Posted: Dec 06, 2021 7:22 am
The_Metatron wrote:I see it as an attempt to discredit ideas. An attempt based not on the ideas, but on their authors.
If Torres's intent were to discredit ideas he would have addressed the ideas rather than the objectionable behaviour and views - of which he cites plenty - of their authors. Where he goes overboard is signalled right in the title and repeated in the body of the text:
What's sad is that the New Atheist movement could have made a difference — a positive difference — in the world. Instead, it gradually merged with factions of the alt-right to become what former New York Times contributing editor Bari Weiss calls the "Intellectual Dark Web" (IDW), a motley crew of pseudo-intellectuals whose luminaries include Jordan Peterson, Eric and Bret Weinstein, Douglas Murray, Dave Rubin and Ben Shapiro, in addition to those mentioned above.
No, the "New Atheists" have not merged with the far right. That is sheer hyperbole. Some atheists are sexist libertarians of the conservative ilk. Shock, horror. Who would have thought that the only essentially unifying factor among atheists is a lack of belief in the existence of a supernatural entity?