doubt their beliefs.

Not saying that's a bad thing, by the way!

Two others on my recent reading list, Anthony Stevens and Mary Midgely, join him in arguing that the myth with which we need to replace earlier myths (read for that 'Christian' as well as 'Secular Fundamentalist') is James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis.

Actually I don't think Gaia contradicts either the best of current science or the essence of Christianity, but I suspect plenty in both camps would disagree. What do you think?

[becky]

Thanks for directing me to this article - I've been starting dialoguing with humanists and atheists and finding out where we can find common ground once we turn down the white noise emitted by say Dawkins and Dobson. As expected, I have taken considerable heat from those who view these new atheists as their saviors as well as the "Christian" crowd. But I do believe we need to find ways to come together in our shared humanity and am inspired by the glimmers of hope I see here in the States.

I do think that communities such as Grace that allow room for doubt are excellent places for this kind of dialogue to happen.

[Rusty Poulette]

Becky's book is right on. These guys are not so much attacking belief, but fundamentalism- the same thing that us christians "attack" at times. It's unfair.