The Wikipedia entry for the “new atheism movement” reads as follows: New Atheism is the name given to the ideas promoted by a collection of modern atheist writers who have advocated the view that “religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises.” This is not a terrible definition, but it is not particularly good either. What’s unfortunate about it is that it is defines “new atheism” in terms of its negative goal of criticizing or rebutting religion and religious ideas. But new atheism also has a positive goal, which…
