New Atheists

The term “New Atheists” has a specific meaning in the modern-American lexicon. It quickly brings to mind a handful of highly-touted intellectual heroes… and their books.

Richard Dawkins, “The God Delusion”

Sam Harris, “The End of Faith”

Christopher Hitchens, “God Is Not Great”

Daniel Dennett, “Breaking the Spell”

I find the titles kind of comical when you stack them all together. They fit tightly into a composite image. Better put, they serve as cogs of the same objective. And I do think the term “objective” is fair there; more accurate than viewing this as merely an intellectual pursuit. The energy that resides within this camp quite specifically wants to remove the influence of traditional religions (Christianity the most popular target) from western province. You can argue with me on that line, I surely don’t care. It’s how I see it and I’m sure there are many who would agree. This movement went well beyond arguments of irrationality of religion (truth/Veritas) to painting it as “harmful” for society. Cue the Critical Christ Theory push this opened a portal for across our systems of governance. But somehow that isn’t harmful, right? Man, the Repressive Tolerance here already is so thick you could cut it with a knife. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

It’s important for me to acknowledge here that I don’t know that much about the “New Atheists” gang. I haven’t read any of their books. I don’t watch their shows. The point of my thrust is not to say they are wrong. I don’t do the “better than you”-games (at least not anymore). I know of them because so many people I respect have gobbled up their work and think they have something profound to offer. Fair enough; a couple of those names are figures I’ve held in high regard my whole life too. But what has the demand for “reason over religious dogma” really become? What has the pursuit of Scientism crashed down to? Can it be called any less dogmatic? Surely not. People like Sam Harris have begun walling themselves off into familiar quarters because they know their own logical chains are so faulty and proven broken now. That man goes on and on still about the threat of disinformation and right-wing authoritarianism, but has never spent an honest minute reconciling how much overt disinformation he ran on behalf of a corrupt state. How much factual and real-science dissent he helped quash with wicked medical Hatecraft. Because see, suddenly his whole shtick which he’s marketed to the moon doesn’t make much sense. Suddenly, The Great Thought Meditator’s positions can’t even hold water.

But this piece really isn’t about that troop. When I use the term “New Atheists” here I am not specifically speaking about the stack of book publishers that term connotates. I’m more speaking to the greater cultural movement these minds represent. The movement they spearheaded which seemed artificially propelled from every direction. It’s not as if a huge portion of our populace suddenly abandoned the ways that had built this nation over centuries; and yes, the attached ideologies and scriptures. No no, it’s that this one troop and way of thinking was suddenly deemed regal and damn near made into new academic saints. This (increasingly self-righteous) intellectual push became so wholeheartedly embraced by the institutions and demographics which we typically know as “Liberal”. Am I saying that liberal and religious cannot exist as one? I don’t know. That’s a question you should answer instead. I’ve given it plenty of thought. And where I crashed down with it isn’t very popular. I just don’t care about the term “Liberal” anymore. Not with a capital letter or lowercase either. What is it supposed to imply? You’re some higher-than-the-others persona who isn’t capable of succumbing to dogmatic fealty because you enshrine this set of ideological principles so passionately? Lol GTFO! Should I point to braindead leadership at our medical and scientific institutions pushing zealotry or the conflicting ruminations of the illustrious Harris to refute this moronic position? How high on yourself must one be to truly hold that view (a form of Hatecraft, of course, “Moral vs. Monsters”)? No, you are not immune from capture; forever prevented from falling into an ideological order. What the hell do you think “Scientologists” are? These rich weirdos have built a bunch of temples so they can pray to Ron Hubbard and use their egos to elevate themselves to “Thetan” status. Literally; that’s kind of their scripture. In Hollywood, this sect was thought of as trendy and cool… until just a handful of years ago when enough people had their blindfolds removed and testicles returned that they were able to see what a vapid cult the whole organization is. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam’s parents dabbled in Scientology.

What do you want me to do next? “Humanism”? “Humanitarianism”? How about “Universalism”? That all sounds super cool. I bet Gwyneth Paltrow could sell that shit on her Goop site. How about Climate Quixote? The illustrious and very regal troop that stretches across the west and is pouring endless billions (of other people’s money) into “saving the Earth”? Only The Bad People would not want the Earth saved, right? Those Monsters (which all happen to be conservatives) should be castaway from civil society… like heretics. Or we can take a babystep over to the largely same subset of wacko rich white boomers and FrankenFemmes who all despise Christianity, mock God and its congregants, manically worship abortion, mostly have terrible relationships with their own fathers, and plant signs in their yards about “Ending Racism” and making up for slavery. Maniacally fixated on saving other people’s children while largely abandoning their own. Instead of getting on their knees on a pew to the words of God, they bow down to DiAngelo and Kendi while they get publically flogged and shamed. White fragility! Unconscious bias! Anti-racist! Rofl it’s some true Twilight Zone shit. But how far away are those lost souls from the ones bogged down about having numerous gender spirits they can rotate though? All of our new “They/Thems” being produced by our universities where the Chief Chaplains are now “secular rabbis”. I don’t think they’re far off at all. To me, it’s all part of the same Jonestown. And I mean that literally, as this is the same ideological lineage as The People’s Temple. These are purely dogmatic movements which to me are anti-nature, anti-science, anti-natal, anti-life, and anti-human. The idea that we’d allow an elementary door to be wrapped with dogmatic initiatives like this below after we spent decades removing every blip of Christianity from classrooms is simply staggering. It’s “Repressive Tolerance”; the fruits of The Long March.

How exactly does “Mx. Cogdill” or “Mx. Kochensparger” explain to the elementary-aged children of other parents why her name is not “Ms.” or “Mr.” like every other teacher they’ve had in their lives? Oh that’s right, she gets to then open up into a religious seance about how children are not made (by God) as boys or girls; instead they are “assigned a sex at birth” by humans and then later can transform into the other sex if they want or even a lifelong LARP rotating through multiple gender spirits as “Zir” and “Xem”. This is an actual Time cover ran in 2022 at the height of this orchestrated mass-mania.

“You see, class? That is why I am Mx. Cogdill. Because Gender Queer.” This somehow is being forced as “science” and “human rights” and “Inclusivity” by the very same demographic that would lose their marbles if the lessons of Jesus were strewn across a public-school door. “Good morning, class. Let me tell you why you’re all children of God.”

I can tell you objectively that I would rather my children be indoctrinated with that last doorwrap than with either of the first two. From my eye, the first seeks to confuse children and disrupt (dismantle) them away from the roots and moorings embodied by the last one. “Gender” activism and transactivism (The Same Thing) are the spearhead of a cultural and institutional attack I have dubbed “Critical Christ Theory”. These ideology sets stand in diametric opposition. That’s why the Critical Christ Theory camp has now formed alternative rainbow churches where pastors have pronouns and they say “She is Risen” or even “They is Risen” because “He is Risen” is too Patriarchy. It’s as if millions simply refuse to accept what is right in their face… and likely on their child’s desk.

God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

Made in the image of God. Made in the image of perfection. So many Biblical quotes reinforce the notion that God made you the way you are. Think of how antithetical that is to gender theory and gender transition (a factor in why enrollment in religious private-schools is soaring). They are polar-opposites. Now, the power of that quote sources from belief. As one who does not believe in the scripture, it's not the literal idea that God made each child perfect that grabbed me. What did is the reality that for millions and millions of people - billions, in fact! - this is their belief. This is their belief system, their entire world, their faith and love. And in that scripture, their children have been made to perfection. They certainly have the right to hold this opinion. A majority of people in our country likely do. I live with three of them.

Why is one side of this now painted on classroom walls? Where are the liberals and free speech orgs on this, eh? Been mighty silent for a long time… while they drummed up support for other radical kids angry they had to say the Pledge of Allegiance at school. These “liberal” principles are Gumby, man. Until we all accept the intellectually honest position that all forms of child rearing and upbringing are some form of indoctrination, none of this cultivated mass-mania can subside. And allowing this to continue being forced by state hand because the “experts” said so is a path to civil war.

I don’t want this piece to be about me. I’m about to publish the most important essay I’ve written yet which will give a great depiction of where I am in my personal journey, how I now see this all, what I’m all about ideologically. This is not that piece and I’ll link that “Reflections From St. Augustine” essay here once I get it up. But it’s important for those reading this to understand my path. To understand my theology, or lack thereof. I have quite an association with the term “atheist”. I don’t shy from that title; never have. I grew up in a largely nonreligious house. Both of my parents came from religious homes and I’d describe both as spiritual, but we did not practice. We would occasionally go to church on an Easter or Christmas, but that was rare and on behalf of other family. I was a rather typical secular modern-American family. I saw Christmas much more as trees and Santa than mangers and Jesus. Interestingly, my folks tell me one of their greatest regrets as parents was not doing more to instill religion into my brother and I as kids. Wise words from wise minds who have processed a lot more than I have. I think back to that little bag of straw and the wooden nativity I used to set up in my bedroom as a child I’ve mentioned in the pieces linked above. Why was I doing that? What sparked that in those walls? These are the energies I’m grappling with and unwinding over at “My Journey”. I see those little things now as potentially a sign of something more. But that’s because I see the world so differently now. This has been a gradual progression marked by certain events or stages in my life.

As a youth, I was rebellious! More intellectually than civilly. I struggled with authority my entire life, which is kind of ironic considering the structure I had grown up around. I was a base brat and my father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. But I just couldn’t tolerate coercive intellectual mandates even at a young age. I always pushed back against what I felt was illogical even at personal cost or surrounding hostility. Growing up in a heavily religious area, this brought a lot of flak my way. It was not an easy path to walk. It’s also the beginning of my origin story. Why I am so immune to the Hatecraft trafficked today. I’m a seasoned-vet of this shit! I’ve been parrying these blades since the 90s, they just change color and form. But riddle me this: Why does pushing back against what one believes is another’s logical fallacy then become such a passionate (smug) personal sense of being correct (righteous)? It’s a question a lot more people need to ask themselves. It’s a question I had to slow down and ask myself.

I became so fortified in this contrary way of thinking that I desired to engage others on their religious beliefs and, sadly in hindsight, “prove them wrong”. I was trying to show that God is just a delusion; that God is not great; end the faith; break the spell. This is the very definition of a “militant atheist”. And to be fully candid with those reading this, I am ashamed that I ever fell to such a broken ideological place. But I sure did! In fact, around 19 or 20 years-old, stomping around Miami as a naive youngster convinced I was the shit, I contemplated writing an anonymous pamphlet. “The Little Black Book”. Mind you, this was pre-internet era where you couldn’t publish out wide digitally. You still needed the printing press, man. Lol I thought my worldview was so profound and so revelationary that I wanted to share this new mindset (this gospel Rofl) with as many people as possible. I felt driven from a positive sense, and this is what I mean by that: I felt I was a good and morally-bound person without having fealty to any scripture or higher-power. Everywhere around me in society said we HAD to bow down to something greater in order to be morally bound. No! I was hellbent on proving that isn’t a requirement and therefore mandate. But think of what I was ackshully doing here. I was inventing a new form of moral guidebook for those who didn’t want to acquiesce to the others available. That’s all my pamphlet was, now that I look back on it as a 45 year-old father and not basically a teenager. What was I going to fill into the void I was so keen to dig out? If there is indeed an afterlife, I envision a man like this looking down on me and laughing mightily.

My way of thinking here changed profoundly in a single conversation with my father. I was espousing these views to him when he remarked about religions filling an emptiness (void) for many. I don’t recall his actual words, but the premise was simple: “Son, you are very fortunate in life. You come from a strong home, you have two loving parents, you have never wanted for much. The vast majority of people on this planet weren’t dealt the same set of cards. For them, life is much dire and darker. Faith and the practice of religion brings light, and hope, and focus for them. (This line was the kicker —>) You would not want to see this world without religion”. Damn. Just like that! But he was right. He was so profoundly right. How incredibly naive and narcissistic for me to think the mindset I’ve taken on could be so easily adopted by the masses. Yeah, maybe the ones from good homes and with great parents. Why? Because those serve as the moorings! But what of the billions who don’t have any? How dark would the whole world become if this light (adopted by the vast majority of our global population) was shut off in full tomorrow?

I never sought to engage people with my religious views after that exchange. I didn’t suddenly find my positions “wrong”, I just didn’t want to engage anyone who held the opposite on the underlying logic. What was I seeking to gain? This change of mindset is how I ended up marrying a devout Catholic. How I ended up in a family raising children under the faith. How I’ve become an integral member of our church community. But interestingly, my own views did not change. In fact, they haven’t changed much all the way through now in 2025 with the paths I’ve walked and experiences I’ve shared with you all over the past few years. I live out the topics I write about here. In my children, I see the future of my ideological plantings. I attend Mass every Sunday; yet, I remain a nonbeliever in those pews today. A nonbeliever in the doctrine, I mean. I’ve never understood more the importance of the church as a communal organ. Why in the world would I want to strip from someone their faith and religious practices (which is what the militant atheist’s thrust is designed to do, the only objective of that wicked and selfish attack) if that set of ideology and practices is benefiting their life? That makes me the bad guy. Objectively. It honestly starts to ring as evil. You’re working to eliminate a force of good from another. I went two decades without talking about this much outside of private quarters. In fact, this talk with Jeffrey Kibler on his show The Furrowed Brow was probably the first time I had.

And that’s really the essence of what I wanted to convey here. A lack of certainty, I guess I can best say. A lack of certainty, a fixation on truth (Veritas) is what fueled the first chapter of this great man’s life…

And that laser-like focus on finding certainty (harkens Scientism today bigtime!) ultimately led Augustine down a path of misery. He abandoned his roots, his home, even his mother. He returned years later defeated and humbled. Upon re-reading the same scripts is when he became a religious man. Suddenly, the very same words he had processed and rebuked before, now spoke in a completely different manner. Now made sense in a way it never could before. Augustine would go on to be one of the most prolific theologians and writers in the history of the Catholic church. I attend a Cathedral that stands in his honor today, in our nation’s oldest Parish, in our nation’s oldest town where this much-older faith first touched down on American soil. It’s not lost on me how similar my intellectual path has been as I sit in those halls every week. As I look around at those magnificent stained-glass images which tell his story.

I haven’t found myself down a path of misery at all. Quite the contrary. But I surely see that we are lacking “Rules of Order”. Unquestionably, we have a crisis with who is “Talking to our children”, especially our young girls. Something very different is being foisted on them now. Something that in my view can only be described as a form of scripture.

That recording basically crashes us down on why I care about this so much. Let’s go back to that notion of certainty and that illustrious rank of “liberal” minds I highlighted at the beginning here. What are they so certain about, exactly? That millennia of man has been wrong, but this one group from about 1980-2010 suddenly possess the answers to life’s Great Questions? Lol the notion is absurd. In fact, when you set it on the table by itself (without every institution beating the same drum) it strikes as weapons-grade arrogance. Narcissism, really; a complete fixation on self. And that’s the very heart of these grotesque new faiths that have sprung from this vein of ideology. Look no further than Queer theory, gender spirits, Oppressor Ideology, transactivism, Scientism and Thetans, all these Universalists convinced they’re saving the Earth by “Ending Hate” and being “Anti-Racist”, FrankenFemmes and societal outcasts propping-up sexual LARPs as new rules of nature, college professors championing bestiality. It’s all just complete batshit crazy ideology and almost entirely becomes a form of worship-of-self. When you look at the composite, they all look quite similar. Of course they do. This is really nothing more than each of these demos’ or sects’ “Little Black Book”. Hari Krishnas still hand theirs out at airports.

If what I’m saying at the end here ruffles your feathers, then I’d submit you’ve been brainwashed by this same self-righteous ideology set. You likely hold degrees and academic titles. No, I’m not saying you have to believe in gods. I’m saying if you think those claiming to be “atheist” in modern times are somehow enlightened by science and objectivity and immune from dogmatic subservience, you have fooled yourself into a state of false-reality. No, I can promise you that neither Sam Harris, nor Christopher Hitchens, nor Richard Dawkins, nor Daniel Dennett have figured out anything of certainty beyond that of Augustine. They’ve just become very certain about themselves. And look where that has crashed down for someone like Sam Harris. I find that grown-up trust-fund kid to be as intellectually appealing as a bratty teenager. He can barely speak a sentence these days without it being riddled by his own logical inconsistencies. And this is who the liberals all left prayer to pray to? Lol again, the whole notion, the entire framework here, is absurd. It’s comical. Go look at Neil deGrasse Tyson to see it presenting in clown-form.

You are welcome to believe your views are righteous. I encourage that! I think passion and principle are key pillars of a good life. But if you think your ways are The Right Way because your books or your group or your school or your science lab said so, then you’re really just announcing yourself as a Useless Idiot. You’re trying to force that “Moral vs. Monsters”-casting that I seek to destroy. You don’t need to force others to agree you’re right for your own platform to be righteous. And if you think your ways are proven ways while the others’ are inherently wrong, you’re just a self-absorbed drone now. Every side has proven its failings at this point. But this dynamic explains a lot of our current societal malaise and hostility as I wrote about in “Prisms”. Historically, it was demands for fealty by those holding a cross. Now it’s The Same Thing from those who spite God and hold Harvard degrees instead.

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins: Dawkins argues that religious fealty can be harmful to society by fostering irrationality over scientific inquiry. He posits that religion often promotes dogmatic thinking which discourages questioning and critical analysis, leading to a suppression of scientific education, especially in areas like evolution. Dawkins also criticizes religion for causing division and conflict, citing historical examples of religious wars and modern-day extremism. He contends that faith, by its very nature, can justify almost any act, including violence, under the banner of divine command, thereby undermining moral and ethical standards based on reason and evidence.

The End of Faith by Sam Harris: Harris explores how religious faith can lead to societal harm by encouraging belief without evidence, which he sees as a dangerous precedent for behavior. He argues that faith, particularly radical religious beliefs, can justify terrorism and inhibit rational discourse on ethical issues. Harris points to specific instances of religious violence and the suppression of freedoms in theocratic societies, asserting that religious doctrine can impede human rights, intellectual freedom, and progress. He advocates for a secular morality grounded in science and reason to prevent the moral and social stagnation that he attributes to religious fealty.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens: Hitchens provides a scathing critique of religion's impact on society, arguing that it not only fosters superstition but also enables oppression and violence. He presents religion as inherently authoritarian, undermining individual autonomy and promoting a culture of control rather than freedom. Hitchens discusses how religious fealty has historically supported slavery, misogyny, and homophobia, and continues to resist progressive social changes. He emphasizes that religious institutions often prioritize their doctrines over human welfare, leading to ethical and societal degradation when religious dogma trumps compassion and justice.

Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel Dennett: Dennett approaches the issue from a scientific perspective, suggesting that uncritical adherence to religious doctrines can be harmful by blocking scientific understanding and critical thinking. He argues that religion, like any other human behavior, should be studied objectively to understand its effects on society. Dennett discusses how religious fealty can lead to a form of indoctrination that stifles intellectual development and inquiry, potentially leading to social policies based on myth rather than evidence. He critiques the protection religions receive from scrutiny, which he argues, allows harmful practices to persist under the guise of faith.

Lol sure, Jan. Look, I’m surely not saying our trendy cast of modern atheists are wrong. The whole point of this is I’m tired of entire demographics claiming the mantles of morality and rational certainty. GTFO! These camps have all devolved into dogmatic nonsense. Every single one, and most of them don’t even deny that anymore. They just try and deflect it away and talk about Trump or fascism or something. And that’s because this has all become weaved into our political parameters. Of course it has! Fits perfectly into the heart of the dismantling cultural attack we are under. America is a Christian nation; remains one today. Why did this narrow subset of our population get raised to such a high station? It was extremely artificial, not organic. That answer shares a lot in common with what you see in this thread I wrote this morning on X. “Critical Christ Theory”, the Liberal “Progress” pursuit as new laws of nature, The Long March through our institutions, are all tied together. I’m not claiming to have solved these questions. I’m one of few who seems fine operating with the unknown. But perhaps that’s tied to the fact I’m not out to force my ways onto anyone else, tell you mine are anointed and yours somehow wrong or even bigoted and hateful or ignorant and science-denying. I don’t lay claim to certainty. Instead, I’ve opened my mind up in my My Journey writings to try and see the bigger picture here. Because there IS a bigger picture, no matter what ideological bucket you fall into. It goes back to that powerful talk with my father.

Look at the backdrop Yuval Harari chose for his 2018 presentation at the World Economic Forum (WEF). It was all about transhumanism and free will. Who will be the future “masters of the planet” he asks. Those on top of “the data”, of course. The end of God, he plainly states. How far of a bridge is it from Harari to Harris ideologically? I'm not sure much connector is required at all. And yet once again, everything within the WEF world is a WWE-like manifestation of the inversion of the principles found within the Holy books. A mirror-image; a reflection; a chessboard; a dismantling elemental; all crashes down on Equity and Queer. Always.

. . .

This is the first essay in what I hope will one day become a bound project: “Tapestry of America”. As I close out/move on from each chapter of this intellectual and life journey I’m on, I intend to write one “Reflections From…” piece on what that area or experience wanted to tell me. Everywhere I turn my mind is seeing stories. Important things that seem worth sharing. Inside these writings which are behind the paywall in my project are where I’m writing these thoughts as they develop. Everything else behind the paywall is only audio. It matches with the energies above, and so I wanted to link it here.