The irreligiosity of the New Atheists movement as an expression of secular criticism of religion in modern society

Abstract

Religion still occupies and maintains a formally and informally privileged position in many modern societies. It retains these privileges despite the growing number of people who call themselves “irreligious”. There are laws, still derived from a particular religious tradition, who entail a lopsided position of states and societies, as well as the impossibility of openly expressing a contrary opinion. This problem entails a fear of the other, of difference and diversity. This fear lays the groundwork for the reciprocity of reactionary extremism This article will illustrate this treatment of the non-religious in the context of the debate on 'Islamophobia'.