Book Discussion: "I Don't Believe In Atheists" by Chris Hedges.

Background article:

I Don't Believe in Atheists

Foreign correspondent and intellectual provocateur Chris Hedges explains why New Atheists like Christopher Hitchens are as dangerous as Christian fundamentalists. By Charly Wilder Mar. 13, 2008 |

Many charges have been levelled at foreign correspondent Chris Hedges over the years, but shrinking from conflict isn't one of them. Hedges spent nearly seven years as Middle East bureau chief for the New York Times, covered the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, and was part of the New York Times team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of global terrorism. He took on the American military-industrial complex with his books "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" and "What Every Person Should Know About War" and provoked the rage of the Christian right by likening them to Nazis in last year's "American Fascists". Hedges now cements his reputation as an intellectual provocateur with the charmingly titled "I Don't Believe in Atheists". While speaking out against the Christian fundamentalist movement and its political agenda, Hedges noticed another group: this one on the left, conspicuously allied with the neocons on the subject of America's role in world politics. The New Atheists, as they have been called, include Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and bestselling author and journalist Christopher Hitchens; outspoken secularists who depict religious structures and the belief in God as backward and anti-democratic.

Though Hedges, a Harvard seminary graduate and the son of a Presbyterian minister, considers himself a religious man, his quarrel with the New Atheists goes beyond theological concerns. In "I Don't Believe in Atheists", he accuses Hitchens and the others of preaching a fundamentalism as dangerous as the religious fundamentalist belief systems they attack. Strange bedfellows indeed according to Hedges, the New Atheists and the Christian right pose the greatest threat facing American democratic society today.

An interview with Chris Hedges can be found HERE

I'm hoping to buy a copy of this book, it sounds really interesting, and was wondering if anyone else has either heard of it or read it... looking forward to some respectful and thoughtful discussion.

ooh I need to read this and then buy it for my MIL. HOw new is it - would my library have a copy?

I think it's a fairly recent release... Borders didn't have it in when i asked... they didn't even have it on system and they stock nearly everything! I haven't asked in the past 2 weeks though. I'll see if I can find out when it was released by googling.

Amazon have it.

Here's a review from Amazon:

Hedges is clear from the outset: there is nothing inherently moral about being either a believer or a nonbeliever. He goes a step further by accusing atheists of being as intolerant, chauvinistic, bigoted, anti-intellectual, and self-righteous as their archrivals, religious fundamentalists; in other words, as being secular versions of the religious Right. Like best-selling atheists Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Daniel Dennett, Hedges is disgusted with the Christian Right, going so far as to call it the most frightening mass movement in American history. Even more disturbing for Hedges, however, is the notion, which many atheists and liberal churchgoers share, that as a species humanity can progress morally. There is nothing in human nature or human history to support the idea, Hedges maintains, nor that the flaws of human nature will ever be overcome. He discusses the dark sides of the Enlightenment, Darwinism, consumer culture, the justifications for America’s wars (including in Vietnam and now Iraq), and obsession with celebrity, among other equally hot topics. His purpose in this small, thought-provoking book is, he says, to help Americans, in particular, accept the limitations of being human and, ultimately, face reality. --June Sawyers

Oooh it sounds great! I still haven't got round to reading Dawkin's book yet (though DH has). It might make a good companion piece.

Another review:

"Chris Hedges reminds us that the point of religion is not to make us disdain those who think differently but rather to help us become decent, responsive, and moral human beings." - 0, The Oprah Magazine (O, the Oprah magazine )

I would take that further and suggest that the point of religion is to foster understanding of the human condition and to be slow to judge those on different life paths... believer or non-believer... Doubting Thomas surely is meant to teach us (Christians) something?!

Sounds interesting!! I'll have to get it.

Hey Bath have you read this yet? I am reading Dawkins' book now :)

Haven't read it yet but still most definitely plan to! I got quite a few books for my birthday but thanks for the reminder... have you managed to get a copy? The next time Borders has a relevant email voucher I plan to buy a copy.

Still not read this book but saw an interview of Hedges - he doesn't think that Dawkins is part of the "new atheists" he doesn't believe in. Turns out he thinks that some atheists are promoting derision and even violence against religious people, and this is as bad as the Christian Right in America. It seems to be more about politics than religion.