Until a couple of days ago, I had never known that term. But after I heard it, I had to research it. Appears the term relates to the more recent line-up of atheistic writers--Hitchens, Harris, Dawkins and Stenger--and their more aggressive, in-your-face style of trying to discount all religion, and pretty much trying to make those who believe in some element of faith in their lives, and with the intent to tell everyone to grow the fuck up, and get rid of religious practices altogether.
Okay, so I'm an atheist/agnostic. I've been one for years now, and that was something I talked about with few people until I joined FB. And while I despise the radical religious right, the luddites who want to believe that the earth was created 10,000 years ago, who choose to believe mega-church preachers will be welcomed with warmth through the pearly gates, my focus has never been to disarm people of their inherent right to believe in whatever they want to believe, as long as they don't try to make their beliefs the beliefs of a country, try to teach hare-brained ideas to children that cripple their fruitful brains, or harm anyone, I could give a rat's ass as to what someone believes.
I have many friends who worship quietly, without pushing anything on others. And I try to respect that aspect of our freedoms. I find the thought disquieting to be as extreme as the hard religious right, but on the opposite end of the spectrum. I think calling anyone who has religious beliefs to be "off their rocker" (except for those mentioned above) is going way beyond the rules of etiquette and decorum, and is, just incredibly nasty.
A friend of mine once told me that she believed that everyone is here for a reason--everyone's life--or death--is a calling to, as she said, a "higher power." I personally feel she might be right in some ways. For this friend, I know the last seven years of her life were spent with the fervent hope that her terminal illness resulting from sleep apnea could help someone else avoid the problems she had. She used her faith to advocate for an action on the people she met. With some people, they believe their lives are destined to move in one direction, and not another. She never preached her faith, but showed people that her beliefs lead to something good, something she could actually relay to people.
Religion isn't really about who your god is, how to pray to him or her, or even how to follow the faith. It's about interpretation, and how a person views the world as a result of whatever connection they have to others, to themselves, and to their lives. If you believe in a god, and were raised within a belief system, it's one of the ways you practice what you've been taught. Depending on what value system you have, you will learn how to respect others, acknowledge their ideas and ideology, and become a worthy person. But once you begin to believe that you're better than someone else because of your belief system, you end up hurting someone, and you become a person who can't see others for themselves.
New atheism is a crock--a vehicle--as bad as the values of the radical religious right, or as bad as any group that chooses to put themselves first, and others second, and last.
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