Militant Atheism - Christianity & Secularisation

Support of Militant Atheism

Richard Dawkins

Rejection of Militant Atheism

Alister McGrath

Militant Atheism

The view of all religion as a bad thing that must be actively fought against

Name of Dawkin's book

The God Delusion

Name of McGrath's book

The Dawkins Delusion

Dawkins' God Delusion

- God Hypothesis = Irrational & contrary to good science

- Religion encourages discrimination & is a major source of conflict

- Teaching children religion = A form of mental abuse that threatens their development

- People can be morally good without religion

God Hypothesis

Belief in a supernatural being / miracles / life after death / etc.

McGrath's Dawkins Delusion

- Claims Dawkins is wrong in assuming that good science is bound to result in atheism (e.g. Francis Collins, director of Human Genome Project & Christian)

- Challenges Dawkins' view that science disproves religion, they are "partially overlapping magisteria", which means they are two equally valid perspectives of the world which sometimes intertwine

- Labels Dawkins' view of Christianity as "limited", as he assumes that all Christians adopt fundamentalist views of God & the Bible

- Accuses Dawkins of fundamentalism through his unquestioning acceptance of some atheist views; a very unscientific approach

Magisteria

Sources of authority