>>18133359
>>18133384
I believe, Scott Alexander has wrote a excellent piece on this matter at "Slate Star Codex":
>My solution to both these questions is: New Atheism was a failed hamartiology.
>And so we asked ourselves: what the hell is wrong with these people?
>And New Atheism had an answer: religion.
(Stupid Spamfilter, doesn't allow links!)
(By the way, Alexander forgot to mention the important role that has been played by 9/11. A lot of people have, after this horrible event, started to argue that we should blame religion as an abstract concept for it. They brought other examples, like Crusades, Pogroms, the tensions in Ireland and so on, all as an example of the fact that religion divides people and makes society worse...
It was utopian thinking, even back then. They ignored factors like ethnicity, different economic interests and the terrible cycle of revenge and counter-revenge.)

New Atheism has always been fall short on the side the adapts of this movement were motivated the most, social commentary.

To conclude my sermon:
I do not find anything in O'Connors speak that convinde me. I may be ignorant or a stupid person. However, a interesting story does not replace an actual argument since there has been a lot of interesting stories around the world and we consider most of them as this: Just stories without a thiny piece of truth.