Posted: Apr 11, 2012 1:10 pm
I think there is something very interesting going on. Here's an experience of my own.
In the 1990s, I joined an Internet conferencing service, CIX, in which discussions on all manner of subjects went on, including religion. As an atheist, I got embroiled in many discussions with religious people, mainly Christians, many of whom were evangelical. And were they vocal and self-confident! They certainly communicated their belief that their position was normative, and that it was people like me who were weird and eccentric. Certainly, they made me feel, over and over again, that I was venturing into a den of lions. Then, after some years' membership, I realised that it was taking too much of my time. Also, I had another large demand on my time looming, so I gave up using CIX.
However, about a year ago, I rejoined after an absence of more than five years, during which time, of course, 'the new atheism' has got going. And how things have changed! It's a complete reversal. There remains from the past one, highly aggressive, Christian who participates occasionally - and who gets almost no support from his fellow Christians. Apart from that, the general tone of the religious discussions is much more quiet and muted; it leaves me feeling that, these days, that it's the beliefs of us secularists which are normative.
I can't be absolutely sure, of course, but I'm left with the strong feeling what I'm seeing is one of the effects of 'the new atheism'.
In the 1990s, I joined an Internet conferencing service, CIX, in which discussions on all manner of subjects went on, including religion. As an atheist, I got embroiled in many discussions with religious people, mainly Christians, many of whom were evangelical. And were they vocal and self-confident! They certainly communicated their belief that their position was normative, and that it was people like me who were weird and eccentric. Certainly, they made me feel, over and over again, that I was venturing into a den of lions. Then, after some years' membership, I realised that it was taking too much of my time. Also, I had another large demand on my time looming, so I gave up using CIX.
However, about a year ago, I rejoined after an absence of more than five years, during which time, of course, 'the new atheism' has got going. And how things have changed! It's a complete reversal. There remains from the past one, highly aggressive, Christian who participates occasionally - and who gets almost no support from his fellow Christians. Apart from that, the general tone of the religious discussions is much more quiet and muted; it leaves me feeling that, these days, that it's the beliefs of us secularists which are normative.
I can't be absolutely sure, of course, but I'm left with the strong feeling what I'm seeing is one of the effects of 'the new atheism'.