Abstract
The spate of popular books attacking religion can be seen as a manifestation of the recoil against the idea of multiculturalism. Religious identities are also cultural identities, and no meaningful form of multiculturalism is possible that leaves religion outside the sphere of public recognition. This paper argues that ‘aggressive atheism’ undermines its appeal to reason by refusing to see anything of value in religion. It also risks exacerbating cultural differences at a time when reconciliation is needed. The critique focuses on the contribution of Richard Dawkins and examines a number of tensions within the aggressive atheism of his best-selling book The God Delusion. The second part of the paper introduces an alternative, a framework of reconciliatory dialogues, between atheism and religion and within religious communities, operating not just at a formal or institutional level but also in cultural expressions and in the practices of everyday life.
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Notes
Of the writers listed as ‘aggressive atheists’ Daniel Dennett may be regarded as the exception here as in the final chapter of Breaking the Spell he advocates the development of more tolerant dialogues and institutions to break down mutual incomprehension. However, in terming this goal a ‘utopian global conversation’ he acknowledges how far removed it is from anything that might be realized in the near future (Dennett, 2006, p. 329).
This is the position adopted by Victor Stenger (2007), whose God The Failed Hypothesis is subtitled How Science Shows that God Does Not Exist.
In an interesting discussion of Weber's typology of rationality, Immanuel Wallerstein points out that Weber draws two pairs of distinctions, between ‘instrumental’ and ‘value’ rationality in the sphere of social action, and between ‘formal’ and ‘substantive’ in the sphere of economic action. ‘Value rationality’ refers to action informed by ethical considerations which is undertaken irrespective of its prospects for success, and Weber is clearly sceptical of its prospects in the face of the seductive power of instrumental rationality. However, he is far more receptive to the possibility of achieving substantive rationality, and this opens up the possibility of subordinating the pursuit of short-term individual gain to long-term social goals (Wallerstein, 1999, pp. 141–144).
E.L. Doctorow's novel City of God is a good example, for it deals with relationships between theist and atheist, Christian and Jew, and between different Jewish affiliations – for a discussion see Wilde, 2006, pp. 391–405.
There is also a concern that the Parliament is becoming heavily influenced by representatives of the New Age Movement.
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Wilde, L. The antinomies of aggressive atheism. Contemp Polit Theory 9, 266–283 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/cpt.2008.64
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/cpt.2008.64