Even if God's existence could be proven, Niezsche writes in The Antichrist, we would still refuse to accept him. When I read atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, I don't get the impression that they are motivagted by mere unbelief. I don't believe in unicorns, but I don't go around writing books full of rejection and bile about unicorns. When I read The God Delusion and God Is Not Great, I see that their authors do not so much disbelieve in God as they hate Him.
Consequently, the arguments spelled out in these atheist books are out of sync with the actual vehemence of their authors.
Enter the French atheist Michel Onfray, whose Atheist Manifesto is a bestseller in Europe. Onfray comes out of a different tradition than Dawkins and Hitchens, one that he describes as stretching from the Baron d'Holbach to Nietzsche. This is Continental atheism, and it makes its case against God in an entirely different way than do the Anglo-Saxon atheists we encounter in the United States. Onfray, like Nietzsche, regards Anglo-Saxon atheists like Dawkins as representing a low, brutish type, widely found in England.
These themes will be developed in my forthcoming book What's So Great About Christianity. But here's one key difference between Anglo-Saxon atheism and Continental atheism. While Dawkins and Hitchens insist that we can be moral without God, Onfray with astonishing frankness concedes Nietzsche's point that the death of God also means the death of Western morality and Western values. So if God goes, that means that "equality" and "rights" go too. This is a possibility that Dawkins and Hitchens have not even considered. In many ways I think Onfray's atheism is more honest, more darkly appealing, and more dangerous than the atheism of Dawkins and Hitchens. My review of Onfray's book appears on the religious website Tothesource and you can read it here.
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 110)
31. Andy, would you mind showing how Dawkins and Hitchens ignore what you say they do? Thanks.
Knight_of_BAAWA at 10:02AM on Aug 9th 2007
32. THE ATHEIST LIKES TO MAKE THE STATEMENT THAT MORE DEATHS WERE UNDER FAITH BASED RELIGIONS
NOT TRUE
MORE DEATHS WERE UNDER COMMUNIST RULE, TITO, LENNIN, POL POT. THESE MEN WERE GREAT EXAMPLES OF WHEN UNGODLY MEN RULE.
MORE OPPRESSION UNDER COMMUNIST RULE.
LETS GET OUR FACTS STRIGHT
TONY at 10:58AM on Aug 9th 2007
33. D'Souza, once again, displays his narrow mindedness as he, this time, attempts to break atheism down to a black(atheist's disbelieve in God) and White(atheist's hate God. What a no mind.
midiwiz58 at 9:54AM on Aug 10th 2007
34. Take note that the people who are responding to this article aren't doing so out of anger, with mindless retorts and frequently misspelled words. We are educated people who have made a conscious decision not to believe.
Tasha at 8:41AM on Aug 11th 2007
35. Most of you made some very valid points. I especially enjoyed reading Eric Barlow's statements because he had some interesting quotes at the end.
The one thing no one seemed to bring up (although a few of you tried to touch on "religion" in general as having been the excuse for wars and persecutions etc.) is that a belief in "God" doesn't just mean you are a Christian. Muslims, Buddhists and many other "religions" believe in God or a Higher Power, so can't it also be said that an Athiest doesn't believe in any of these "religious icons?" Just curious. It just seems like people automatically assume that Athiests are solely against the "Christian God".
Bottom line in all this (and again, many of you made these points) is that many people who believe in God do horrible, inhumane things to others all in the name of "God" and "Religion". I can't remember who wrote about the point that children are born Athiests until they are innoculated with religion. I found that statement to be very profound. Anyway, I enjoyed reading the comments by other readers and agree with the majority of you.
Humane Human at 10:50AM on Aug 9th 2007
36. I don't hate God. I do not believe in him/her because in a war, both sides say he is on their side. Impossible. Horrible, unspeakable crimes are committed in his/her name. Besides, how could one deity see even a small sparrow fall. People invented God when they had no other explanation for things they could not understand. God did not invent people (Adam & Eve) people invented him/her.
flora goldman at 11:03AM on Aug 9th 2007
37. first, i'd like to thank you for addressing the issue of whether atheists are disbelievers or merely "haters" of the conceptual "God". however, when you list the examples of dawkins and hitchens as the primary indicators of atheists, i don't think its really fair or even logical at that. in the case of their atheism, i would see it more as a passion for the quest of finding/disproving god, rather than pure hate. but then again, we would return to the idea of quantifying hate, which if, when looked at with an unbiased eye, it can easily be transferred into a spectrum of love. maybe that doesn't make sense right now. however, what i'm trying to say is that these particular "atheists" don't really represent the atheist ideal, in my opinion. they spend much of their time studying the ethos and logic behind god and religion, ultimately still making them religious scholars of the sort. i think they are atheists of a different stock, for they hardly show apathy towards the conceptual "God". regardless, great blog... and btw, its Neitzche. :p
:]
amritha at 11:04AM on Aug 9th 2007
38. Oh ye of little faith, there is only one source of truth and that is in the bible. If there is no God how do you explain yourself. Where do we come from? Have you ever taken the time to wonder when you are really afraid and lonely, when you are depressed (don't give me that statement well I'm not) that would be the second lie. How much I pity the non-believer. They have no one to go to for help, understanding, comfort, and know that deep down in their souls (yes even the atheist has one) and I don't believe in the theory of anyone being a true atheist. Something will always be their God. But, my God is a loving, wonderful,peaceful, life giving, understanding my short comings and most of all my comforter in times when nothing in this world makes sense. God never promise that all you would have to do is become a Christian and poof
all your problems would disappear. He laid down his life for you and me so that thru grace and nothing but, grace we can be with him eternally. God ways are not our ways and until you have studied the Bible you are not capable of understanding Christianity. Being a Christian has nothing to do with religion. It is a way of life not a stamp of belief verus non-belief. If you knew what you were talking about you would not equate the word religion to Christian. Being a Christian is following in Jesus footsteps and loving the sinner thru him but, not the sin. It is all very easy to understand and sometimes very hard to do but, we as Christians are called to do this. Again, God ways are not our ways, and since God has given us freedom to chose whether we want to believe in him or not, look at our school situations, God was ask to leave the schools and being the loving God he is he did just that and now look at what is happening in our school systems today. Separation of church and state, when God is ask to get out he does just that and then we are left to our own devices and don't we all just do a bang up job. At night when you crawl into bed are you who are atheist just thrilled with the way your life is heading. Is the drugs and alcohol and porn and whatever you are into working for you. Do you have the fulfillment in knowing that someone close to you if they are gone in a flash, how will you handle that? If there is no God who will give you the comfort of knowing that you loved one is with God and this is not the end and you will be reunited one day. People, if you cannot see the signs of the end becoming more prevelant everyday then I really feel sorry for you and I pray that you find Jesus and not religion before it is to late. If you still don't understand do yourself a favor. Get a modern day Study Bible and find out the answers for yourself. Don't be misled by someone who has formed an opinion and passed it on to you. Go directly to the source and prove it to yourself whether or not God exists. There are all kinds of people in this world who do good as well as bad. You can't change the world but, you can change the outcome of yours.
I pray that this message might touch someone somewhere and let them know that the God I serve is one of love, strength and character and yes a very alive God, cause he has already taken our sins and left them at the cross. Prove me wrong!!!!!
rita at 11:02AM on Aug 9th 2007
39. Hello,
As for the comments above, religion, faith and tradition are institutions that are completely innocent in their own right. It is only those who abuse these institutions and exploit it from within that are at fault.
Using "religious wars" as an atheistic argument is kiddish.
Dawood at 12:09AM on Aug 12th 2007
40. Sorry, I'm confused - why does the listing of religion's evils (war, torture, genocide, etc.) make any point one way or the other about the existence of God? Couldn't it indicate the existence of a "bad" God? Not saying I believe such, but I get semantically irritated when people argue against God's existence by saying how human beings have done so much evil in religion's name. True, perhaps, but not really to the point.
jazzhands at 4:04PM on Aug 9th 2007
41. Animals and Bacteria live in groups, how does living in a group=morals ?
popshifty at 10:54AM on Aug 9th 2007
42. There is a rational basis for being "moral" which continues to evolve in the midst of a totally chaotic and dangerous universe which seems somehow to obey certain laws. As mankind understands more of the universe's workings, he tends to resolve many of the mysteries which have intrigued him since the "beginning" of time. Of course, the unsolved mysteries give us pause to consider that "beginning". It is not inexplicable that we seek to uncover some plan, divine or otherwise, which would help us make sense of it all. We are not at a point in our history where that understanding is available. I'm not surprised by beliefs in a supreme entity but those beliefs do not constitute a case for its existence or its nature should it exist. I don't hate "God"...I hate not knowing.
Gary at 10:50AM on Aug 9th 2007
43. Sheeesh! Even when I try to block "D'Souza" from my Google news searches this tripe still shows up in my inbox. D'Souza is laughable in his grossly flawed arguments and straw men. I cannot believe anybody listens to this guy. It says something about the people that hand on his words or buy his books.
fvthinker at 11:17AM on Aug 9th 2007
44. Tony, all-caps = rude. Turn off your caps lock. Thanks
Knight_of_BAAWA at 10:59AM on Aug 9th 2007
45. I have not read Richard Dawkins, but I have read Christopher Hitchens'book and agree with the senitiments expressed there. As a christian pastor I often find that athiest and secularist are more humane than the devotees of the christian faith. The real haters of the God we christians come to know in Jesus Christ are often those who purport to act and speak in his name. Take DD for instance, I believe that he professes to be a christian, yet nowhere does Jesus use or condone violence to usher in God's kingdom. The way that Jesus "conquers" is the way of self-giving love. Does DD believe that? No, he hates that understanding of God. He believes in bombs, tanks and guns and then tries to baptize that as christian. The God we christians come to know in Jesus Christ, is the God who set forth a vision of God's Kingdom that was the antithesis of the Roman imperium that crucified Jesus. God's Kingdom is likened to a great feast where everyone is invited to come and where the last shall be first. Does DD believe that? No, he hates that understanding of God: he believes in the American imperium where the only ones who get to set at the table are those who have the money to buy. The God we christians come to know in Jesus Christ is the God who challenged the religious leaders of his day to see what God was doing in Jesus' acts of forgiveness, mercy and compassion. Does DD believe that? No, he only sees religion as a prop to sanction the bougeois values of late victorian era capitalism. I can't speak for the other religions, but I know who hates the God we come to know in Jesus Christ: they often call themselves christians.
randy at 11:11AM on Aug 9th 2007