Contents
- Did New Atheism Die, or Just Get a Makeover?
- Secularism’s Culture Club
- New Atheist Loudmouths
- Religion’s Ghost Haunting a Materialist Party
- So, What’s Next for the Godless?
- Resources
Imagine it’s 2006 and Richard Dawkins is smirking on your TV screen, telling you to mock your churchgoing aunt because believing in God is as absurd as worshipping a Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Fast-forward to 2025, and Trent Horn, Catholic apologist extraordinaire, declares New Atheism deader than disco in his video “What Killed the ‘New Atheism?’.”
He’s got a point. At least, its swagger has faded, fedoras gathering dust in the corner.
But here’s the thing, New Atheism isn’t dead.
It evolved into subtler beasts like analytic atheism and “lite religions” (think Buddhism or Simulation Theory), proving atheism’s a cockroach that keeps scuttling along.
Horn’s right about its cultural fumbles and intellectual lightweight status, but he misses how it’s morphed within a world still drunk on religious heritage yet stumbling through a secular, materialist haze.
Did New Atheism Die, or Just Get a Makeover?
Horn kicks off with the obituary. New Atheism rose post-9/11, fueled by the internet and the so-called “Four Horsemen:” Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett. Then it flamed out because its snarky vibe just didn’t stick.
He cites a British poll dropping from 42% agreeing religion’s a “smallpox virus” in 2006 to 20% today.
Fair enough. Nobody wants to sit next to the guy yelling “God’s a delusion” at Thanksgiving. But dead? Nah.
It’s more like it traded its megaphone for a podcast mic.
Look at Alex O’Connor, the Cosmic Skeptic, dissecting Aquinas with Ed Feser over coffee instead of dunking on him. Or take “lite religions”: Buddhism’s non-theistic chill and Simulation Theory’s “maybe we’re in a cosmic video game” shtick. These are atheism’s hipster cousins. Same DNA, a little less edge.
Horn sees a corpse; I see a chameleon.
And the numbers back me up. America’s non-religious jumped from 5% in 1992 to 29% now. That’s not a funeral. More like a glow-up. Sure, the old guard split over woke wars (see: Bill Maher host Harris vs. Affleck on Islam) but that’s just growing pains.
New Atheism didn’t die. It adapted to a world tired of its tantrums.
Argus’s Thoughts
I’ll play contrarian here. Horn’s got a bead on something you’re glossing over: New Atheism’s core—its militant anti-religion vibe—did tank. Evolution? More like retreat. O’Connor’s polite chats aren’t rallying stadiums like Dawkins’ “Reason Rallies.” And Simulation Theory? That’s a nerd’s daydream, not a movement. The 29% non-religious stat sounds impressive, but Pew (2021) says most are apathetic “Nones,” not card-carrying atheists. New Atheism’s legacy is dilution, not domination.
Brent’s Response
That’s a fair point. The Dawkins “Reason Rallies” don’t appear likely to make a comeback anytime soon. I’d also agree that the non-religious stat almost certainly represents apathy more than advocacy. But that’s part of the point I think you’re glossing over. The new normal is “anything but traditional religion.” Sure, it may not be card-carrying atheism, but as I argue, they’re close cousins.
Secularism’s Culture Club
Horn nails the cultural shift. Post-9/11, atheism spiked, but by the 2010s, the divide wasn’t faith vs. none, it was liberal vs. conservative.
He smirks at New Atheists like Matt Dillahunty embracing “woke” quirks (e.g., dating a trans woman), while others, like Dawkins, now call themselves “cultural Christians.”
He’s at least half-right. Religion’s getting a nostalgia bump.
But here’s the thing, secular humanism, that shiny atheist utopia, isn’t as godless as it pretends. Take Denmark, the secular poster child, topping happiness charts. Its welfare state screams Christian charity, just minus the pews.
Philosopher Charles Taylor argues secularism’s a remix of Christian ethics: dignity, community, all that jazz. Horn’s substitution hypothesis fits. Yank God, and something fills the void.
But secularism isn’t a fresh start. It’s a reformation with better branding.
Even when Dawkins pines for Christian society over woke or Islamic ones, he’s proving my point. Those values he likes…straight out of the Bible. They’re all still humming the same Christian tunes, but they’ve got a fun new secular beat.
Argus’s Thoughts
I’ll push back. Denmark’s happiness isn’t a Christian hand-me-down—it’s a pragmatic mashup of Enlightenment reason and Nordic cooperation. Sure, Lutheranism lingered, but Pew (2020) shows only 25% of Danes hit church regularly. Secular humanism’s got legs beyond Jesus—look at Japan, thriving with Shinto vibes and zero Christian baggage. You’re romanticizing a religious ghost when reason’s doing the heavy lifting.
Brent’s Response
I’m not buying it. You’re not giving enough credit to the underlying Christian influence. Denmark was steeped in it for hundreds of years – the Enlightenment and so-called “Nordic cooperation” are Christian outgrowths. As for Japan, they might’ve had a little help in getting to thriving today. But they’re a bit of a special case too. The religious ghost is what’s inside of Reason’s machine.
New Atheist Loudmouths
Dawkins called Aquinas’ Five Proofs “vacuous” in The God Delusion, and Catholic philosopher Alvin Plantinga sniped back, “That’s sophomoric—and unfair to sophomores.”
Horn’s thinks the New Atheism was a philosophical lightweight, all bluster, no substance. Just The Angry Atheist ranting about blueberry muffins being a more likely Prime Mover than God. He contrasts that with Christian apologists like William Lane Craig flattening Hitchens in the Biola debate.
I’m mostly in agreement.
Dawkins botched Aquinas.
But the atheist rhetoric was strategic, not stupid.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster wasn’t meant to win PhD points. It was a middle finger to religion’s untouchable status. And it worked, too, shifting the Overton window so “the God question” became fair game for any and all criticism.
Still, Horn is right. They couldn’t hang with heavyweights. Today’s analytic atheists like Graham Oppy and Alex O’Connor are the grown-ups, leaving New Atheism’s tantrums in the dust.
Argus’s Thoughts
I’ll nod along this time. You’re spot-on: rhetoric was the game, not a gaffe. Dawkins didn’t need to ace Aquinas to make faith squirm—mockery hit where arguments didn’t. But Horn’s got the KO—New Atheism dodged real debate, and that’s why it’s a footnote while Oppy’s slugging it out in journals. Strategy’s cool, but depth wins.
Brent’s Response
Cheers.
Religion’s Ghost Haunting a Materialist Party
Horn finishes off noting that humans are inherently religious critters.
Kill God, and we’ll worship woke dogma or whatever’s trending. He’s got Andrew Tate griping about atheist “degeneracy” and Dawkins preferring Christian vibes to chaos.
Belief seems to have a yo-yo effect, spiking in medieval piety, dipping with Enlightenment snark, and spiking again mid-20th century.
Now, though?
The stats might show religious identification down to 63%, but the average Joe’s still got it in his bones (the laws, ethics, and guilt trips too), all while acting day-to-day like life is just “matter in motion.”
Take Simulation Theory. It looks like atheism’s sci-fi afterlife. Just replace God with a coder. Or Buddhism: no deity, but a whole lot of vibes, and everyone knows that’s so much safer than judgy old Christianity.
Horn’s substitution idea holds. History says these things fluctuate, and modernity is no exception, just a weird remix of faith, physics, and code.
Argus’s Thoughts
I’ll poke holes. Your fluctuation’s real—belief’s a pendulum—but secularism’s not just religion in drag. Europe’s church attendance is tanking (Pew, 2021), and folks aren’t replacing it with Buddha or Bostrom—they’re just Netflixing. Horn’s human-as-religious bit overreaches; we’re adaptable, not addicted. Materialism’s winning, ghost or no ghost.
Brent’s Response
No doubt materialism is winning, but I’d argue apathy is its own sort of religion. It’s “Me-ism.” Do what feels good right now. Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. That sort of thing. A bunch of nihilists who can’t pull their mind from their asses. They’re probably the scariest one’s of all. It’s the abyss staring back at you.
So, What’s Next for the Godless?
New Atheism’s not six feet under quite yet.
It’s morphed into quieter skeptics and “lite religions,” proving atheism is a stubborn weed.
Horn is sharp on its flops (shallow arguments and cultural misfires) but misses how it’s woven into a world still echoing Christianity.
The rate of belief is a rollercoaster, and we’re in a dip, not a ditch. I’ll admit, it’s been a doozy though, ever since Nietzche first declared God dead. The 20th century was rough.
But as atheism keeps evolving and religion keeps haunting, what’ll we worship next? Code? Karma? Vibes? Or just ourselves?
Suddenly I feel lonely.