THE PROBLEM(S) WITH THE SO-CALLED "NEW ATHEISM"

Last year, Ben Affleck courageously stood up for Muslims on Real Time with Bill Maher after a number of bigoted statements about them by Maher and Sam Harris. I have addressed the problems with 09/11 liberalism that targets Muslims here http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.my/2013/05/the-problems-with-0911-liberalism.html

I would like to take this further. During this discussion, Harris, who is truly a fool, a poorly disguised Zionist who makes an idiot out of himself every time he opens his mouth, stated that Liberals ignore Muslim violence and instead focus on incidents that happened years ago like "an attack on an abortion clinic in the 90's"

The amazing stupidity and duplicity of that comment considering not only the recent shooting at a Planned Parenthood center by a Christian extremist that resulted in the murders of three people but also the daily harassment (often violent) abortion providers go through on a daily basis in the USA. Here's a list http://prochoice.org/education-and-advocacy/violence/violence-statistics-and-history/

The truth is the so called "New Atheist" movement is a sham. A creation of those with other hang-ups who choose to couch them in atheism and those who seek to push a xenophobic, pro-Israel colonialist often Islamophobic philosophy. They burn with a scary need for conquest that brings to mind religious invasions in centuries past.

Their patron saint is drunken bi-sexual colonialist Christopher Hitchens who left his first wife when she was pregnant and supported the Iraq War. I wrote more about my specific disagreements with Hitchens here http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.my/2011/07/how-christopher-hitchens-finally-jumped.html

Maher increasingly spends the discussion portion of his show complaining about Muslims, tarring them all with blanket assertions like his repeated accusation that since polls he has read (but never cites by name) show large groups of Muslims globally believe in Sharia Law, stoning people etc. (even in Muslim countries where these types of practices are not the law) there are no good Muslims. Of course, this theory if applied to other groups of people - the large numbers of Americans for example who believe President Obama is from Kenya and a Muslim, or believe the moon landing was fake etc then I can assume there are few good Americans. He rarely says a peep about religious persecution in America, how in areas of the South they still teach evolution as myth and creationism as fact. He never says anything about abortion rights and seemed almost dismissive about marriage equality. Maher who has described himself in the past as a Libertarian but whose liberty related beliefs largely seem to consist of smoking marijuana and spending time with black hookers (something he is well known for in Hollywood).

And of course he never speaks about violence against Muslims in America, rather he encourages it with his hate filled rhetoric (What Affleck spoke up against). Maher is also a huge supporter of Israel which is not surprising considering he is half-Jewish, a fact he tries to hide and will only discuss sheepishly if he he can't change the subject.

Whether it's Maher's relentless demonization of Muslims, Harris's dishonest, "thought experiments" where he says things like torture is okay or Israel should commit genocide against the Palestinians then denies it afterwards and whines like a baby after getting called out for his BS hiding behind the cover of "I was just saying", or Richard Dawkins with his many sexist, racist, tone deaf statements, this is not what atheism means to me.

I am an atheist because it is not logical to believe in a God and there is no scientific evidence a God exists not because I hate one group of people or I despise religion and I need a framework to attack it. Truth is many people in my life have faith be they Hindus or Muslims or Christians. Even though it is not for me, I do think religion can be a very positive force in one's life as long as it is not all consuming ( I guess you could say that about a lot of things).

Rather my atheism is an extension of tolerance and openness....Something the new atheists are lacking in spades. Too often the so-called "new atheism" seems like the non-believers version of the Westboro Baptist Church.