Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagScott Alexander

evangelist-hello-name-tag-sticker-supporter-preacher-3d-illu-196438150-stockpack-adobe_stock
Evangelist Hello Name Tag Sticker Supporter Preacher 3d Illustration

Richard Dawkins as an Unlikely Evangelist

As a recent book of essays demonstrates, the once much-vaunted new atheism spurred many thinking people to become Christians
Leading atheist philosophers have found Dawkins’s arguments superficial, many find his “warfare” thesis against religion shallow and his certitude unjustified. Read More ›
man-atheist-throws-all-religions-in-the-trash-stockpack-adobe-stock
Man atheist throws all religions in the trash

Analysis: Can “Communitarian Atheism” Really Work?

Ex-Muslim journalist Zeeshan Aleem, fearing that we are caught between theocracy and social breakdown, sees it as a possible answer

Zeeshan Aleem, an American journalist raised as a Muslim — but now an atheist — views his country as caught between “the twin crises of creeping theocracy and the death of conventional religion.” He seeks a new kind of atheism — communitarian atheism — as part of a solution: A rapidly increasing share of Americans are detaching from religious communities that provide purpose and forums for moral contemplation, and not necessarily finding anything in their stead. They’re dropping out of church and survey data suggests they’re disproportionately like to be checked out from civic life. Their trajectory tracks with a broader decades-long trend of secular life defined by plunging social trust, faith in institutions, and participation in civil society. My Read More ›