askchapo

Based on the discussion in that thread, one would wrongly be lead to conclude that "Reddit" atheism (or nu atheism) is being a misanthropic edgelord and "regular old atheism" is screaming at atheists you disapprove of even when they admit that what they said was wrong, because you've already decided what they are. That part of the thread was a miserable shitshow.

I think the real answer is that nu atheists make a number of mistakes, such as ascribing their atheism to their superior intelligence, or giving too much (not any) blame to religion when assessing the origin of certain social ills, not understanding the material conditions that were the basis for whatever dogma they complain about. Also bashing on Muslims, which is sort of an ironic reenactment of how they don't understand religious sentiments being born of material conditions, since their desire to single out Muslims clearly comes from the imperial core making enemies of several Muslim-majority countries and thereby having a basis for waging a culture war against them along with literal wars.

We probably should not aspire to "regular old atheism," born overwhelmingly of capitalist conditions, but as socialists seek out some sort of socialist atheism. Anti-theism, for example, superficially seems like a misanthropic nu atheist position, and I'd wager the majority of the time it has been, but what about an anti-theism that seeks to undercut religion not by scolding people or imposing your own culture, but by improving their material conditions so they secularize on their own?

Anyway, I'm not the kind of theorist to devise something like that, I really just mean to say there is potential there.