About this item
The concept of evolution is widely considered to be a foundational building block in atheist thought. Leaders of the New Atheist movement have taken Darwin's work and used it to diminish the authority of religious institutions and belief systems. But they have also embraced it as a metaphor for the gradual replacement of religious faith with secular reason. They have posed as harbingers of human progress, claiming the moral high ground, and rejecting with intolerance any message that challenges the hegemony of science and reason. Religion, according to the New Atheists, should be relegated to the Dark Ages of superstition and senseless violence. Yet Darwin did not see evolution as a linear progression to an improved state of being. The more antagonistic members of the New Atheist movement who embrace this idea are not only employing bad history, but also the kind of rigid, black-and-white thinking they excoriate in their religious opponents.
About the Author
Stephen LeDrew was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. He completed a B.A. and M.A. in Sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, took a break from academia to spend a year and a half teaching in Japan, and then moved to Toronto to begin a Ph.D in Sociology at York University. In 2014 he moved to Sweden, where he is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Religion and Society, at Uppsala University.
Stephen's research and writing focuses on secularism and atheism in contemporary culture. His book The Evolution of Atheism: The Politics of a Modern Movement (Oxford University Press) explores the rise of the New Atheism and its impact on organized secular activism in North America.
He is currently investigating secularism in North America and Europe in relation to debates about immigration, multiculturalism, and religious accommodation.
