Village atheist

Randal Rauser wrote at the Christian Post:
“ | So far as I can see, the term "village atheist" was first popularized in the 19th century to refer to an atheistic individual within a religious community who vocally (and provocatively) expresses his/her dissent from the religious consensus of the community. For example, G.K. Chesterton identified Thomas Hardy as a village atheist (see Kevin Taylor, Hans Urs Von Balthasar and the Question of Tragedy in the Novels of Thomas Hardy, p. 168).
However, in more recent literature the meaning of the term has evolved to identify a type of popular atheism that is often brash in presentation and lacks critical nuance. (In other words, minority status within a wider religious community is no longer essential to the term.)... So what exactly is a village atheist? As I define it, this individual is characterized by several traits including the following:
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New Atheism was a form of early 21st century militant atheism which had a brief period of higher public prominence compared to the previous less militant form of atheism in the Western World. Since the decline of the New Atheism movement, atheists have been less provocative/militant (see: Decline of militant atheism in the West).
In 2015, the atheist author Joshua Kelly wrote:
“ | ...since the death of Hitchens: angry atheism lost its most charismatic champion. Call it what you like: New Atheism, fire-brand atheism, etc., had a surge with the Four Horsemen in the middle of the last decade and in the last four years has generally peetered out to a kind that is more docile, politically correct, and even apologetic.[4] | ” |
Recommended book on village atheism
- Village Atheists: How America's Unbelievers Made Their Way in a Godly Nation by Leigh Eric Schmidt, Princeton University Press (October 4, 2016), ISBN-10: 0691168644
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Notes
- ↑ Dawkins: Mock them. Ridicule them! In public
- ↑ Dawkins: Mock them. Ridicule them! In public
- ↑ [The Problem of Village Atheism] by Randal Rauser, Christian Post, 2018
- ↑ Uproar Against Dawkins Is Sign of New Atheism Retrogression by Joshua Kelly