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[uilfordian.com
FORUM
Dec. 1, 2006
Greensboro. N.C.
^New Atheism’ is old hat
By Jake Blumgart | staff writer
In a punch-up, who do you back
— famed magicians Penn & Teller,
or God? Welcome to what Gary Wolf
of Wired, has sensationally dubbed
"the New Atheism."
Who are the New Atheists? The
men who Wolf pins the name to
(Penn & Teller, have a separate sec
tion devoted to their godlessness) are
Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and
Daniel Dennett, all of whom have
recently released books questioning
the sanctity of religious faith.
"They condemn not just belief in
God but respect for belief in God,"
Wolf writes. "(For the New Atheists),
religion is not only wrong; it's evil."
That's not all. The New Atheism
wants all you agnostics, deists, skep
tics, and other assorted fence-sit
ters to join their battle against what
they see as the virulent supernatural
crutch of religion.
Atheism is defined as a disbelief
in the existence of God(s) and it's
nothing new. Indeed, the non-be
liever roll call is a lengthy
one. In addition to Penn
& Teller (who sometimes
write "There is No God"
instead of their autograph),
Barry Manilow, Dave Barry,
John Lennon, Frida Kahlo,
Gorbachev, Stephen Hawk
ing, Freud, Bjork and Ke
anu Reeves are (or were)
all atheists. And this list
just scratches the surface
of declared atheists whom
you've heard of.
The New Atheism de
scribed by Wolf is some
thing else entirely. While
traditional atheism is con
tent with denying belief in
God, the new breed is al
most evangelical. It is safe
to assume that its teachings
will alienate a fair number
of the less vehement non-be-
lieveis, who may not like or
believe in religion but can respect sign and creationist movements and
those who do. the vicious terrorist attacks on the
The most prominent mouthpiece London Underground and 9/11.
of the New Atheists is Dawkins, a The extremism of the New Athe-
renowned evolutionary biologist, ists is in part a reaction to these
recent author of the best-selling "The threats to life, limb and scientific em-
God Delusion," and a ferociously pirical teaching represented by reli-
evangehcal proponent of atheism. gious fundamentalists from George
In "The God Delusion," Dawkins Bush to Osama Bin Laden,
writes, "As long as we accept the While the New Atheists can be
principle that religious faith must rather nasty, even boorish, they also
be respected simply because it is re- haven't killed anyone. Which is more
Ugious faith, it is hard to withhold then can be said for other fundamen-
respect from the faith of Osama bin
Laden and the suicide bombers."
"Evangelism is a moral impera
tive (for Dawkins)," writes Wolf.
talists.
Lawrence M. Krauss, a physicist,
staimch opponent of creationism,
and an atheist, has argued against
"(He) does not merely disagree with the New Atheism and its invocations
religious myths. He disagrees with of black and white morality,
tolerating them, with cooperating in "I think we need to respect peo-
their colonization of the brains of in- pie's philosophical notions unless
nocent tykes." those notions are wrong," Krauss
This all sounds rather harsh, said. "The Earth isn't 6,000 years old.
However, it is important to remem- (But) Science doesn't make it impos-
ber that the New Atheists are almost sible to believe in God. We should
all Western scientists. Their principal recognize that fact and live with it
interactions with the faithful have and stop being so pompous about
been with the puerile intelligent de- it."
Evangelizing about any
thing is a bore. It won't get
you invited to parties. As
an atheist, I do not want
a bunch of Christian mis
sionaries • breathing down
my neck, trying to convert
me every o^er minute (al
though that doesn't stop
them from trying). It's safe
to assume religious folks
don't want us non-believers
yelling at tihem about how
idiotic their beliefs are. So
don't do it. Ifs rude. If be
lievers change their minds
of their own volition, great.
If not, that's fine too. The
vast majority of them are
good people anyway.
Atfieism isn't going any
where. Neither is religion.
I guess we all just have
to learn to live with each
other.
KDWEBSERVER.CO.UK
Richard Dawkins, one of the "leading lights" of the
New Atheists.
f he King’s
Campaign
500+ College Women Marching
for the Empowerment of African
American Men, wearing the shirt
reading:
TILL
December 4th at noon on UNCG’s campus
The King’s Campaign initiative is striving to empower and
uplift African American Men in colleges and universities.
There is a dire need for our support because 39 percent of
Black men are not graduating from institutions of higher
learning across the nation. 500+ women showing their support
will wear the t-shirt reading I STILL LOVE BLACK MEN at
noon on December 4th. These women will march silently from
College Avenue to the main fountain on UNCG’s campus. The
first targeted population is women from UNCG and Guilford
College. Because both schools are predominately white, sup
port for the small percentage of Black Men is in high demand.
The proceeds from the King’s Campaign will go toward future
campaigning at universities along the East Coast and toward
a scholarship for a young man in one or all of the hosting
Genital mutilation violates human rights
By Landry Haarmann | staff writer
t
Globalization has knocked down many
barriers which previously kept cultures
shielded and mysterious. People who rep
resent different cultures meet, greet and
co-mingle, which has helped in fostering
a greater understanding and respect for
the many different types of people on this
planet.
There is an importance to respecting
people of different cultures and the cus
toms of such cultures.
However, when does a cultural custom
become something to be abhorred?
In my opinion that point is when hu
man rights are compromised, when a per
son is placed in a dangerous or unhealthy
position. One such example is "female cir
cumcision," better known as genital mu
tilation.
In genital mutilation, parts of a young
girl's clitoris or labia are removed. In some
cases, the labia are actually sown together,
in a procedure called "infibulation." This
"surgery" is performed on girls who are
between the ages of four and 12.
Female genital mutilation is done for
several reasons: religion, honor, hygiene;
fertility or to control a girl's sexuality.
The repercussions of genital mutilation
are vast. The removal is usually done with
an instrument that isn't sterilized, and as
a result girls who have received female
circumcision often contract infections and
are twice as likely to die in giving birth.
I understand the importance of respect
ing other people and their cultures, but
how can anyone respect a cultural practice
which places young women in danger of
infection, deformity and, in some instanc
es, death.
Coming from Western culture, I ap
proach the genital mutilation with my
Western values, and I have a very hard
time grasping the reasons behind this cus
tom. Also, looking at genital mutilation, I
feel it's a gross violation of human rights.
Some of the reasons, mainly the at
tempt to control a girl's sexuality, behind
female genital mutilation, particularly to
control a daughter's sexuality, angers me
endlessly! The ritual is inherently sexist,
no matter if it's a woman or a man per
forming the surgery.
More than that, it's dangerous and I
cannot fathom how the women perform
ing the ritual can lack sympathy for the
young girls they are about to inflict severe
pain upon.
Genital mutilation is not tolerated in
either America or England. In England,
if you are convicted of practicing genital
mutilation, you receive a maximum of 14
years in jail. If you are caught in America,
you can get up to 40 years in prison.
Not only is genital mutilation out
lawed by both America and England, it
goes against Article 5 in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which says,
"No one shall be subjected to torture or to
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment."
In my book, and many others, genital
mutilation is both degrading and tortur
ous.
Despite its illegality and harsh reper
cussions for performing the act of genital
mutilation, people still practice this cus
tom.
In England, parents fly elders from
African villages to perform the rituals on
their daughters, and currently in America,
an Atlanta man received a 40-year jail sen
tence after his 7-year-old daughter told
the court that he had "cut me on my pri
vate part" with a pair of scissors.
America has long had a reputation as
being a melting pot, but being at the fore
front of the modern world there's just no
room for archaic and inhumane customs
like genital mutilation.